5 ways to treat pre-period sickness

Getting sick before your period can be very unpleasant. Discover the reasons you feel sick and how to relieve the symptoms.

It may be that you feel all kinds of symptoms before your period and that’s normal. This malaise is known as premenstrual syndrome, and it affects about 75 per cent of all women. Some of the most common symptoms associated with PMS include:

• Mood swings and irritability;
• Exhaustion, feeling run down;
• Abdominal cramps;
• Water retention;
• Intense food cravings;
• Pain in the lower back;
• Acne;
• Insomnia;
• Nausea.

Dysmenorrhoea causes much more severe menstrual problems. This condition is reported in about 10 per cent of all women. The main symptom of dysmenorrhoea is the presence of severe pain in the abdomen and sometimes the lower back, hips and thighs.

Dysmenorrhoea is often accompanied by feelings of nausea, dizziness, weakness and vomiting. The symptoms generally occur two to three days prior to menstruation and linger until the first days of menses.

The women most likely to suffer from dysmenorrhoea are adolescent girls (especially those who got their first period before age 11), premenopausal women, and women whose mothers or sisters also suffer from dysmenorrhoea. Symptoms of dysmenorrhoea in adolescents usually fade into more moderate PMS symptoms by early adulthood.

If nausea or other symptoms become particularly intense, there are many known and trusted remedies that can alleviate your pain and discomfort. Here are a few:

1. Drugs such as naproxen or Mefenamic acid are affective pain relievers used to treat nausea, diarrhea and headaches.
2. Oral contraceptives are often prescribed to reduce the symptoms of PMS and dysmenorrhoea.
3. Contraceptive injections, like Depo-Provera, are injected every three months. It is proven to reduce the intensity and flow of menstruation and therefore the symptoms associated with it. In fact, in some cases, the injections cause menstruation to cease completely.
4. A hormonal intrauterine device (IUD) continuously releases hormones which has the gradual effect of suppressing the period and its symptoms.
5. Anti-nausea medications like dimenhydrinate, an over-the-counter anti-histamine used to relieve nausea. Bismuth subsalicylate (Pepto-Bismol) is also very effective.

Nausea and discomfort associated with menstruation is a terrible nuisance, but is relatively harmless. On the other hand, if these symptoms occur suddenly and are acute in their severity, consult a health professional to make sure you do not suffer from a more serious underlying condition.