Question: What is menstrual magnification?
Answer: Menstrual magnification is a phrase used to describe the increasing intensity of the symptoms of nonmenstrual conditions during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle. Women who have migraine headaches, seizure disorders, irritable bowel syndrome, chronic fatigue syndrome, asthma or allergies frequently experience menstrual magnification of their symptoms prior to menstruation. The symptoms of mental illnesses, including clinical depression and anxiety disorders, may also increase during the days before the onset of monthly menstruation. The symptoms of many other chronic physical and emotional conditions often become worse prior to your monthly period as well.
Menstrual magnification is one reason for keeping a menstrual cycle calendar of symptoms experienced throughout the menstrual cycle. PMS or PMDD can be diagnosed only when symptoms occur only during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle. Symptoms that occur during the follicular phase of the menstrual cycle must be diagnosed as something other than PMS or PMDD.
If you have a chronic physical or mental illness with symptoms that seem to intensify prior to the start of menstruation, talk to your physician about your treatment options.
Source:
Evalution and Management of Premenstrual Syndrome; Journal of American Pharmaceutical Association 41 (3):437-447, 2001; http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/406735_1; accessed 07/17/08.
