There are many natural remedies for PMDD out there. This post is yet another one, and based on my personal experiences. I've had PMDD in remission a few times. And because I also tend to overthink, I've come up with a list of things that I believe helped me get there.
But like everything else: keep in mind that I'm not a doctor, and the things listed on this page do not constitute medical advice (see my disclosure here).
I'm just a woman who's had PMDD, and who's also been able to put it in remission 100% naturally.
I'll save the specifics of my story for another time. But the most important part is that I always felt that meds were too risky for my body without any tests or strict diagnostic criteria, and I didn't want to make things worse with guesswork. So I kept looking for other solutions, and I found many. This list is not exhaustive, but...it contains a lot of things that helped me.
There's no guarantee that YOU will react the same way! This is why you must always check in with yourself, and your health team, before making any changes.
Red Raspberry Leaf Tea
This is well-known to pregnant women. It’s great for iron, and a bunch of other minerals. Plus I've read that it's pretty anti-inflammatory in general. Personally? I’ve found it’s also super helpful for PMDD if it's taken every day during the luteal phase. Not only does it help with my anemia in a pinch, it also seems to keep moods in check. Plus it just smells and tastes amazing.
Raspberry leaf tea can also be cold brewed. I typically put it in some water (in my steel water bottle), and shake it a bunch. After about an hour, I'll drink it. Most instructions tell you to steep it in boiled water for about 8 minutes. And while that works great...I've also seen benefits from the way that I do cold brew. So...to each their own. A proper cold brew usually requires many hours in the fridge but...again...this has worked for me.
Vitamins B12, C, and D3.
B12 helps with moods and iron management. Like, if B12 is low, then the body won't handle iron properly, and iron is very important (see below). The best ways I've found to take B12 are sublingually (methylcobalamin) or by injection — the stomach kinda destroys most of it if we try to eat it.
Vitamin C helps with digestion (so we can absorb nutrients from food properly), and also assists with the immune system.
D3 is important because it helps us properly process a lot of other things. Sunshine is the best way to get this one — between 10am and 2pm daily for 30 mins. But I have taken it in supplement form (I lived in a basement), so I found one with minimal ingredients. It was drops, with a coconut oil base (and no other ingredients).
Liquid Iron, Magnesium Bisglycinate, and Irish Sea Moss.
Iron is so important. Without it, we likely aren't getting enough oxygen to our cells for them to function well. The best types to take are usually a liquid iron, although it's hard to find a good one.
My favourite is actually just water that's got heavy iron content. It's packaged in the UK and called Spa Tone. The box has something like 28 portioned pouches (don't quote me on that - it's around 28) that you just cut open and drink from (1 per day for non pregnant, 2 for when pregnant). I always found absorption from this to be really fast and easy (no tummy issues).
Magnesium Bisglycinate is great for migraines, sleep, and muscle support (sometimes weak muscles can be a thing in late Luteal). Bisglycinate is supposedly easy on the stomach, too. Make sure to check co-ingredients because sometimes they put in some tricky things. For instance: citric acid is often added, but it can sometimes be made from black mould!
Irish sea moss has 92 of the minerals that the body needs, including iodine (good for the thyroid). So a tiny bit helps a lot. I usually make it as a gel (caution: it makes your kitchen smell like a wet dog at the ocean), and then add a teaspoon to my protein at each meal. The gooey-ness of it also helps make the protein easier to eat, and I always feel good/more energetic after I eat it!
Going Natural in general.
Reducing chemical load can go a long way. In other words: finding non-chemical alternatives for shampoo, conditioner, soaps, pesticides, scented things, etc. These chemicals are usually seen as toxic by the body even when breathed in, and so the body will work hard to excrete it.
Another aspect of this is shopping only the perimeter of the grocery store/shopping only at farmers markets. Rinsing all produce in vinegar (or vinegar and baking soda to be extra cautious) can also help clean off some of the chemical gunk. Processed foods/seed oils are extremely hard on the body, and many are inflammatory/have inflammatory ingredients. It's very difficult to avoid those things in North American, but it's possible (I'm proof!).
The body will excrete the inhaled/consumed toxins from these things as fast as it possibly can, even through the skin. Translation: this is why some people get so stinky - bacteria love this type of waste, and they in turn produce their own stinky waste after eating it which is where BO comes from.
Plus, that process of excreting toxins ASAP takes up resources that could be going to other things in the body. And if cells are losing resources they need to function, it can have downstream effects (like messing with our cycle). It's the same during a stressful situation: when being chased by a tiger, we don't need our digestive system as much as we need our lungs. So the body directs resources away from digestion and towards other spots temporarily.
