I’m not on any hormonal birth control, I have regular cycles, I do “cycle syncing” and have a good diet and exercise routine to keep my hormones balanced. Because of all that, my PMS is much milder than it used to be.

But I still get excessively emotional and cause relationship problems during that part of my cycle. I get super sad and have spiraling thoughts, I don’t know how to control it, and I cry and feel awful. To make matters worse, it results in me accidentally being disrespectful and problematic to my man, and when I realize what I’ve done, it fuels the negative self-talk in my head and it’s like a never-ending cycle.

My bf said I act nothing like my normal self during PMS and it hurts him to see me that way. I said I was sorry and said I could try to not show it as much. Then he said this: “Sweetheart I don’t want you to hide anything from me. I want you to deal with it as best you can, don’t tolerate that negative self talk, be aware of unnecessarily amplified feelings when pms, and when you can’t handle anymore you come talk to me.”

He’s the sweetest. I will do my best to do what he said, but I wanted to also get some advice from women who might have practical tips from their own experience.

So, I have two questions: 1. What can I do to prevent/handle PMS better, both for my own sake and for the relationship? 2. Is there a biological purpose for PMS? The hormones we get when we’re ovulating have the biological purpose of making us hornier and more attractive, for procreation. What could the purpose of PMS hormones be, and if there is one, how can I use them in a good way?