Key Difference: Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) is a collection of physical and emotional symptoms that a woman experiences after she reaches puberty and her menstrual cycle starts. For many women early pregnancy symptoms are similar and in many case exactly the same as PMS symptoms.

Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and pregnancy symptoms are actually the same almost every women, however some women may experience other systems. Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) is a condition that women experiences after reaching puberty, while pregnancy symptoms are symptoms that are experienced earlier on during pregnancy.

Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) is a collection of physical and emotional symptoms that a woman experiences after she reaches puberty and her menstrual cycle starts. This is around the time of 13; however it could be earlier or later depending on hormone changes in her body. During PMS a women experiences various symptoms that could last the whole menstrual cycle or roughly the first couple of days. The symptoms are expected to interfere in daily activities depending on the person. The intensity of the symptoms also varies women to women.

For many women early pregnancy symptoms are similar and in many case exactly the same as PMS symptoms. These symptoms also tend to differ from women to women, along with the intensity of the symptoms. While some women claim, they felt no different than their regular self, others claim that their conditions varied from time to time and their symptoms were intense. The most common symptom of pregnancy includes missed period, which indicates that a women might be pregnant, after which she can take an at home pregnancy test or seek a medical professional to be sure.

Common PMS symptoms include:

• Irritability
• Fatigue
• Exhaustion
• Bloating
• Lower abdomen pain or cramps
• Tender breasts
• Tension
• Unhappiness
• Swelling
• Constipation
• Cyclic acne
• Muscle or joint pain
• Headache

Common early pregnancy symptoms include:

• Missed period (though spotting may occur, but should go away in a day or so)
• Fatigue
• Mood swings
• Craving
• Swelling
• Tender breasts
• Morning sickness
• Constipation
• Bloating
• Increased Urination
• Melasma
• Elevated Basal Body Temperature

As you can see the symptoms for both conditions are really similar, with a few variations such as missed periods, increased urination, melasma, etc. The main indictor of pregnancy is a missed or period. Also when women experience PMS symptoms it usually means that the menstrual cycle starts. So, the PMS symptoms usually occur after the periods have started or are about to start. If the symptoms occur and the menstrual cycle has not started or does not start, it could also be another indicator of early pregnancy symptoms. PMS symptoms can be relieved by using prescribed medicine from the doctor, which should not be used in case a woman is pregnant. While PMS symptoms usually go away after a woman’s menstrual cycle is over, pregnancy symptoms continue to occur in various frequencies until the child is born.

Image Courtesy: usdoctor.com, spryliving.com