Once a Month: Understanding and Treating PMS

Rating:
Summary: Once a Month: Understanding and Treating PMS
Review: This is a very very important book for anyone who suffers or lives with someone who suffers from severe PMS. It saved my life. I have read the other books on the topic, (Lark etc...) written more recently and many of them offer sound advice. However, Dr. Dalton pioneered this area, and those works are informed by her research. In some ways she remains ahead of her time. She gives a thorough description of her research and her experience successfully treating this disease. After reading this you will find that you know more about this disease than some mainstream doctors who you would seek assistance from. Take Heart! Do not give up. Do not get discouraged by a doctor's rudeness, mysogyny or ignorance. I know how upsetting it can be. It's okay. Just find another doctor... keep trying. Look for someone with a "wholistic" attitude who is either more informed or open to being informed. Dr. Dalton stresses the importance of natural progesterone. This is widely misunderstood in mainstream medicine. They will tell you that, "studies show progesterone does not work." One such recently publicized study involved taking progesterone ORALLY. This is something Dr. Dalton explains is ineffective. And despite those studies, I finally found that taking progesterone... the right kind, an adequate dose, and in the right form has transformed my life. I had already tried special vitamins, exercise, wild yam cream, zoloft, and other natural progesterone creams to no avail. This transformation began after I read Dalton's book went to a wholistic M.D. who would LISTEN to me, and who knew a pharmacist who could formulate a cream with adequate levels. She than told me what brand to use when I was unable to see that pharmacist (not located in the town I live) So I began using Emerita Pro-Gest cream, and both really really helped. You have to be vigilant about using it every morning and every night, except a few days out of your cycle. I have experience a little spotting which I never experience without the cream. This is one of the creams side effects, and something I have decided I can live with. Diet, exercise, light therapy, supplements, or antidepressants can all be helpful but will not necessarily do the trick for you. Also, Dr. Northrup's book Women's Bodies Women's Wisdom is very helpful. She is an american M.D. who also discusses the protocol for treating PMS w/ natural progesterone. If you suffer from the low-blood sugar, Dr. Jekyll Mr. Hyde... severe depression/disabling type of PMS... PLEASE do yourself a favor and get your hands on these two books any way you can! Also, try to find a medical doctor who will listen to you and who is educated. If nothing else educate yourself. Good Luck, and don't give up hope! This book should be your starting point.

Rating:
Summary: Not bad, but not great
Review: While there's some good advice in this book, i was a little disappointed. Dalton clearly knows her subject, but in spite of her interesting chapter on the fight to get PMS recognized as a physical, not a psychological, problem, her book treats PMS mostly from a psychological and sociological point of view. Many many pages cover relationships, impact of PMS on the family and workplace, studies of girls' school examination performance at different times of their cycles, etc. etc.

Meanwhile, real medical advice is somewhat scanty. There's a good chapter about menopause, but its relevance is marginal. Exercise is barely mentioned, and the advice about insomnia (lie peacefully and "think happy thoughts"?! That's IT?!) set my teeth on edge.

Strengths of this book: the dietary advice, for maintaining an even blood sugar level, is rather good. Niels Lauersen, in his unfortunately out-of-print "PMS" book, took a different approach, that of combining carbohydrates with protein, but Dalton's "Three-Hourly Starch Diet" might be excellent for some women's metabolisms. And the symptom section covers headaches quite well.

In other words, it depends on what you're looking for. If you are interested in researching the topic of PMS, Dalton is undeniably "the foremost authority on PMS," and the book would rate 5 stars. On a practical level, i can't give it more than 3.

Rating:
Summary: Not bad, but not great
Review: While there's some good advice in this book, i was a little disappointed. Dalton clearly knows her subject, but in spite of her interesting chapter on the fight to get PMS recognized as a physical, not a psychological, problem, her book treats PMS mostly from a psychological and sociological point of view. Many many pages cover relationships, impact of PMS on the family and workplace, studies of girls' school examination performance at different times of their cycles, etc. etc.

Meanwhile, real medical advice is somewhat scanty. There's a good chapter about menopause, but its relevance is marginal. Exercise is barely mentioned, and the advice about insomnia (lie peacefully and "think happy thoughts"?! That's IT?!) set my teeth on edge.

Strengths of this book: the dietary advice, for maintaining an even blood sugar level, is rather good. Niels Lauersen, in his unfortunately out-of-print "PMS" book, took a different approach, that of combining carbohydrates with protein, but Dalton's "Three-Hourly Starch Diet" might be excellent for some women's metabolisms. And the symptom section covers headaches quite well.

In other words, it depends on what you're looking for. If you are interested in researching the topic of PMS, Dalton is undeniably "the foremost authority on PMS," and the book would rate 5 stars. On a practical level, i can't give it more than 3.