PMS is a touchy subject, but a very popular acronym. If you do a search on Twitter or Facebook you’ll come across PMS related jokes and complaints every single minute. Men and women seem to really enjoy the various humorous versions of those three letters: “Pass My Shotgun,” “Pissy Mood Syndrome,” “Potential Murder Suspect,” just to name a few.

Humor is wonderful. It makes us laugh and keeps us entertained. Yet under the veil of humor is a painful reality. It is estimated that 90% of all women deal with the aches, pains and emotional stress of Premenstrual Syndrome, or PMS, at some time during their reproductive years. 30% to 40% of all women have symptoms severe enough to interfere with their everyday lives. The most painful among those include depression, drastic mood swings, outbursts of anger, violence, and thoughts of suicide.

Perhaps that’s why PMS has become such a cultural, social and commercial phenomenon. There are millions of articles out there educating us about how painful menstrual periods can be, and what a wonderful world it would be – for both men and women – if women could control or even get rid of their periods. Currently more than 100 million women worldwide take birth control pills. More than 600,000 hysterectomies (the surgical removal of the uterus) are performed every year, making it one of the most commonly performed surgical procedures in the United States.

But suppressing or getting rid of our menstrual cycles is not the solution for millions of women worldwide, probing in the dark, trying to figure out less invasive ways to alleviate their pain and suffering. It is a painstaking process of trial and error. The good news is that many women have found ways to effectively manage their PMS. Yet there is a loud and unfortunate silence from both women in pain and women who have stories to share.

That is the reason why CycleHarmony.com was born. It is a place for women to break the century-old silence, to share our pains and recommendations, and to learn from one another.

If you have a story, please share it. It may change someone’s life. It may change yours. It’s time. So let’s talk about it, seriously. Why not?

I am Zenolite. suppressing or getting rid of our menstrual cycles is not the solution for millions of women worldwide, probing in the dark, trying to figure out less invasive ways to alleviate their pain and suffering. It is a painstaking process of trial and error. The good news is that many women have found ways to effectively manage their PMS. Yet there is a loud and unfortunate silence from both women in pain and women who have stories to share. http://www.cycleharmony.com/