‘Runaway hormones turn me into a three-headed monster’
Patricia van Liemt is a radio presenter, writer and mother of Maria (13) and Phaedra (10). Every Friday she writes striking, honest, funny and above all recognizable columns about her life and motherhood.
I’ve been jokingly saying about my *PMS period for several years now that I’m the devil’s competition. But suddenly everything is clear to me…
Remember that 1990s ad saying “Beverage kills more than you love?” Replace “booze” with “PMS” and you’ve got the answer to many relationship problems. And no, I’m not going to put all the blame on our hormone system, but I’m afraid it’s had more of an influence on my behavior than I’d like.
Hormones out of control
Close friends will describe me as ‘spunky’, ‘nice’ and as ‘strong character’. I think I have the latter too, but once a month – reinforced by those runaway hormones – I turn into a three-headed monster. Not fun for my family members, but certainly not for myself. It seems like all emotions on steroids and want to assert themselves all at the same time. They fall hard over each other on their way out and there are a lot of proverbial injuries.
“I have been jokingly saying for years that I am the devil’s competition during my PMS period”
I underestimated these hormones for far too long. Because they have quite a lot of influence on our behavior, feeling and emotions. This has everything to do with the effect that hormones have on the brain as neurotransmitters. And these so-called neurotransmitters again have a very important function in our brain. Because these regulate, for example, our moods, appetite, sleep and our response to pain.
Cabin in the woods
Okay, so I don’t feel like seeing that too sharp side of myself at work a few days a month. I try to sense it, but sometimes it’s too late and I don’t find out until I’m way too sharp again in a conversation with hubby. And well, I don’t see it happening in practice to retire to a cabin on the moor every month, so I enlisted help. Fortunately, there are more and more so-called women’s clinics in the Netherlands that support you to look for a solution together.
Sometimes that’s old-fashioned contraception and sometimes it’s possible with homeopathic remedies. I just called them and made an appointment. They just didn’t have a spot until next month. You have been warned….
* With premenstrual syndrome you get physical and psychological complaints every time
before you get your period.
Would you rather listen to Patricia’s column? Which can. Every Sunday between 4 and 6 pm she reads it on Wild FM.
