You know, because of the war of the sexes, PMS can be a taboo subject. PMS is like a dirty word to some individuals -because it's another way to struggle over power. Friends and relatives are usually more willing to discuss how it's affecting them and people around them. In a romantic relationship, it turns into stealth warfare. I can honestly say, everything I have ever learned about dealing with it backfires at some point. It's very unique to the person; it comes in a wide variety of symptoms, modes, attitudes, and behaviors. The most painful of them all for me has been: Emotional Amnesia

I try to be as open minded about "that time of the month" as humanly possible. I will say in defense of all women who suffer from PMS, if there are real problems going on in life, and in the relationship, many of these issues aggravate PMS. Coming from the point of view of complete ignorance about "PMS Days", to the dreaded awareness of its clock like effects on my heart, I for a long time believed it was "all my fault".

Because I keep a journal, I started noticing it was always the same days of the month that upsets were happening in my relationships. -I mean 95% of the time. I was starting to think it would spoil every good relationship I had. Finally I met a woman who was very proactive against her own PMS. She was very aware of it. I thought I was home free. Our communication became comfortable, but always mutually respectful. 3-months into our relationship on "PMS Day" she became extremely verbally abusive out of the blue, seemingly over nothing. I was stunned. Sure enough, on the Sunday she got her period, she said something no other girl had said to me before:

"I am sorry, and very embarrassed by the way I acted towards you."

I was 100% relieved. She made a complete 180 without blaming me, and without trying to just sweep it under the rug like it was nothing. Even though I was stunned she could verbally turn on me (we had never argued before), I felt it was awesome she could make a genuine retraction and that we could "snap back" into a beautiful place. Expect, from then on PMS week became a terrible struggle in the relationship, until we finally split up. It was during "PMS Week" 3-months later.

Not to go much deeper than that, but she had other health issues that seemed to aggravate the symptoms. Either way, generally I feel like there is no one right way of coping with it. Its just a matter of is this person worth being upset over 12-24 weeks out

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