Mood Changes and Your Period

Girl breath.

The Hormone-Mood connection is a strong one. Mood swings in the second half of your cycle (meaning the two weeks before your period) is a big clue your hormones are part of the picture. 
In my practice when a patient is struggling with mood issues related to their cycle I like to look at it from a traditional chinese medicine perspective, pair it with looking into certain genetic SNPs, get your gut microbiome in check and investigate & support your estrogen/ progesterone balance throughout your cycle. 
Often PMS in the form of mood issues suggests a Progesterone deficiency. Either due to true low levels of progesterone or do to a relative deficiency of progesterone in ratio to estrogen. Progesterone is our dominant hormone in the second half of our cycle and acts to chill us out by increasing our GABA neurotransmitter in our brain. If our hormones are out of whack, we miss out on that superpower of progesterone. Thus leaving us in a state of uncontrollable weeping, anxiety ridden and sometimes agitated state of mind.

So what’s happening: ☯️TCM: In traditional Chinese medicine our organs are each associated with moods. For example an excess of anger could indicate a TCM Liver pathology while sadness would suggest TCM Lung pathology. 🧬genes- Some genes can play crucial roles in the metabolism of our hormones and neurotransmitters. Genetic SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms) can alter the functioning of these genes and affect hormone and neurotransmitter levels in our body that could alter our mood stability. 
Gut health: we require proper levels of Beta Glucorondinase to keep our estrogen levels in check. If this levels becomes too high it can lead to issues. ⚖️hormones: Our body likes estrogen and progesterone to keep a certain ratio throughout our dynamic cycle. We let estrogen take the lead during the first half of our cycle and rely on ovulation and the corpus luteum to let progesterone take the lead the second half of our cycle. If you have a problem ovulating you likely are progesterone deficient. 

Your first steps: 
1)Support your adrenals! 
2)Balance your hormones! There are a number of nutrients and herbs that have shown to increase your natural progesterone production. 
3)Manage your stressors! (This is beyond emotional stressors)

The Basics: 
One of the first thing I try in my patients for mood deregulation prior to their menses is high dose Vitamin B6 and quality B complex, dietary recommendations that include seed cycling, cruciferous veggies, and adequate/healthy fats. 
Depending on your individual symptoms and situation I will also sometimes suggest Vitex Chaste Berry 
Whats so special about B6?
*increase progesterone, decrease estrogen *help with clearing estrogen
*helps to synthesize the brain Neurotransmitter Serotonin (healthy serotonin levels leads to a happy and balanced moods)
*protective against anemia

A short note on birth-control! There is a very large difference In our bodies natural progesterone and progestin which is what many birth controls are made with (👋 Mirena) while our natural progesterone is our chill out cool calm and collected hormone, progestin has the opposite effect.