Regarding having PMDD and imagining that my GP bullied me?

[Masai]

Back story. Ridiculously heavy periods for last 5 years. To the extent i was bedbound for first 2 days and flooding.

Finally had Mirena put in last may. Didn't help much at all. Caused 2 stone weight gain and awful skin from previously great skin. Periods still heavy and now with massive clots. What joy! Also diagnosed with 4cm fibroids in july. Gets better and better :(

Taking traxanemic acid but sometimes it doesn't work.

The worst side effect is the pmt that i now have a week before my period. Horrific murderous rages. Paranoia. Insecurity. Panic attacks. Crying.

Today i went to GP. Described to him how awful it is to be me 2 weeks every month. Told him i feel as if i become a "psycho". Perhaps not the correct word to use as i have experience of close family members with MH issues. I used it to describe the out of control jekyl and hyde feelings i have prior to my period.

I get a 10 min lecture chastising me and humiliating me for using the word.

Then i get given a prescription for sertaline antidepressants. Told to take for a month for a minimum of 6 months, and told if i feel sick to take gaviscon.

I told him I'm NOT depressed and what about blood tests to see hormone levels as this only happens prior to my periods. He said no not needed.

I have arranged to see a consultant privately that specialises in PMS and gynae.

Aibu for not taking the tablets the Gp gave?

I suffer from PMT - my GP gave me [prozac-esque] antidepressant to take 2 weeks before each period is due.

I now am a happy bunny all the time and no longer feel the "red mist" rising.
Give it a chance. My DC have told me I'm a different person. OH doesn't get snapped at for existing.

Nope yanbu, you don't have to take anything that you aren't happy taking and are well within your rights to seek as many opinions on the best course of treatment for you.
I hope you get to the bottom of it soon.

Mood swings, tearfulness and anxiety are pretty common depression symptoms so i don't think he was a million miles off prescribing you SSRIs. It might be worth a shot even if it is a cyclical problem you're experiencing.

If this only happened following the Mirena wouldn't it be better to have it removed?

Thats what i will ask the consultant (Hes a professor of gynae- Mr John Studd) to do. GP refuses to accept its linked to the mirena.

Have spoken to several friends who have it. All have horror stories. And all of their GPs refuse to accept its the coil causing their problems. I understand that for most women its life changing. But for those of use that suffer the side effects it can ruin our lives.

Bless you. I had a coil taken out after 2 months because it didn't agree with me. You know your own body.

I have heard anecdotal stories about Mirena and weight gain but I have to be honest, it flummoxes me logically speaking. I have had two Mirena's with no problems and no weight gain other than a slight increase in the size of my breasts. One of the reasons I chose it was because I wanted the minimal amount of hormones in my body. I have heard too many stories to think the weight gain is unrelated but I admit I'm shocked when I hear of large weight gain related to it considering the small dose of progesterone. I wonder if some women are extremely sensitive to hormones or maybe their hormone levels are out of balance to begin with? I think there should be studies performed, I agree that it's infuriating to have the medical professionals deny what's happening to your own body.

Can you see another GP? He didn't listen to your concerns & lecturing you wasn't helpful either if I was you, I would demand that your coil is taken out

Well the next step is to see the consultant I've found to see what he says. He specialises in diagnosing hormonal related depression and treating with bespoke HRT and blood tests to get a snapshot of hormone levels rather than anti depressants.

www.studd.co.uk/biography.php

According to everything I've read on the subject my symptoms and age- 43, suggest I'm peri menopausal and my symptoms are typical. Quite annoyed that the GP didn't see fit to ask me any questions.

And yes hopefully he will say that the coil should come out. Or maybe stay in and balanced with other hormones?

I just don't want to be the evil bitch from hell that i am once a month

I need someone like him here in Brighton.
Ive asked my GP for hormal tests as I'm a completely different person, and like you told to take antidepressants.
Ive needed citalopram in the past. For 3 years. I just dont feel I need them now.
I was also offered anger management. and breathe

I suffer with PMDD as well. And I was given sertraline too.

I too didnt take it when it was clearly a hormonal issue and absolutely not depression. As well, I suffer from horrendous periods and had a polyp removed. (Didnt help).

