PMS Health Center

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What seems like PMS can sometimes be caused by another condition. It's important to know, because your treatment options will be different if your symptoms aren't actually linked to premenstrual hormone changes. The best way to learn whether your symptoms are premenstrual is to know when you ovulate (the day you ovulate is the start of your premenstrual phase). Keep track of ovulation days, a daily record of your symptoms, and menstrual bleeding days in a menstrual diary(What is a PDF document?). There are many ways to record symptoms so you can find one that works for you.

You can most accurately pinpoint your ovulation day by monitoring your cervical mucus, your basal body temperature (BBT), and your luteinizing hormone (LH) changes with an ovulation test. Traditionally, ovulation was thought to happen 14 days before the next menstrual period, or on day 15 of a 28-day cycle. But ovulation dates often vary from woman to woman and from month to month.