What are the types of PMS?
PMS-A (A = anxiety) is the most common symptom category and is found to be strongly associated with excessive estrogen and deficient progesterone levels during the premenstrual phase. Common symptoms of patients in this category are anxiety, irritability, and emotional instability. PMS-C (C = carbohydrate craving) is associated with increased appetite, craving for sweets, headache, fatigue, fainting spells, and heart palpitations. Glucose tolerance tests (GTT) performed on PMS-C patients during the five to ten days before their menses show a flattening of the early part of the curve (which usually implies excessive secretion of insulin in response to sugar consumption), whereas during other parts of the menstrual cycle their GTT is normal. Currently, there is no clear explanation for this phenomenon, although an increased cellular capacity to bind insulin has been postulated. This increased binding capacity for insulin appears to be hormonally regulated, but other factors may also be i
