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Dealing With Pmdd

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I haven't gotten any confirmation yet, but every five days before I hit the period, I get super anxious, I self harm a lot, have what I call "hysterical" episodes (like anxiety but with the urge to scream and really difficult to get out of) and I get suicidal tendencies.

Pretty sure this could be PMDD and I have some questions for the other women around here who are afflicted with it. I am wondering how you got diagnosed, because the "wiki how" page says it requires a full physical exam (uh -why?) and a pelvic exam (no freaking way are they touching me -I'll bite their head off).

I kind of just want a chat with the doc, and since I don't respond well to birth control pills, I am thinking antidepressants for the days that I am experiencing PMDD symptoms. I have tried to deal with this with herbs for a while, I take primrose oil and Valerian but it doesn't help enough. I also exercise enough and eat more or less healthy.

How do you guys deal with it? And did it get better after you got diagnosed?
 
I had to look it up, because I didn't know much about it. I'd recommend reading this article: Link Removed

It has an interesting perspective on whether or not PMDD is actually a separate disorder, or whether the hormonal changes that happen around the cycle are only intensifying other disorders (they do make a great point about how the symptoms for PMDD are all very my the same as those of depression). It also talks about the cultural issue of finding a medical way to validate a woman's experience around her cycle, and that this diagnosis might be one of culture rather than actual medicine. No-one disputes that there is a thing called pre-menstrual syndrome; it's just a question of whether or not PMS wasn't taken seriously enough, and so PMDD came along.

And there's a connection to drug makers as well. I'm not normally very conspiracy-theory about it, but in this case, honestly, I do wonder.

One thing I saw in a few articles was that calcium carbonate has been shown to improve symptoms. It would be best to have that prescribed and monitored by your doctor, as it's possible to take too much of it.

Personally - and I've never been diagnosed with anything like this - I know that in the week before my period and for the first three/4 days, every one of my agitated symptoms of depression get worse. So, I am more prone to desperate hopelessness, I have sobbing instead of weeping, my suicidal thinking escalates...I guess I'd describe it as normally, my depression is like being in a cesspool. My pre-menstrual depression is like being in quicksand.

Knowing that's what's going on has been the biggest thing to help me. Also - and it kills me to do this - I completely cut out caffeine during this period. That's made a difference. Now that I've read about the calcium thing, I think I might try it.

I hope this doesn't come off as "there's no such thing, just toughen up" - because that's not what I mean, at all. But I guess I'd ask - are these symptoms you have during the pre-menstrual cycle related to symptoms you have all the time, but with the volume turned way up on them? Or are you totally free of these symptoms except for this 9-10 day chunk of time? If you are totally free and they come up seemingly out of nowhere, then I think it's worth considering this diagnosis and talking to your doc about meds. But if you have these things normally, just not nearly as pronounced, then you might look first at stricter diet changes (basically, cut everything that is an agitant - caffeine, sugar, simple carbs) and talk to your doc about a calcium supplement, and see if it helps.

(I take a bunch of meds, by the way - I'm not anti-medication. But they bring their own set of complications, so if you aren't on any of them yet, and you can stay clear of them, it might be worth it.)
 
@Radise I was suffering from symptoms for years and had tried and failed with birth control pills. But I went back to my GP asking if there was anything else to try. Since I had last spoken to a doctor about it, numerous new hormonal pills had come onto the market, and she recommended one - Cerazette. That is now about 3 years ago, and I have not looked back. I wish I had gone to see her sooner. It has completely taken away the cyclical symptoms - and I don't bleed either which is a real bonus. Win/win and I am saving myself a fortune in 'products'!
 
@joeylittle yeah it intensifies the symptoms of PTSD, but to the point of I'm not suicidal when I'm not having PMS -and I get suicidal when I have PMS. Also increases other stuff like anxiety, extreme tension, stress.

I cut out all coffee, chocolates, most sugar, and most processed foods already. I take supplements and herbs... but when I am generally not doing well & then PMS hits, nothing of that is gonna help, because it intensifies all my symptoms like twice or three times. I already have gone through all the diet changes I can think of.

I want the meds because yesterday I went suicidal because of the hormones. But @Lucycat I'd rather not mess with my cycle, (god I hate talking about it in terms like that haha...). I had birth control pills once and it was the worst feeling I have had of nearly all medications I tried. I don't want to be meddling with the rythm of my body, but I also don't want to go suicidal when it kicks in.
 
I sympathise with you. I used to suffer horribly with pre-menstrual symptoms - to start with just he breast pain, constipation and emotional turmoil. Having a long, irregular cycle, I knew when my period was due because of these, and then that it would start the next day when I found myself crying for no reason. After i had children it got much worse and I would get pre-menstrual rage in which I broke stuff.

I had a Mirena coil (IUD), which releases low level hormones, originally suggested of very heavy flow and clotting, and it was a life changer. My cycle more or less stopped, and the emotional turmoil went almost totally. It was so much better in every way that I've continued with it for 25 years. Since the onset of PTSD I get slight symptoms, and I can see an increase in despair, but nothing like it was.

