Case Study – Severe PMS

Disabling PMS, Abnormal Periods: Which treatment would you prefer for your daughter?

At 10 years of age, a little girl starts menstruating. She feels sick. She bleeds heavy, with severe cramping and fatigue. Mom soothes her… “It will get better.” For 2 years, mom watches her dear daughter suffer…soothes and nurtures her. Finally at age 12, Mom decides that “THIS” is not normal…something is wrong with my baby. I will take her to a doctor based in true science, a medical doctor.

Why two years? There is a cultural belief and acceptance that menstruation is often “normally” painful, or at least uncomfortable. Common, yes…normal, NO! In fact, a patient recently remarked at a comment I made about resolving her cramping… “What…you can have a period without those?”

Mom takes her daughter to the doctor. Doctor: “I see, I see…well, we have just the thing for you. They are called birth control pills (for a 12 year old!). They will regulate your cycle very quickly.”

Results:

Her 12 year old begins bleeding (hemorrhaging!) continuously for a month. They stop the pills. They visit another doctor…who suggests birth control pills. They go home crushed.

So she “learns to live with it” for the next 8 years…during which her hair begins to thin, and her beard begins to thicken. She learns to wax. The pills seemed to “shut off” her cycle, as now she only menstruates 2 times per year, with severe blood clots and cramping. The rest of the year, she has a week per month of moodiness, more severe fatigue, and cramping to a slightly lesser extent. But no menstruation. And…she gains 40 pounds while watching her diet and exercising regularly.

At age 20, she tries again. Another doctor…another prescription for birth control pills. Results: In a few days she is bleeding again…and it continues for another month. So she stops and begins researching “alternative medicine.”

It didn’t work, now what

She drives 90 minutes one direction to finally get someone to tell her WHY this is happening. During the history, she shares that she has frequent abdominal cramping, daily neck and back pain, and if she is exposed to perfumes, she gets a severe headache.

When we consider symptoms as MESSAGES, these messages tell us she has a problem with inflammation and detoxification. While you might not prefer perfumes, they should not make you ill…unless your capacity to remove breathed, absorbed, and ingested chemicals… is impaired.

Nobody had run labs on her! Her doctors had one play in their playbook, birth control pills, for this set of symptoms, so why perform diagnostics. We ran a full system lab and found her inflammation levels were 30X the healthy limit! We found a pattern of hypoglycemia and adrenal exhaustion, and her thick, low density cholesterol (LDL) was 187, which is more a normal reading for TOTAL CHOLESTEROL! (LDLs should be less than 120, ideally) This suggested that her liver and gall bladder were congested and toxic.

Did you know…

The last week of a full female cycle, the week before menstruation, is LIVER TIME. The hormones that are released, peaking at day 21, are now scheduled to be bound up in the liver and released for elimination. An inability of the liver to efficiently “bind and eliminate” is a common cause of PMS symptoms.

Now we have the “Right Diagnosis!” Toxicity leading to severe inflammation, and after 10 years of struggle and suffering, adrenal gland hypofunction (low adrenal hormones, adrenal exhaustion, adrenal insufficiency)

The body detoxifies daily. What you eliminate in the toilet is not only a product of digestion, but of detoxification. The basic needs of this process are amino acids (protein) and B-vitamins.

It is well established that the efficiency of binding and eliminating is influenced by genetics, and if you are a genetically SLOW estrogen metabolizer…you have a predilection for estrogen disorders (breast cancer, fibroids, PMS). It is also becoming more established that with targeted B-Vitamin therapy, you call all but vanquish your genetic tendencies towards these diseases.

Kinesiology

Using applied kinesiology, we have instantaneous “biofeedback” that suggests what decreases (or increases) body stress. Muscle testing is an amazing method for identifying these genetic needs, which we identified as folate in her case. This will help her body’s natural “weak link” perform at a much higher level.

We also used dandelion root and milk thistle. Dandelion root has a 3000 year recorded history of use for menstrual pain and irregularity. But, nope, no “scientific” evidence. Milk thistle has 653 journal references on the National Library of Medicine (NLM)…but none related to female cycle abnormalities.

Not letting “science” obstruct our view, we proceeded with treatment, along with some traditional adrenal support nutrients and plant medicines. And I adjusted her neck and back, which actually has MORE scientific support (17 references on NLM) for use with PMS than these traditional medicines!

Results: TWO weeks later…her energy has increased dramatically. She rated her energy initially as 1-2 out of 10, with 10 being awesome, optimal energy…and now at 5-6 / 10. Her neck pain is gone, and her back and stomach pain are “much better.” It may take several cycles for her hormones to normalize and have a normal cycle, but the MESSAGES of inflammation and imbalance are quieting already.

So…which method do you want for YOUR precious daughter!? Do you want to stick with “science?” Or would you choose the RESULTS of healing traditions, detailed diagnostics, and natures medicines?