WARNING: PMS Now Being Treated By Pretty Prozac Pills

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) is the guidebook for diagnosing mental disorders. The fifth edition of the list of symptoms that allow doctors to label patients as mentally ill is now updated and will be released this month. According to the PMS Comfort Blog, the DSM V may allow symptoms associated with PMS to be included in the main section as an official mental disorder called Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder.

Since the beginning of time, women have dealt with the many emotional surges associated with their menstrual cycles and now doctors have created a remedy that they call SaraFem. SaraFem is a drug that can be issued to women who experience the normal symptoms of a woman's body cycle. The scary part is, according to the Katherine McCormick, the CEO of Australia based Utopia Research Institute, SaraFem is another form of the anti-anxiety drug Prozac, repackaged to appeal to women, a move Katherine calls "crazy" in itself.

Do not fall for this. You are a woman, you are supposed to experience the emotions of life. You are not mentally ill because you have the proper reproductive organs to reproduce. Do not accept this diagnosis which can not be measured in any scientific way and therefore can be handed out at the psychologist's whim in an effort to quell any complaints. Your symptoms will appear to disappear after taking this drug but that will be because you will be too high on the drug to experience them.

My Savvy Sisters don't take drugs to manage our emotions. We live them. We accept them. We handle our issues internally. ~Te-Erika Patterson

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The Hidden Symptoms of Breast Cancer and How to Reduce It

By Cathy Halls


There are many abnormalities that a woman might experience having to do with her breasts, but often, many don’t think that it’s anything to worry about. Here’s what you need to know about weird, painful or scary developments.

1. Breast Shape
The first symptom to look out for is a change in the shape or size of your breast. If this happens, a woman could have a tumor that is growing deep inside of her breast tissue. Therefore, always be looking for changes. Face a mirror and move your arms around so that you can see different angles of your breasts. Also, pay attention to whether or not it suddenly feels tighter than it previously did.

2. Pain in the Armpit
When a woman has a lot of pain underneath her arm, a doctor should have a look at it. This is because this is the first place that breast cancer develops. Usually, a woman can check for these symptoms with their fingertips very carefully. If a woman finds a lump that seems to be hard, and it will not move, this could be a sign of breast cancer. Also, the tissue under a woman's arms could be very dense compared to the tissue under the other armpit.

3. Changes in Nipples
If a woman starts to notice changes in her nipple, she should be alarmed. Since a tumor can change the appearance of the nipple, this is a big sign. Your nipple can also become inverted or flatter than it normally would be, compared to the other nipple. Plus, the nipple may be a lot more sensitive than normal. The nipple could also have blood coming out of it - if this doesn’t alarm you, I don’t know what will.

4. Sore Breasts
The fourth major symptom is when a woman's breasts become very sore or red. In fact, the skin on a breast might be very hot and irritated when touched. This is often a sign that the woman has inflammatory breast cancer. It’s the only type of breast cancer that is going to cause a woman's breast to become red and sore at the touch. The skin of the breast could also get dimples, along with some purplish areas that look like bruises.

5. Upper Back Pain
Most of the time, back pain is going to happen way before any of the other symptoms of breast cancer appear. The pain usually occurs between the shoulder blades. A lot of times, a woman is going to mistake this upper back pain for a pulled ligament or just sore muscles. This is going to be especially true if you do a lot of exercise. Don’t be fooled, get it checked out!


Reducing Breast Cancer

Nothing can totally prevent breast cancer, but studies have suggested that there are a few things that a woman can do to reduce the chances of getting it. The first thing is to limit the amount of alcohol that she drinks on a daily basis. Also, control your weight. Make sure you get plenty of physical activity on a daily basis, and also, believe it or not, breast feed when you have a baby. Lastly, avoid any kind of hormone therapy.

Cathy Halls writes about health, finance & saving money at www.dentalinsurance.net.

