To ask about PMDD??

[ladymary86]

I have had previous issues with my mental health - depression and anxiety during my separation and divorce from my ExH. I was on sertraline for around 2 years but am no longer on it and would really like it to stay that way.

Unfortunately since I came off sertraline I have had horrendous PMS symptoms. Utterly horrendous. In the week before my period and the first few days of it I feel angry at everything, like I can't cope and tearful all the time. It's unbearable and at the darkest moments I feel like I can't go on and feel there's no point in being here.
In searching for ways to cope I came across PMDD details on the NHS website and it sounds very similar to what I experience every month. I haven't been to my doctor with this, and obviously won't be for the foreseeable while the current situation is ongoing so I don't have a diagnosis and appreciate that It could just be very bad PMS but I have literally never experienced this before in my life. I'm in my thirties and have two kids and never had bad PMS before.

I am about 18 days away from the start of my next period and I am desperate the find a way to prepare and try to minimise the feeling of this when it comes. I don't want to go through this every month.

In any other time of the month I am calm and happy. I feel like I turn into a totally different person and I can't control it.

I would really like to speak with anyone else who has experience of this and find a way of coping and getting through it.

Low carbing helps.

I take a good multivitamin, star flower oil and Agnus castus. I try to run at least 3 times a week, walk daily and do 20 minutes of weights each day. I also do yoga and meditate.

I have to be quite strict following my routine, if I let any part of it slip it all comes crashing down - this month has been awful because I can't get outside to exercise as much.

I also found switching to a mooncup helpful for the cramping bizzarely, I don't feel the pull that I get with tampons.

There are some support groups on Facebook that are very good.

The biggest problem is getting a GP to take you seriously. Most deny that PMDD even exists. Female GPs are no better than male ones in this topic - in fact often worse.

Absolute HELL with pmdd. Tried huge amounts of various oils, st johns wort, agnus, borage, rhodesia, ayveredic (sp), d, c and b vits for 6 months. AD is the only thing that helps as much as i hate to admit it. I have read about people only taking sertraline for a week per month. Or perhaps try half the dose you had before. Gp said some pills might help, but could make it worse. Good luck!

Gp prescribed me lo-estrin30. Suffer with anxiety depression agoraphobia and cPTSD. Even when my mental health was under control, just before and during my period I was the lowest I could be and it was horrendous
It has worked fantastically well for me.

I used to feel awful depressed and angry as hell every month used to plan in ways to leave my husband and kids and the rage I felt towards the kids was unreal it was horrid I started taking b6 about a year ago and I swear it has helped
I hope you get help soon

I don't think ni have PMDD, although I do have a lot of the symptoms, I certainly have bad PMS. I get absolutely crushing fatigue, and my anxiety flares up a lot.

Things that generally help me are acupuncture (obviously not accessible currently, but I would really recommend it when things open up again). Also vitamin wise - Magnesium is a godsend! A lot of the general "magnesium" vitamins are not very bioavailable, so ideally you want to get something like Magnesium Citrate (I get mine from amazon). It's more expensive but you can really tell the difference. Late last year, trying to be more frugal, i switched to magnesium oxide (the normal ones you can get in the supermarket), and after a month or so my anxiety flared up so badly. I eventually put two and two together, got the citrate ordered, and it's thankfully a lot more under control now. Vitamin B complex is really helpful as well, as is Vitamin D. I've been taking D for a while, but was getting ill every month when i had my period (I think my immunity must dip, as every month i get a new cold/virus, and it's rubbish), so I've switched to a higher dose one, and it seems to be helping, touch wood.

Things like exercise, eating a good, balanced diet and making sure I get proper early nights also really help.

I'm sorry you're suffering, I really hope you find something which makes a difference.

@berryhead2013 I can relate to that a lot. Although my anger seems to always be directed at my partner. To me, he is wonderful - everything I've ever wanted in a partner and yet in that week I pick ridiculous fights with him and it's like nothing he can say is right. It's awful.
My paranoia is terrible too. It's like there's a big red "self destruct" button that my hormones push every single month to try to get my to ruin my life.

I did try the progesterone only pill and that made me a lot more stable but also more low throughout the month . Doc won't prescribe combined pill for me, probs because of my age and migraines
Sucks being female.

I've always had bad PMT and awful period pains. I started to get perimenopause a couple of years ago and it felt like I had PMT all the time. GP put me on the minipill and its been great.

I know its not the same but I think I wish I'd been on it years ago, no more periods, no more PMT related mood swings.

I have PMDD, which got worse after the birth of my daughter 3 years ago, the absolute darkness of my mood and sheer anger at everything is absolutely debilitating, before I realised what was driving it I ended relationships, I've left jobs, I've lost friends, it's horrible, I hate my partner 2 weeks of the month and plan to leave him every time.

So far I have tried various supplements, 3 x antidepressants, the coil, the mini pill, the combined pill, Daily HRT, diet and lifestyle changes and nothing has worked. Hormone levels usually come back normal because PMDD isn't actually a hormone imbalance it's your body having an adverse reaction to the normal fluctuations of your cycle.

The next step in treatment is injections to suppress my cycle completely but then I will be in a (reversible) state of menopause. It's so hard and I feel for everyone who is going through this. There's an excellent and very supportive group on Facebook called U.K. PMDD support, lots of women going through the same giving each other support and practical advice.

