Anxiety (PMS-A)

PMS-A (A = anxiety) is the most common symptom category and is found to be strongly associated with excessive oestrogen and deficient progesterone levels during the premenstrual phase. Common symptoms of patients in this category are anxiety, irritability, and emotional instability.

What is anxiety?

Anxiety is a feeling of unease. Everybody experiences it when faced with a stressful situation, for example before an exam or an interview, or during a worrying time such as illness. It's normal to feel anxious when facing something difficult or dangerous, and mild anxiety can be a positive and useful experience.

However, for one in 10 people in the UK, anxiety interferes with normal life. Excessive anxiety can be associated with PMS or other mental health issues, such as depression. Anxiety is only considered to be a mental health problem when it is prolonged, severe and is interfering with everyday activities.

Symptoms of anxiety

When you're anxious, you may also experience a range of physical symptoms. These happen because of the bodies' so-called "fight or flight" response, which is caused by the release of the stress hormone adrenaline. The symptoms can include:

• abdominal discomfort
• diarrhoea
• dry mouth
• rapid heartbeat or palpitations
• tightness or pain in chest
• shortness of breath
• dizziness
• frequent urination
• difficulty swallowing
  shaking

Psychological symptoms can include:

• insomnia
• feeling worried or uneasy all the time
• feeling tired
• being irritable or quick to anger
• an inability to concentrate
• a fear that you are going "mad"
• feeling unreal and not in control of your actions (depersonalisation), or detached from your surroundings (derealisation)