Taking medication for PMS alongside antidepressant

[vxa2]

I am 45 and I have been struggling on and off with depression and anxiety for about 20 years including severe PND fifteen years ago as a result of which I spent time in hospital.

I had been drinking heavily for years but I stopped 7 months ago and the improvement has been huge. I am taking Sertraline 100mg and it is finally getting a chance to work.

The problem is I have PMS (I think) and it's getting worse. In the week before my period I feel overwhelming despair, my anxiety rockets, I am very irritable and snappy and I feel like shutting myself away. As soon as AF arrives this lifts and I feel ok again.

I have been reading around and I can see that some SSRIs are prescribed for PMS - some just for one week a month. Does anyone else take medication for PMS alongside antidepressants for depression/anxiety ? How do you find it.

I am going to try and see my GP this week but I don't know whether she will just think I am making a fuss.

[HermioneWeasley]

There's no biological basis for PMS. Our biology doesn't render us mental for 1/4 weeks. It's much more likely to be other aspects of your current mental health issues, or an attribution error

[vxa2]

I am not sure that is very helpful. To be frank it doesn't matter to me whether it is an attribution error or whether there is not scientific evidence for PMS, the fact is I feel awful and I am hoping someone can offer insight. Being told that what I think I am experiencing doesn't exist is not exactly supportive. But there you go.

[sazerashez]

Hello
I take citalopram for pmt as mine is off the scale like you describe: anxiety, insomnia and memory loss. It's awful and I feel your pain. My mental health is fine the rest of the month so I'm pretty sure there are biological reasons for it!

I am not mixing it with other antidepressants so can't really help you but citalopram on its own, which I take throughout the month has worked an absolute treat.

[AnxiousCarer]

Definately worth discussing this with your GP to see if there are options available. With regards to the existance of PMS a few months ago I saw a TV interview with a Dr. Who specialises in treating PMS (gynacologist I think) she was advocating women with severe PMS having a sick note for 1 week every month! Personally not sure thats a viable option, but shows that PMS is aknowledged by some in the medical comunity if not all.

[HermioneWeasley]

PMS definitely is a phenomenon and exists, but nobody's found a conclusive physiological cause, therefore, how would you treat it?

[vxa2]

I don't want time off I just want to feel better ! Perhaps she'll just increase my Sertraline which seems a bit heavy handed when I only experience this for up to a week each month.

[vxa2]

www.nhs.uk/news/2012/10October/Pages/pre-menstrual-syndrome-pms-pmt-a-myth.aspx

This is interesting reading.

[Couchtofivek]

Hermione PMS, the severe kind that seriously affects mood, is physiological. How else would you explain how transdermal oestrogen for 7-10 days per month solved it for me? Some women are extremely sensitive to hormonal fluctuations. We already know how ovarian hormonals and their shifts can directly affect mood.

www.studd.co.uk/pms.php

vxa2 Sertraline is an SSRI, you're already taking that yes?

[Couchtofivek]

Also

www.studd.co.uk/pmsbipolar.php

[vxa2]

Yes couch I am already taking Sertraline.

[HermioneWeasley]

Except that women on hormonal contraception experience PMS as well and the don't have hormonal fluctuations and ovulate.

[Couchtofivek]

Monophasic, biphasic or triphasic pills? How do you explain the hormone crash postnatally and how some women's low mood or anxiety doesn't lift?
I know I am susceptible to spikes and falls in oestrogen in particular. I also know I'm not alone.

[Couchtofivek]

Wouldn't PMS on the combined pill happen during the pill free week anyway? When the supply is stopped?