However a coil fitting requires an intimate procedure, so may not be for you, though you can have it done under anaesthetic
 
I also get those rages. That's why I am alarmed. Yesterday I hurt myself pretty bad, normally I don't go that far.
The PMS puts a red daze before my eyes and I can't think rationally or properly anymore.

Yeah a coil is not for me (because of the procedure).
All experience stories are helpful though :)
 
Follow your gut on how you handle it. I had a horrible period my whole life, extreme pain and nausea etc, then pmdd symptoms pop up about 4 years ago and it was at its worst about 1.5 years ago. Then something strange happened-- I became so stressed and suicidal that my period stopped altogeher.

Everything in life was going wrong, I had bounced from one toxic situation to another until finally I moved in with my aunt. For the first time in my whole life I had a truly safe place to be, where I didn't have to conform or lie or hide my true self, and my boundaries were respected. After a few months my period returned and I was so excited I told my aunt.

She said "that makes me feel so good because that means you know you are safe here!" She was right, my period responds to hormones which respond to my safety level. She knew because in her past, the same thing happened to her.

No Pmdd anymore. I have cramps and a big appetite but not suicidal thoughts or any excessive depression.
 
Doubt you need a pelvic exam. My doctor just suggested I had PMDD and gave me some information (though I had some terrible exams to rule out causes of horrible cramps and bleeding). My primary doc also brought up antidepressants but I had failed on them so badly in the past. PMS has been better but I have meltdowns during and after my period related to pain and exhaustion bodily triggers. But there is definitely an amplification thing with PMDD. When it was worst for me, I was ending up in the psych ward every month at that time. I didn't see the connection at the time but someone else pointed it out to me. Now it's more like some extreme sadness but like @joeylittle said, it helps to know what it is and that it will pass.

I cut out sugar, eat really clean, exercise, and try to do things to keep the combination pain from gradually flaring beyond the limit I can personally handle (like less cigarettes, balancing the right meds). For me it was definitely a hormone thing that amplified already-existing struggles because hormone pills did change things a bit for a while by lessening the intensity (but I can't do hormone pills anymore). Holy Basil seems to help me a bit now on the extremely sad days (still feel like I want to die sometimes, but not suicidal).

It's really embarrassing to think I ended up in the psych ward before my period, as a sort of pattern for a while. But I was very shutdown and depressed all the time (and somewhat fuzzy and impulsive), and pre-period hormone shift apparently made my life unbearable. My mood would dive so low and I couldn't manage. I have heard of the short-term anti-depressants for this, but have not tried.

Talk to your doctor about it. Most doctors know about it and the better ones understand that PMDD can be pretty debilitating. It's more of a hormone-mood thing than a pelvic thing.
 
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I was officially diagnosed with PMDD through my gynecologist two years ago. We had been discussing my behaviors and moods and symptoms of cycles for years and even though I had a hysterectomy, it made my PMDD flare up even worse (I still have my ovaries).

Since I don't get my period or the typical symptoms of PMS/PMDD; cramps, back aches, spotting (I do, however, get the bloating, weight gain, food cravings and fatigue), I have a REALLY hard time differentiating between PTSD and PMDD as they share the same symptoms. My menstrual cycles previous to my hysterectomy were so sporadic that even now I can go a few months without PMDD and some months I have it twice in a row. I wish they had removed my ovaries but I was told they are necessary and since there was nothing wrong, I had to keep them. Which is fine, I can't do hormone replacement since there's history of cancer in both sides of my family.

I have learned recently, however, that my PMDD symptoms fade away in 5-7 days. When my PTSD flares up, it can be anywhere from 1 day to a month. When both are happening at the same time, I have no idea how I'm alive. I LITERALLY have no idea how I survive.

Both give me the same symptoms: rage, fear, sadness, suicidal ideations, self harm, digging for reasons to be mad at someone, hating my job, hating my hair, hating my body, crying fits, acne, joint pain, migraines, loss of control. PMDD is NO joke and having it WITH PTSD is hell on Earth. My doctor gave me an SSRI to take "as is" but it doesn't help at all. In fact, the insomnia is so severe I can't function. Antidepressants do more damage than good in me so I won't and don't take them.

All I can do is hold onto the hope that some day one of these or even BOTH will just fade away and I can function happily.
 
I have both cPTSD and PMDD and i did not need a pelvic exam to be diagnosed. my first therapist noticed the waves my mood went through and asked me to record my period and symptoms for 3 months (this is common protocol). Then i went to see a psychiatrist and told her my therapist had me track my mood and it looked like PMDD and i have been on Lexapro ever since (almost 4 years). They wanted to try birth control pills but i freaked out about gaining weight and said i couldnt do it. My symptoms are actually just recently starting to worsen again so i am going to see a psychiatrist to maybe change meds, and my moods still swing, but it is not the relationship-ending, life-not-worth-living kind of swing anymore! my SSRI was a life saver.
 
Antidepressants can help- I was quite confused, those three or four days of thinking about suicide were there for so long that I was actually frightened until I did some math. I don't do math if I can avoid it, I really thought something might be wrong with me. Not sure which antidepressant is doing it but I take remeron, wellbutrin and pristiq.
 
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