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3 Self-Defense Moves Women Need to Know

By Veronica Chase

With crime rates across our nation escalating, it is vital that everyone know how to protect themselves, especially women. While not every person needs to carry a gun for self-defense every woman should know a few basic self-defense moves. This way, should she ever become the victim of an attack, she will quickly be able to respond and protect herself. The following are three moves every woman should know.

1. Get the Eye
Just as the title states, this move does in fact mean to take an eye out. This doesn’t mean just to scratch at an attacker’s eyes or to claw at their face, but to absolutely without a doubt aim for their eye and go after it with a vengeance. To do this move, you need to actually take a finger and directly stick it into your attackers’ eye. Once you have your finger buried into their eye socket move your finger across the socket area. Such a move is going to cause your assailant some serious pain and discomfort and this will buy you the needed time for you to escape attacker and get away to a safe location.

2. Take the Jewels
Yep, we are referring to the family jewels here. Most of the time, an attacker is going to be male and we all know that male testicles are extremely sensitive and it is painful when they suffer a jarring blow. The issue with this technique is that while it is easy to try and hit the area, you may find that the attacker quickly blocks any hits to the area. With that in mind, try to up or down to get them. If you can, grab them and scream until you feel or hear a pop and then when your attacker slides to the ground in agony, make a run for it.

3. Don’t Forget the Ears
This is a move that definitely needs to be practiced. Make sure that you understand exactly how to carry it out. First, open your hands and cup them, just as if you were clapping at a football game. Then, slam them against your attackers’ ears. Sounds silly, right? Well, this action can cause your attacker to become extremely disorientated and in some cases, even cause excruciating pain from ear damage. Make sure that your hands are cupped so that when you slap your offender’s ear, a burst of air is forced into their ear canal.

These are all wonderful, but in general, you should also make sure that you are aware of your surroundings and try to prevent being out alone. In doing so, you are then lowering the likelihood of being attacked at all. However, also arm yourself with the tools needed to defend yourself should an attack happen. Learn the three moves mentioned and practice them until they are rooted in your mind.

Veronica Chase writes about safety, self-empowerment & saving money at www.homeownersinsurance.org.

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Use Glycerin For Healthy Teeth

When I had a problem with a toothache, a reader wrote in to offer advice about a product that she uses to help strengthen her teeth.

She wrote:

"Here's a suggestion buy a bottle of Glycerin. Either the '100% pure Vegetable Source' from a health supplement store, or a drugstore's 'USP' grade is fine. Brush your teeth with it, pure. It is a moderately sweet, intensely hygroscopic 3-carbon alcohol, somewhat syrupy in texture. You can swallow it, if you wish. In fact, a swish on the back of the tongue and swallow kills the sulfur-loving bacteria back there and instantly ends 'death breath'. The Glycerin will kill all bacteria in your mouth, and penetrate cavities, and filter down under the gumline and clean out periodontal disease bacteria, as well. When I figuered this out years ago. I had only a few loose teeth left. They immediately firmed up and I've had no problems since."


Glycerine, (COH)3H5, or C303H8, is a 3-carbon alcohol, aka glycerol. (1-carbon alcohol is methanol, 2-carbon is ethanol). It is non-volatile and intensely hygroscopic (water-loving), and can be rinsed off any surface with ordinary water.

It has recently been found to hasten cell maturation and suppress inflammation.

Here is a partial list of its uses:

• Reduces or eliminates any skin disturbance, from psoriasis to bug bites or burns. Apply the pure Glycerin USP form. Feels oily, vanishes into the skin in about 10 minutes (signals cells to open transport channels). Cuts off pain and itching by quieting injured cells, not a "nerve blocker".
• Doubles healing speed, cuts scarring in half.
• Carries most materials mixed with it into the skin, especially water. Mixed with water, an excellent moisturizer. (Principal component of most commercial preparations.)
• Pure form kills all bacteria on contact by instantly drawing the water out of them.
• Eliminates halitosis by killing sulfurous bacteria on back of tongue if swished and gargled. (Tastes slightly sweet.)
• De-congest nasal passages by rubbing a few drops of glycerine-water mix just inside the nostrils. Takes about 15 minutes to soften blockage and quiet agitated nasal passages, opening the airway.
• A teaspoon or two orally, or commercial glycerine suppositories, are a mild laxative.
• Softens and removes calluses.
• Being researched as a cancer cell "quieter", to prevent cells from proliferating.

