Spiritual Symptoms of PMS

If you have PMS or are in peri-menopause, you likely already know the physical  and emotional symptoms of hormones gone wild.  Before age 40 common symptoms are acne, anxiety, bloating/weight gain, cramps, crying, food cravings, head and back aches, mental fuzziness, tender breasts and occasional outbursts of craziness. Oh yes, and if you are over age 30, a declining interest in sex.

After age 40, a few other symptoms can surface as your body prepares for mental pause, I mean menopause:  Achy  joints, hot flashes, teflon brain (nothing sticks), lackluster skin, wrinkles, vaginal dryness, and the gathering of fat around your middle like a bowl-full of jelly.   Oh yes, and almost NO interest in sex (but read the book I co-authored with my friend Linda Dillow, Intimate Issues, because it’s important for your marriage and your health to keep intimacy with your husband alive:  Come on, ladies, you can do this!)

But what are the spiritual symptoms of PMS?  I define spiritual symptoms as those symptoms which are predictable, reoccurring and tied to a woman’s menstrual cycle in which she experiences anguish in her soul or in her relationship with God.   These symptoms include bouts of depression, self-doubt, intense anger or hatred towards herself or others, thoughts of self harm (suicide, cutting, drug/alcohol abuse), feeling distant from God, and a paralysis in her spirit that prevents her from making decisions or feeling purpose and direction in her life.  Some may call these “psychological symptoms,” but please understand, often there’s a whole lot more going on here than just mixed-up thinking–you may be involved in a spiritual battle.

Think back to the few weeks before your last period.  Did you suffer any of the symptoms I just described?  Did these symtpms subside a few days after you started your period?  If so, you may be suffering from the spiritual symptoms of PMS.  The source of these symptoms and the way you deal with them requires a different approach than dealing with the physical and emotional symptoms.  That’s what my new book is all about:  Confessions of a PMS-Crazed Saint. 

So, is there anything you can do to make these symptoms better?  Yes!  Oh my, yes.  I’ll offer tips here so come back next month, but you can also get the book and start making some changes right now that will help you feel better and more focused.  I promise you, what’s in Confessions will surprise you!  (Like a Bible study.  Come on Lorraine, are you for real?  Can a Bible study make my PMS and peri-menopause symptoms better???  You’d better believe it `cause it’s true–or at least so say the 1,500 women I surveyed.)

Confessions of a PMS-Crazed Saint

Stressed spelled backwards is desserts. To reverse the signs of stress, eat chocolate (70% coaco is healthier)

When hormones take you on a wild ride, go sledding. The ride is more fun.

For over thirty-five years the swing of hormones made me a little crazy.  For three years, I didn’t breathe.  Nearly every waking moment was spent urgently seeking answers for myself, and for other women.  I immersed myself in research, writing, and prayer.  Please God, give me Your words, Your wisdom, for Your women.  

Now, I breathe, and I present to you the gift of my labor:  Confessions of a PMS-Crazed Saint, Easing the Spiritual Symptoms of PMS and Peri-menopause.  May what you read in this new book affirm in your spirit that yes, indeed, you have immense value and you can walk closely with God–even when hormones make you feel a little whacked-out.