Medical History for PMS

Exam Overview

Your medical history is an important tool for your doctor in determining whether you have premenstrual syndrome (PMS). Your medical history includes your:

• Record of your PMS symptoms, menstrual dates, and ovulation dates, if possible. It may help to keep a menstrual diary(What is a PDF document?).
• History of PMS-like symptoms.
• Menstrual history (age when you had your first period, problems related to menstruation such as cramping).
• Pregnancy history (whether you've had children, what your pregnancies and deliveries were like, and what kinds of birth control you've used).
• Family health history (female relatives with PMS).
• Sexual history, including sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

Based on the length and regularity of your menstrual cycles, your doctor will try to determine whether you are releasing an egg from the ovaries each month (ovulation).

Your doctor may also ask you about your mental health history, including:

• Past episodes of depression, bipolar disorder or mania, anxiety, panic attacks, or other mental illness.
• Current symptoms of depression, anxiety, panic attacks, personality disorder, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
• Family history of mental illness.
• History of depression after childbirth (postpartum depression).

PMS can cause emotional and behavioral symptoms similar to those of depression or ADHD, so it's important to find out whether you have one of these problems. Some of these problems can get worse during the premenstrual phase. If you have PMS as well as another disorder, you may need treatment for both conditions.