To read more about the benefits of Glycerin read here.

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Don't Kill Your Salad With Salad Dressing

My Savvy Sisters care about our bodies. We understand that we are no longer teenagers and we must move away from the "If it tastes good, eat it" mentality. We've come to enjoy eating salads, however, we may be ignorant to the fact that most traditional salad dressings kill the nutritional value of our healthy choice.

Any combination of fruits and vegetables will make a healthy and fulfilling salad. When reviewing your choices for your salad dressing stay away from French dressing which has the highest calorie count. Ranch, Blue Cheese and Caesar dressing are also silent killers.

Try using oil and vinegar to accent your salad. Canola oil and Olive oils are your best choices. If your restaurant does not offer oil and vinegar, ask for fresh salsa to top your salad or visit your local grocery store and buy a box of Walden Farm's dressing packets to carry with you in your purse. Walden Farm's dressings contain no fat, calories, carbs or sugars of any kind.

You don't have to kill your salad to enjoy it. Just a small change in your eating habits will definitely increase your quality of life.

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Reiki Healing: What Is Reiki?

By Marlene Shiple, PhD.

Reiki is a spiritual practice of natural healing. It utilizes Universal life force energy to potentiate healing and balance within and around the person receiving treatment.

How Does Reiki Work?: Our bodies have Ki or Qi or Chi - the Universal life force - flowing through them. Our vital energy keeps us psychically, mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually in alignment within and without our self. In order for one to be in a healthy state of being, Ki/Chi/Qi has to flow freely in the body and emanate outwards.

What Happens in a Reiki Session?: In a Reiki treatment, a Reiki Practitioner uses his hands to send and transmit the Universal life force to those people, places, and things in need of Energy Balancing and Alignment. This allows those people, places, and things to either regain or maintain a healthy state. It is similar to other healing practices, such as the laying of hands or Pranic healing, both of which use the hands and Life force energy for healing.

How Is Reiki Transmitted?: The Reiki practitioner does this by placing their hands either directly on or above the person receiving the healing session. This is done to facilitate the transfer of the healing universal energy from the Reiki practitioner to the one receiving the treatment. Reiki stimulates the receiver's own healing energy. The receiver's body uses the Universal life force to accomplish self-healing.

How Does Reiki Help when Ki Is Low?: Reiki can also be used effectively when a person's Ki/Chi/Qi is low. A low level of Ki/Chi/Qi can result in a condition of stress, tension and illness - mentally, physically, and spiritually. When Ki/Chi/Qi is balanced and flows in a high optimum level, a person will be in a healthy, happy balanced state. This means one is healthy and happy physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. This health and happiness is Reiki's purpose.

Is Reiki an Alternative Medical Practice?: Reiki is considered both an alternative medical practice and a spiritual healing practice. Through the practitioner's hands, both healing energy and vibrations are passed to the recipient; this facilitates balance and harmony in that person.

Does Reiki Treat More Than the Body?: This healing energy removes any negative energy or blockages that would otherwise impede the healthy flow of Ki/Chi/Qi both internally and externally in the person receiving the Reiki treatment. When Reiki is given to a person, it treats the person's bio field (aura) - as well as the physical body - to return the person to a state of balance both inwards and outwards.

