What causes dizziness, headache after one’s period?
What you need to know:
- A healthy diet with minimal salt or sugar, avoiding caffeine and alcohol, regular exercise to improve health and fitness, addressing stress and regular sleep may, just like in premenstrual tension syndrome, control the post menstrual tension.
Nowadays, whenever my period ends, I suffer from dizziness, headache, and feel like vomiting when I see food. This started last year and although I have been to several hospitals, I have not been helped. What could be the problem? Ruth
Dear Ruth,
What most women of childbearing age are used to is the physical, psychological and behavioural symptoms (bloating, breast pain, mood swings, acne, swollen feet, difficulty sleeping, one sided headache most associated with nausea or vomiting, and feeling tired, among many other symptoms) preceding periods. This is known as premenstrual tension syndrome (PMT).
These symptoms, usually blamed on cyclic changes in sex hormones involved in periods, insufficient amounts of serotonin, (the feel-good hormone) in the brain that plays a crucial role in mood states, may start about two weeks before a period and usually improve when the period starts.
Some women, however, may have the same physical, emotional and behavioural symptoms one to two weeks after the period has ended (post menstrual syndrome). The only difference between pre and post menstrual syndrome is that post menstrual syndrome occurs after the menstruation cycle for that month has ended.
A healthy diet with minimal salt or sugar, avoiding caffeine and alcohol, regular exercise to improve health and fitness, addressing stress and regular sleep may, just like in premenstrual tension syndrome, control the post menstrual tension. If not, one may require visiting their doctor for help.
