The Myth of PMS

[Plato]

PMS obviously isn't a myth. I want to know about synchronicity. That fascinates me.

I heard it's the reason camping was invented. Once a month the men of the tribe would look up, and say "The stars have aligned, the buffalo are moving. We must hunt!"

[Cyllya]

I once saw someone claim that PMS must have purely psychological causes since it doesn't occur as frequently in other parts of the world.

Diet having an affect on PMS makes sense. Even my mom, who is not someone who reads up on diet at all, was of the opinion that my period-related problems were due to low levels of some B vitamin. (I tried taking a supplement to see if it would help, but I can't seem to make it a habit.) Certainly it doesn't make sense that so many people naturally have "defective" bodies that are regularly in pain for no good reason. Why would we have evolved with that?! I've been trying to eat better, but I don't have the discipline.

I get really bad abdominal pains and a few other pains, plus occasionally nausea or depression, on the first day of my period. This is bad enough to interfere with my life, but I'm not sure it counts as PMS because it doesn't occur BEFORE menstruating. The week or so leading up to my period, I get the occasional twinge of stomach pain and mild depression, but it doesn't interfere with my life. In fact, it probably helps, because I'm bad at keeping track of when my period is going to be, and it provides a warning so I don't go to work and bleed all over everything. Add my situation to the pile of those contradicting the explanation in the articles.