Your PMS Isn't One Thing

What your symptoms are actually trying to tell you, and why treating them all the same rarely works

This week we wrapped up this cohort of Rooted, the course & community I have co-created with Aneta Zubek and Natalia Myszkowska. My favorite part has been our monthly calls with the girls, and on those calls one pattern came up again and again. Almost every woman in this group had, at some point, been told their PMS and hormonal shifts were just normal, something to manage or push through, and been handed birth control as the answer without anyone asking what was actually driving the symptoms.

PMS is common. That doesn’t mean it’s one thing, or that the pill is the only lever available.

Here’s a piece of how we actually break it down inside Rooted.

A sneak peek inside our Rooted lesson on PMS

PMS covers a wide range of symptoms, and the type and intensity can shift from cycle to cycle, even for the same person. It typically shows up in the luteal phase, the two weeks before your period, and tends to ease once bleeding starts. Common symptoms include mood changes, irritability, breast tenderness, bloating, headaches, fatigue, cravings, sleep disruption, and cramps. When it significantly disrupts daily life, it can be classified as PMDD, a more severe form that needs additional support.

But “PMS” as a label flattens something that’s actually several different physiological pictures. Three women can all describe “bad PMS” and be living through three completely different mechanisms, which is exactly why a one-size-fits-all answer, whether that’s a supplement or a prescription, so often falls flat.

Photo by Vladislav Nahorny on Unsplash

The mood pattern

If your PMS shows up mostly as anxiety, irritability, or a low mood that arrives almost on schedule, that pattern tends to relate to elevated estrogen or testosterone in the luteal phase, or to the serotonin shifts that come with hormonal movement. This is the version that can make you feel like a different person for a week, snapping at things that wouldn’t normally bother you, crying at something small, feeling flat when you’re usually not. This is chemistry, not something you’re imagining, and not something you’re overreacting to.

Sleep, liver support, B vitamins (especially B6), magnesium, and nervous system regulation tend to make the most difference here, because they support the pathways your body uses to metabolize estrogen and produce serotonin in the first place.

The energy and cravings pattern

If it shows up as cravings, headaches, fatigue, or dizziness, that pattern often points more toward adrenal strain or low serotonin. This is the version where you feel like you’re running on empty in the second half of your cycle specifically, reaching for sugar because your body is genuinely asking for quick energy, not because anything is wrong with you.

Magnesium, B vitamins, adrenal support, protein, and omega-3s tend to help, because they address the depletion driving the craving instead of just fighting the craving itself.

The water retention pattern

And if your version is water retention, breast tenderness, weight fluctuation, or bloating, that can suggest estrogen dominance, shifts in aldosterone, or higher sugar intake. This is the version that can make you feel like your body doesn’t belong to you for a week, clothes fitting differently, feeling puffy no matter what you eat.

Liver support, cruciferous vegetables, magnesium, and adequate hydration matter most here, because the liver is what actually clears used estrogen out of your system, and when that pathway is sluggish, symptoms build.

Liver Support 101: Daily Habits That Make a Difference

Once you know which pattern is yours, PMS stops being a mystery you white-knuckle through every month and starts being information you can actually act on.

This is one piece of the Hormone Deep Dive inside Rooted, where we go a lot deeper on identifying your pattern and building the right protocol around it. Doors open again this fall. If you want to be first to know, the waitlist is open.

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In case you missed my previous Wholesome Wednesday article:

Thank you for being here. ✨ Whether you’ve just found this space or you’ve been reading for a while, I’m genuinely glad you’re here. 💛

If something resonated, sharing or restacking is the kindest thing you can do for this work. And if you or someone you know is ready to make sense of what’s going on in their body — hormones, blood sugar, energy — a free discovery call is the place to start.

Stay wholesome,

Karina, CFNC