To ask what (if anything) improved your PMT?

[Gretalandhansel]

I have terrible PMT every month - bloated, irritable, low mood, anxiety, insomnia.

I need to do something about it, can’t carry on feeling like this for a quarter of my life (one week out of four)!

Has anyone taken any supplement or medication that’s helped with this? I don’t get on with the usual pill but someone mentioned the mini pill can be good for PMT? I’m not overweight, already eat healthily and exercise, but would consider cutting out certain foods if that’s helpful?

I’m basically open to anything

My Mirena coil stopped my periods. Best thing I ever did. Wish I'd had it years ago.

Agnus cactus high does age
Was so good

It's strange, I'm on my third Mirena coil and suddenly my PMT has gone ballistic.

Never suffered with PMT in my life before

It's strange, I'm on my third Mirena coil and suddenly my PMT has gone ballistic.

Never suffered with PMT in my life before

I take cerazete pill, no periods for 10 years and no mood swings etc sheer bliss

@Bananaman123 is that a mini pill? I was on a pill in my teens and it made me have PMT all the time

So I’m a bit scared of hormonal contraception for that reason...

Would be great to hear if anyone has any more success stories!

Maca supplements have been a godsend.
Me and my dd take them daily. It really helps PMT and period pain.

I get mine from Organic burst. Better quality and I only have 1 a day ( not 4 like it says on the packaging.

I had endometrial ablation when I was 43, haven't had a period since and there's no reason why but haven't had any PMT since

Going on sertraline medication weirdly helped loads

Yes Kyleena coil

I'd be careful with the Mini Pill. It did stop my periods, but I still got PMT monthly, and it was BAD.

I take evening primrose daily and have recently been put on desogestrel (mini pill) but too soon to say yet whether it helps. My mental health massively plummets if I don't exercise almost daily so I do this as well.

Changing my diet, weirdly enough. I did it to lose weight but its helped me in every way. One unexpected thing has been two periods in a row now which are barely noticeable, it's incredible. I used to lose a good week to feeling suicidally sad for a while, then getting bloated, painful cramps, headaches, and now its just fine.

I changed a lot though - cut out all sugar, salt and processed foods (so my whole diet really) and focused on eggs, vegetables, fruit, fish, olive oil and full fat milk. I don't know if you're already doing that sort of thing though as you mention a good diet?

I've just started reading a book called Roar by Dr Stacy Sims (on the suggestion of another mumsnetter) which focuses on food and fitness for women. She suggests things like a magnesium supplement; omega 3 fatty acids; nitric oxide rich foods like beets, spinach, watermelon and pomegranate the week before your period.

Sorry, the app just wipes out my paragraphs sometimes.

A ketogenic diet massively reduces bloating and PMS for me but it is hard to stick to.

Mini pill and injection gave me permanent PMT, so I am kind of stuck where you are OP. It is almost crippling anxiety and stress for a week before it lifts. I am due on today and can already feel the fog of the last week of hell lifting!

I am considering asking for antidepressants to get me through it. I can't carry on living life like this. It's only been since having my youngest DC 5 years ago. It's also coincided with having much heavier periods, which no one can explain despite investigation. I am convinced I'm peri menopausal but no one agrees with me because of my age (I turned 40 this year).

Mirena coil. It honestly changed my life.

I had an ablation but got an infection and was very ill. I then had the Mirena coil but did not get on with it at all, I was in agony from the scar tissue from the womb infection.

Had hysterectomy at 39, everything gone and went straight on to an oestrogen only patch, its perfect, no more PMT, my hormone levels are level throughout the month and no progesterone which seems to send me and other women I know into a raging pitbull

Bit of a drastic solution there.

I started to take the mini pill as a last ditch effort to try and control how heavy my periods were. I was pleasantly surprised to find my PMT disappearing too.

My PMT was the evil kind and it exhausted me trying to control the outward symptoms (I wanted people to be as upset, tired and irritated as me...utterly unreasonable!).

I started taking the mini pill last summer, had my last period in October and been relatively normal as much as I can be mood wise for an entire year.

My family love it!

Just in case it's relevant I'm swiftly approaching 40 and a 40+ BMI (although I might have dipped back down to 39 - it's variable).

Another vote for marina coil. Also citalapram (anti depressant)

I'm on citalopram too and although I still get some bad moods it's no where near as bad as before I was in it. I used to just cry and feel shit everytime my period would come around. Runs in my family unfortunately. But yes the anti depressants have helped so much

Being on the contraceptive pill (Cilest). I used to have horrendous PMT - the mood swings (I was murderous and once threw a pitchfork across a stable yard), the sore boobs, the bloating, the whole shebang. And that was on top of heavy periods that were hugely irregular (cycles anywhere between 2 and 6 weeks).

Now I have none of that and, after taking it for quite a number of years, virtually no periods. What I have is as regular as clockwork. You’d have to prise those pills out of my cold dead hands!

Being vegan. Animal products contain hormones that affect us too. I have heard hundreds of similar accounts from other vegan women; ranging from PMT, PCOS etc improving or disappearing, periods becoming lighter and shorter, less physical discomfort etc.

Cutting out dairy helped me.

Anecdotally I’ve noticed my friends with very heavy periods tend to be vegetarian... maybe they have more dairy than average?