You are not alone. I suffered very badly, in fact I had extreme suicidal thoughts.
It took years to link it to my periods.
My thoughts are with you

I've had it since I menstruated, as a teenager and young adult I suffered badly with MH. Anorexic, drugs, personality disorder etc trying to hide emotionally.
I was eventually agnosed in my mid twenties, I take 50mg steraline vitamin b complex daily exercise, it is better but not under control.
I could kill in an instant while suffering, I spend the 10 says avoiding triggers DP avoids causing triggers. Sometimes it is despair instead of anger. I'm lucky he helps and loves me as it can be awful. The phone constantly ringing really sends me over the edge during an episode.

Oh employment I only manage part time to hide the demon.

There are lots of us who have this - but gets diagnosed as depression/mental health when it is actually hormonal.

Yes to low carbing as mentioned above - being paleo works well for me. Also, being gluten free and dairy free really works for me. I also take bio identical hormones privately - expensive but worth it if you can afford it. Exercise, magnesium (but a good one).
Good luck.

I have menstrual psychosis which is kind of like the next step up from PMDD.
I was diagnosed after suffering post partum psychosis and have been involved in a study by Professor Ian Brockington (worth looking up). At onset of my period and in the 48 hours prior I can suffer severe psychotic episodes which I now manage meducation free. It’s taken me a long long time to do this, it also caused my marriage to break up. But I am now on the other side and can hold a job down and look after my children as a single parent. I was intitially diagnosed with PMT then PMDD but thankfully I now know what is going on. During an episode my anger is off the scale, I can hallucinate, I basically morph into a disgusting being. By reading many of your stories on here especially the ones feeling suicudal please look into this more, there is help and research out there. Unfortunately lots of gps still think it’s a load of rubbish but it’s worth persevering.

@ineedagasmask

Do you mind me asking how you manage your condition now?

Hi. I have this too and it gets progressively worse with age. I only linked my panic attacks, rage, irritability, despair, to my periods a few years ago but GP's are worse than useless with this condition and barely even recognise it.

I have been on citalopram and then sertraline for 10 years, which does help a bit but unfortunately not enough the two weeks before my period to save myself and my family from the horrible effects of the rising progesterone.

I have 3 DC, the youngest is 8 months old and we have had 17 months of blissful happiness without my periods. I have for the last week every afternoon felt these feelings of anger return, and today woke up feeling utter despair and have been crying all morning. I have had mild cramps and I'm sure this is my period making its bastard return.

There is a Dr who specialises in this condition in London called John Studd. When all this is over I am going to book an appointment with him and come up with the money somehow to get treated.

The only thing that works for me is sertraline 50mg. I've also had yasmin contraceptive pill back to back - which was ok, but low dose sertraline is the only thing that really works for me.

@liferips I have seen Dr Watson at Professor Studd's office (Prof Studd is in his 80s so is retiring soon) and was treated with HRT, unfortunately it didn't work for me and i couldn't afford any more appointments unfortunately, so now have an NHS appointment with a Gynae. If you can afford it it's worth going to see him he's very good.

@wafter
I use a calendar to mark off the 2 days prior to my period (luckily they are like clockwork) I adjust my hours at work if working those days - employer is fine with this, I do not engage with anyone in those 2 days, make sure I don’t plan anything. I eat really good food and basically hibernate. I read books to distract me, i meal plan for the kids so I don’t have that stress and my kids are really none the wiser now as I plan for the time. Some months are better than others if I feel like I’m going off the scale I lock myself in the bathroom with a fluffy blanket and headphones on, not ideal but it seems to work. My kids are older now so able to manage the odd hour without mum. It’s hard but medication just didn’t work with me and I was getting palpitations etc this works for me, probably not for everyone it’s just trying to find what works with you. I have a good friend I call if it gets really bad and she steps in for a bit just to make sure I’m ok but apart from that it’s working. However I’m dreading the peri menopause etc as that is going to knock me off so may need to revisit meds then x

I have it, it is utterly horrible. At its worst, the only thing that got me through was it only lasted two days, as soon as my period started it went a way.
I dread to think how I'd have coped if it had lasted longer or been more irregular.

It made me understand real depression and other mental health issues and ow people could self harm or worse. As I've got older it is more irregular but the intensity has lessened thankfully.
Hope you find a way to make it more tolerable.

@Wafter oh thank you so much, really good to hear from someone who has been. Such a shame you couldn't afford anymore appointments - I will struggle too financially if the first treatment tried doesn't work. Did they not want to try you on oestrogen gel? I got the impression that was the first port of call.

I really hope your Gynae is a good one and helps you ❤️

@Insideimsprinting ah that's a relief for you that it only lasts two days.

Mine lasts two weeks...so essentially for half our lives I am making mine and my families life a misery with my anger and sadness. Sigh.

@liferips

Yeah I did oestrogen gel, testosterone and progesterone, tried it for 5 months, unfortunately it blew me up weight wise (I gained about 2 stone in 5 months) and my lows were more intense , more violent and more frequent unfortunately.

Yeah I sort of wish I had managed to dig deep and find the money but it was also a 2 hour trip to London each time or a phone call that I wasn't then billed for.

I spoke to my gp and they agreed to refer me on the nhs to someone near me who was recommended by someone on the PMDD Facebook support group.

I hope you find a treatment that works for you xx