Male PMS – Is There Such A Thing?

To begin with this sounds like a contradiction of terms, because quite simply men do not menstruate, so how can they undergo pre-menstrual stress!

But, in fact there is a condition that is colloquially termed as male PMS, which is also known as the Irritable Male Syndrome. This a condition that men suffer from and which has symptoms similar to female PMS which is characterized by irritability, mood swings, hot flashes, and even stomach cramps!

Male PMB or Irritable Male Syndrome (IMS) is not monthly in nature and women’s PMS is because men don’t have a monthly cycle the way that women do. Rather men experience IMS at any time since the hormone cycle is daily in nature.

Typically a man may feel the symptoms early in the morning, which may taper off later in the day. It is the drop in levels of the hormone testosterone in the system that causes the symptoms of IMS.

There are a number of symptoms that could signify that a man could be having this problem:

  • Anger is an emotion men may feel
  • The feeling of anxiety, sometimes unexplained anxiety
  • Irritability or what may commonly be referred to as crabbiness
  • Hypersensitivity to a seemingly innocuous occurrence or statement
  • Certain aches and pains such as headaches and backaches are noted. Even stomach cramps can happen (no wonder it is called male PMS)
  • IMS is caused by falls in levels of testosterone so this can result in lack of sexual arousal and sexual dysfunction
  • Hot flashes are also experienced by certain men
  • There may be the tendency to be antisocial and depressed
  • There may be some difficulty concentrating

The levels of the male hormone testosterone are seen to rise and fall each day; however normal rise and fall does not give rise to IMS symptoms; certain specific causes of the condition have been observed however:

  • Certain medications can interfere with the production of  testosterone  or its levels in the body
  • Certain illnesses can cause the fluctuations in hormone levels
  • Stress and/or lack of sleep could be other causes that may be responsible for hormone fluctuations
  • Having an unbalanced diet, a very poor diet, or crash dieting (consuming too few calories) could cause the hormones to get unbalanced
  • Consuming too much alcohol can have a deleterious effect on the hormones
  • A recent surgery could be the cause of IMS.