Please note that most large farms are required by law to use chemical pesticides, so shopping at a farmers market doesn't guarantee that produce will be free of chemicals. You have to check with each farmer, and usually it'll only be the smaller ones that have completely "clean" produce.
HEAL ATTACHMENT STYLE WOUNDS/Nervous System.
The insecure attachment styles — fearful, avoidant, anxious — might be linked to PMDD intensity.
I first saw this idea on a reddit forum. And when I did some thinking, I realised that a lot of my fearful triggers were also my PMDD triggers. And a lot of my attachment style coping reactions/protest behaviors…were ENHANCED during luteal. Which makes sense: these things are also survival strategies. Survival isn't always pretty. So I truly think — and have experienced — that healing attachment wounds can reduce PMDD severity.
At the very least, it stops us from going to the deep depths of despair because, while healing attachment patterns, we develop some cool tools. Stuff like "Stop thoughts" is a useful one.
And then sometimes, this can also look like healing the nervous system. If we're always in fight-or-flight, or freeze, it takes a lot out of our bodies. To reset the nervous system, some people recommend dunking your face in cold water each morning, or doing some rebounding at night. Myself? I use a lot of distractions (kdrama's) to give me time to process things, stretching, lymphatic massage, and nature walks (nature exposure is great for overall health).
While I will write a separate article about healing attachment styles, there's two things that are super important: learning what our needs are, and learning to set healthy boundaries. Everyone has needs (things that help us feel safe and cared for), and boundaries are supposed to help us stay safe by using healthy communication. Prioritizing these things can help a LOT with PMDD symptoms because it gives us a sense of autonomy.
Prioritize a good sleep routine.
This is kind of a no-brainer. We, as a species, need good sleep. Studies show that sleep deprivation (even if we just got up a lot during the night) is really bad for our bodies. The results from animal studies…are so horrifying that this is why they don’t do a lot of human studies on sleep deprivation. Yes - it's that bad for us and other animals.
Anyways. I've always found that when my sleep routine is good, my PMDD symptoms are gone or much improved.
Some tips to help get a good sleep routine going are the following:
- maintain a constant bed time
- don't use the bed for anything other than sleeping
- no exciting movies/books/media 2 hours before bed (it releases cortisol, which takes 2 hours to clear the bloodstream)
- no food/water 3-5 hours before bed
- no caffeine 5-7 hours before bed
- lower the lights one hour before your sleep time, and use the "night" filter on your phone after 8pm (it uses orange light instead of blue)
- keep a consistent routine: brush teeth, dim the light, get out your book, always in the same order. These become cues that your body will pair with sleep
No over OR under exercising.
When we exercise, it’s considered a stress by the body — it releases cortisol. The only issue for women is that our progesterone, a hormone that our bodies produce during luteal phase, is built by the same stuff that cortisol is. But, funny story — cortisol will win the resource battle if there aren’t enough resources to make both cortisol and progesterone.
AKA? Our body will end up in a hormone imbalance (progesterone vs estrogen) if we’re already stressed and then add too much more by exercising. The body likes to keep a general balance to these, so that's a big problem!
So I've found that it's necessary to abandon tough workout plans if I'm already too stressed that day, or woke up feeling low energy. Instead, I often changed my plans to something like a short walk, or even just some stretching.
There's also been suggestion that there are best types of exercise for each cycle phase (luteal/follicular/ovulation/period). I didn't find this to matter too much, though, because I tried to listen to what my body told me each day instead. If I had wanted to go hard at leg day but didn't have the energy, i did a gentle walk/run instead. On the few days that I ignored my body and pushed through, that's when I got injured or had PMDD symptoms return. Always listen to your body on any given day.
IT IS OKAY TO TAKE A REST DAY OR NOT DO AS MUCH. We're not competing against anyone else.
TCM Acupuncture/Self-Massage/Food Properties.
A long time ago, I searched up what TCM had to say about period health and found out that there are different categories (like Qi Stagnation). Each of those came with different pressure points, herbs, and lifestyle recommendations. So I tried to follow the ones that matched my symptoms, and it led to a reduction in symptoms over time.
Emphasis: OVER TIME. TCM is a long term strategy, not a quick fix. I couldn't ever afford acupuncture, but I wonder a lot if it would have been even more effective? It's also something to try at your own risk. I felt confident experimenting on myself with the self-massage because I overthink and read a LOT of information on things, but you're not me. This is definitely an area where you should check with your health team before you try anything.
Similarly, TCM also ascribes different properties to foods — hot/warm/cold. We are supposed to avoid hot property foods when we're our periods (basically processed stuff), as well as “actual” cold stuff (ice water, ice cream, etc). Consuming hot property foods/drinks, as well as actually cold food/drinks, ALWAYS caused issues for me. Yes - I tested it a few times. Ice cream = really bad cramps within 30 minutes. As soon as I got close to day 1, I avoided those things.
