From my experience with Chinese medicine and acupuncture, most women have no idea that there is a better way to treat PMS than using pain killers. Most woman, if having severe cramps will go to the doctor and will find themselves being told the same things, its normal and here is a prescription. This will help but I know more people in general are tired of taking pills for every little thing. This is also not helping the baseline problem of why you are having severe cramping in the first place.
Typically, stress is going to cause many PMS signs. So this is typically the underlying problem. In Chinese medicine terminology, this is called liver qi stagnation. When you have this diagnosis, you will see headaches near the temples, irritability, breast tenderness, pain in the rib area around the lower abdomen. During the period there can be larger clots, dark blood,irregular cycle, and heavy flow.
Liver qi stagnation is very common in men and woman especially in the States due to the hectic lifestyles. First, acupuncture works wonders while dealing with all of these symptoms. Usually if you come into my office with cramps the pain will most likely be gone by the time you leave my office. Most of my patients are incredibly thankful when they leave. There are also a few good herbal formulas that can help with keeping the liver qi moving smoothly and keep those symptoms to a minimum. The best formula is called Xiao yao san. This can be taken for months at a time due to the mild herbs that are in the formula. I don’t recommend going out and buying this formula until you have been diagnosed by a trained Chinese medicine practitioner. There may be other things going on that must be addressed as well.
Lastly, to keep the stress at bay I recommend exercise, meditation, yoga, or qi gong. These all help move the qi and keep you feeling good physically and emotionally.