Is One Session Enough?: When the receiver of a Reiki session is in a relaxed state, the mind and body allow the healing energy in to be realigned. The person is then returned to a healthy, balanced state. Some people who undergo Reiki treatments notice a change after one session; others may need a series to feel a change in their state of being - mentally, physically, spiritually and emotionally.

I urge you to use this information and to seek out a Reiki practitioner for yourself... to help you attain -- and maintain -- optimum health!

Article Source

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Women's Personal Defense Classes

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How To Ask For Help

It's a self defeating myth to believe that asking for help is a sign of weakness. Sadly, most of us do not understand that as a human race, we are all a part of one family and we do need each other.

If there is a box high on a shelf that you can not reach you would not hesitate to grab a step stool. It is the same with life, at certain times you need someone to help you reach the high places.

I do understand that the fear of rejection is the main reason why you feel you can not ask for help. Asking for help places you in a place of vulnerability that many women believe is a sign of weakness. It is not. Asking for help is a sign of strength due to the fact that only those who do not want to prosper sit idly in one place, placated by misery. You want to rise up from a dark situation. To do so, you will need help and you are strong enough to go get it.

At times you may feel as though no one cares about you. You may also feel that no one could help with your situation at all so why ask. You could feel that by asking for help you are obligated to return the favor and you cringe at the thought because you believe you have nothing to offer back.

The truth is:

1) The ability to help someone is a blessing. By asking for help and allowing a friend to come to your aid you are investing in their self worth. Many people do not have the ability to help you so someone who can help, and loves you, can appreciate that they have the ability and consider it a blessing to be able to help.

2) By being open to receive help you are allowing your own life to be enriched. You will learn that there are people who care and this will restore your faith in humanity. You will also be exposed to the many different ways in which people handle their problems and your skill set for problem solving will expand. Once you receive the help you need you can renew your own life and in turn position yourself to be a blessing to others.

How To Ask For Help

1) Search for people who have been through your situation and ask them for their solutions. Find a support group or post an ad online. If you can not find anyone who has successfully navigated through your situation, then you can create a group yourself.

2) Call an emotional crisis hotline. There are many suicide and crisis prevention hotlines operating 24 hours a day with trained volunteers who have lists of resources that can help you to move through your troubled times. Even if they can not offer immediate assistance you can feel the relief of at least being heard. Sometimes the act of speaking aloud your frustrations helps you to sort through them.

3) Call a friend who cares. When was the last time that you felt supported? Who was the person standing with you? If there is a person in your life who supported you once, please do yourself a favor and reach out to them again. I know you may not want to ask because you do not want to feel needy or desperate or pathetic but the reality is, your own health and happiness depends on your being able to receive help and you never know when that friend's life may take a turn and you can feel the honor of being able to assist them. Accept the help.

What To Do When A Request For Help is Rejected

When you ask for help and your request is denied, it is not a permanent No. It is simply a way to show you how to look for other creative solutions to the problem. Every problem is really a project. Look at life's situations in this way and plot your way out of the project and onto the next phase of your life.

Do not become angry with the person who turned you down if they are unable to help you in the way that you need. It was not a personal attack against you. If it were meant for them to help, they would. Your life may be being re directed in another direction, towards a solution more bright and more beneficial to you.

Self Care When You Need Help

When you are in a crisis situation and you need help you may experience anxiety. Anxiety is a fearful feeling that causes physical symptoms like rapid breathing, a burning feeling in your chest or depression and sadness. These feelings are normal. You feel this way because you feel like you do not have control over your life. Most of us want to dictate life so that we never experience this feeling but we can not. Just as much as we appreciate the bliss of happy surprises, we should also welcome it's contrast- fear of the unknown.

To care for yourself during this time of need you can:

1) Remind yourself that nothing is permanent. This feeling is overwhelming right NOW but, right NOW is temporary. This will pass. After this feeling is done, you will never have to live this moment again.

2) Take a shower. A warm shower while playing your favorite most relaxing music will give you the sensation that you are being touched and caressed and sometimes a touch is all you need to calm down.