Low Histamine.
There is some discussion in groups out there that histamine competes with estrogen in the liver, aka…causing estrogen to soar because histamine sorta wins and prevents estrogen from being cycled out properly. I don’t remember the full technical explanation (I’m sure it’s searchable). But many women I’ve read PMDD stories from, have talked about how things got better when they took their antihistamine, or worse when they had a bunch of allergies during luteal.
Myself? Many of my luteal migraines seem to come from either too much histamine, or too many carbs. I once went to make myself a lovely “healing” breakfast of bone broth, and some shrimp. I didn’t even think about it at the time…I thought I was doing a nice thing for myself. But the histamine was so high for both of these that I ended up with the worst migraine I had had in years.
Quercetin is what I take in a pinch when that happens (not a long term solution!) although prevention is better. Nettle tea can also help a little bit. But, generally, I try to eat fresh…or cook and freeze. I don't eat leftovers that have been in the fridge longer than 3 to 4 days. I eat a mix of low and moderate histamine foods, and do my best to avoid the high histamine ones. By doing all of this, it keeps my histamine bucket fairly under control and I listen to my body when it’s showing signs that I’ve gone overboard.
Also remember: histamine is a protective thing, too! So when we have too much, and all the time, it can also mean there's a problem in the body. Parasites, candida, inflammation, toxins - it could be many things. But if we're always reaching for the antihistamine, it's possibly a deeper issue that needs more attention.
Strengthen your PSOAS/ABS/GLUTES.
Our psoas muscle can get very tight, very fast, if we live a mostly sedentary lifestyle (8 hours in an office job, anyone?). But stretching it can sometimes make the problem worse/give us lower back pain! This is because the muscle is tight AND weak, so stretching it alone does...nothing good.
So given that muscle differences and lower back pain (the psoas connects to the lower back) can be PMDD symptoms…it’s not rocket science what could be happening here. The muscle is probably weak and/or tight in the wrong ways, so it's causing strain for the lower back.
The best solution I've found is to start strengthening the PSOAS and the places they interact with (abs, and glutes/medial glutes is always a good idea).
There aren't many videos that show just strengthening — most try to get people to stretch. But one exercise I remember doing was laying down on the back, putting a leg up in the air, twisting the ankle outwards to a 45ish degree, and then lower the leg to the side for sets/reps. The leg will shake from the effort of it if the psoas are weak. I try not to push it too hard, and build up more sets/reps over time.
Every bit of strengthening helps, and it's not a race!
ONLY DRINK GOOD WATER!!!!
This one is in bold and with exclamation marks because I just learned this the hard way. I thought I had learned my lesson in Mexico (long story for another post). But I guess I didn't after all.
I was drinking the well water in Canada for two years, and recently noticed my plants - who drank the same water as me - were suffering no matter what I did. They also had this weird orange residue building up on the surface of their soil.
Um, yeah...that residue was orange mold. You read that right. And I was drinking it. Judging from the other symptoms I had, too, I suspect there was also super high flouride and heavy metals.
So I immediately switched to spring water and suddenly...every physical symptom that I was having trouble with for the past year (such as a serious candida overgrowth that responded to nothing) has gone away within ONE WEEK of the switch. One week. I'm in shock. It was that easy the whole time - it was the water!
So once again: when we reduce our physical inflammation, it helps the body cope with...literally everything else. As I said above, our cells need resources. If they have to compete, they'll ask for more. And if we can't physically give them more, problems happen.
Also, high flouride can contribute to thyroid diseases, so it's not a good idea to have too much of it. And for those who don't know: the thyroid *can* impact the reproductive system, too. So right now, I'm drinking a spring water that has 0ppm flouride. The strange thing is that...my tea is more flavourful than I remember it being, too. As if there's less gunk in the water, meaning more room for the tea, and more benefit for me. It's been an amazing discovery, for sure.
Conclusions
That’s all I can think of for now. If I remember I’ve forgotten something, I’ll edit it in later. But the important part to all of the above is this: always listen to your own body and check in with medical practitioners if you’re not sure about something.
Above all, I hope you can find a way to put your PMDD (or a loved ones’ PMDD) into remission. It’s hellish to live with - I've been there, and I'll never forget the early days of it. But always remember that it’s also partially related to resources, and how safe the environment is around us, so there isn’t always a whole lot that can be done. I didn't go into those socio-economic factors here because I didn't want this to get too long. But don’t blame yourself for things you cannot control. Work on the things that you can change, instead.
But above all: Don’t give up on yourself. The body will usually try to heal if we give it the tools to do so. Keep trying your best to find something that works for you; keep hoping that the good days will become the norm. Our bodies are our friends.