Hope you must be really anaemic, losing all that blood each month. That makes you bleed more and makes PMT so, so, so much worse.

Are you being treated for anaemia or have you had your HB count done recently?

Also, have you tried St Johns wort/Star Flower Oil/ 5HTP/all at the same time?

All of these things are supposed to help.

And have you got an OP planned to remove the fibroids?

Yes I'm anaemic so have started taking 20ml dose of floradix and cod liver oil. Being the star my GP is he didn't even mention the fibroids or the anaemia. Just. Here you go take these anti depressants for 6months and come back and see me in a month.

I changed to a different GP today. Someone i found for my old ma a few months ago and he impressed me greatly in his care and compassion for a frail old lady. Hopefully he will be more caring towards me too :)

Bring up the anaemia, and fibroids.

But also, was the 20ml of Floradix prescribed? It may not be enough. Do you know what your HB count was?

Nope not prescribed. And GP hasn't sent me for bloods in a year! From what i recall my ferritin serum levels were low a year ago.

Can you not get coil removed at family planning clinic?
Weight gain - thyroid issues?
Some peoples coil fall out -pull it??
I expect menopause and weight gain go together.
Isnt there a copper coil which has no hormones?

The first line for pmdd is antidepressants. If your not happy with your minera try going to family planning and they will remove it for you.

please get a second opinion!!!ALL the symptoms you describe are the exact ones I suffer from. every time the idiots try and put me on the pill. I am hyper sensitive to one of the hormones but they don't k ow which one.

first off get the mirena coil removed, if you need the contraceptive protection could you go for the copper coil?

second if you are not happy taking the anti depression meds then don't take them, they cannot force you and whilst they may help some I suspect given the symptoms yiu describe they are to likely to help you.

pm me of you want more info

Can't you put more info on here? I'm interested in anything and I know there's lots of others too.

I had a Mirena fitted and had it removed 6 weeks later because I actually thought I might kill hurt someone.

I get really awful PMT and had heard the mirena helps control it. right!!!

I also get worse PMT when I take any synthetic hormones like the pill.

I have PMDD. I take Zoloft (Sertraline), and it had helped tremendously. It was approved by the FDA to treat PMDD.

I might be worth your while looking for a good acupuncturist, if your problem is purely homone based. My daughter did not have your condition, but she had severe PMT and period pains and acupuncture was the cure.

Reading with interest as am under huge pressure to have a mirena fitted, despite reservations re depression (I have a history of this) and hormonal bleeding (ibid)
OP I hope you get some support from a decent GP, I'm back today after the hospital had me in tears two weeks ago

I found the mirena to be 'mood altering' to say the least as well. I told my GP that it was doing this and he refused to accept it. I insisted on a change to the copper coil and things rapidly improved!

On removal of mine I felt more like me within 3 days than I had in the whole 9 months I had it in. I would cause arguments out of nothing and it came to a head when I stood at the top of the stairs and contemplated throwing myself down them as in my mind nobody really cared about me. Please make your 1st step getting it removed and take it from there.

Sorry haven't posted. Kids and I in the grip of a stinking cold so all in bed. From what I've read Sertraline is prescribed for pmdd in addition to it being an anti depressant. But it only addresses the mental aspects of the disorder. Not the physical. And for me it's a combination of both that are affecting me. Also it would appear that there are a number of women that are hyper sensitive to hormonal fluctuations when they are ovulating. Hence the horrendous symptoms if any additional hormones are added to the mix. In my case the mirena.

My gripe is not against Sertraline itself. But the flippancy with which it was assumed that's the right thing to prescribe. NO investigation into the WHY.

NO blood tests no history taken no hormone levels checked. And ignoring the mirena and it's obvious side effects on me.

If a man suffered as much as this there would be all sorts of help available but it seems as a woman you have to be more savvy and dig around a bit more to get accurate help and information. I am seeing a gynaecological consultant on the 8th re the bleeding, fibroids and mirena and seeing the Prof. privately on the 23rd re hormones being balanced using bio identical hormones rather than synthetic hormones. May seem like overkill but I just hope they can help. I will keep an update here on the advice I am given by both if people are interested.