3) Indulge yourself. You have permission to take a moment to indulge yourself in a mindless, selfish activity that brings you joy. You do not need to punish yourself by withholding good experiences until you have solved your problem. The relief you experience by having 'fun' may be what you need to be able to think more clearly and resolve your issue.

I love you. Take care of yourself. Ask for help when you need it. You deserve it. And remember, once you are out of your hole, you can be free to give back.

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Recognize & Treat Weakness In Your Hands and Fingers

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome describes a painful or tingling feeling in your wrists or hands that is a result of repetitive wrist or hand motions on a consistent basis. Ignoring the signs of carpal tunnel syndrome may lead to severe pain and the loss of use of your hands and/or wrist.

Some signs of carpal tunnel syndrome:

Tingling or numbness in your fingers Pain radiating up and down your arm into your finger A sense of weakness in your hands or a tendency to drop things
This is an awesome video I found to help relieve the symptoms of Carpal Tunnel and to revitalize your physical strength if you are experiencing the first signs of it.

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Fertility & Yoga: How Ancient Healing Methods Can Help You Get Pregnant

/PRNewswire/ -- More and more women are combining medical fertility treatments with holistic therapies, but do they help?

As they have gained acceptance both in the popular culture and in the medical community, natural healing remedies such as acupuncture and yoga have become supplemental fertility treatments. This makes sense because some infertility issues are lifestyle-related while others are biological. You too can take advantage of these natural fertility boosters.

Why Yoga?

Tending to your sense of well-being is an important consideration as you set out to conceive, and any stretching or meditation practice that relaxes your body and lowers your stress level will help your body to be healthy.

Yoga is one way to reduce stress, according to the Mayo Clinic. Other natural therapies, such as fertility acupuncture, also boost your chances of conception considerably. Yoga, when compared with other treatments like acupuncture, is both inexpensive and practical - a healthy yoga routine can be done almost anywhere.

How Yoga Helps

Yoga devotees rave about the rewards of a regular yoga practice, and the evidence to support their enthusiasm is mounting. While the strength and flexibility gained from fertility yoga present obvious advantages in giving birth and recovering from pregnancy, yoga's positive effects begin long before conception. The relaxation and improved circulation that result from a few sessions each week serve to regulate the menstrual cycle. More than that, yoga poses designed to open up the hips may align the uterus properly as well, making conception much more viable.

Consulting a fertility specialist can empower you with clear knowledge about what your body needs. Choose a fertility clinic that supports you and your values as you begin your journey to parenthood. Fertility Specialists Medical Group, a San Diego fertility clinic, supports a holistic, team approach to promote fertility in their patients. Renowned for their successful track record and a caring approach, they are ideal allies in helping you have a healthy baby.

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Why Does My Body Produce Offensive Odors?

Have you ever wondered-Why do my armpits and crotch produce such a strong smell?

The answer is simple. Back in our most primitive days of existence, the body odor emitted through our arm pits and crotch were used as a defense mechanism to ward off wild animals while we were hunting and gathering.

When we were in danger, our body produced more heat and this scent magnified. This scent magnifies when we allow the hair in our armpits and on our private parts to grow. This is precisely the reason why hair grows "down there." It was useful to help magnify that odor during attacks.

The best way to reduce this odor is to shave the hair off and use deodorant. For those with more intense body heat brought on by stress or physical activities, after putting on your panties, trace the outline of your panties with deodorant. This will reduce the odor from your private area significantly.

About Deodorant

We use deodorant to mask our natural body odor, but most commercial deodorants have toxic chemicals like parabens, propylene glycol and aluminum. These chemicals are extremely harmful to our bodies.

There are alternatives to commercial deodorants. In fact, if you want to, you can create deodorant yourself. If you don't have time to learn how to make your own body care products, you can purchase natural body care products similar to these:

Natural Deodorant Product

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