To be livid that PMDD was only just recognised as a thing by the World Health Organisation?

[Wishingforanotherlife]

I've searched through some of the threads on here and don't know if this has been discussed already but I'm just gobsmacked by this.

Watched the BBC report about it the other week where they interviewed about 4,000 women who told their (horrendous) stories. So this is a condition that affects 5% of the world population and it's basically been ignored until last year. And unless you've got a very sympathetic GP, getting a proper diagnosis is still subject to luck and chance rather than being taken seriously!!

Even some of the thread started on Mumsnet have little or no responses. Or maybe I'm missing something.

YANBU.

I’ve just got treatment for it at the age of fifty as it had become unbearable with terrible dark thoughts, paranoia and abject misery. Then fine when period comes. GP has put me on Prozac in the fortnight before my period snd it’s made a remarkable improvement to my mood. It was severely impacting my life and that if my family.
It was actually after a thread on here that I plucked up the courage to seek help AGAIN, and this time the GP was great.

It can cause depressive and suicidal thoughts.

Reading these stories is bringing back so much that I had forgotten...

The gynaecologist I saw also want to do take only the ovaries even tough I wanted the lot to go. It turned out for me that they couldn't get the ovaries out keyhole as planned as I had such horrendous endometriosis that my ovaries were stuck to my uterus so I had to go back for open hysterectomy. The endorsement was another disease no GP had picked up on although my mum bless her did when I was about 13 and she had taken me to the dr for my heavy periods and saw a poster of it in waiting room. I had all the symptoms for years but no GP picked it up, but that's another story.

@FraughtwithGin Men don't have menstrual cycle.
FWIW I have a fit and healthy lean body surrounding my disturbed mind. 🤪

I have it, I suffer horrendously and it's destroyed relationships, friendships, my social life and all sorts in between, some of the responses on here justify why I never bring it up with anyone, it's not taken seriously and women like me are left to suffer in silence and feel like awful people.

@Panda368 that describes it to a t.

Emerald!!!!!! You TERF! Some men do have menstrual cycles!!!

Sorry... couldn't resist!

I had to see a psychiatrist when I was pregnant due to PMDD noted issues on my file.
She was lovely, she wholeheartedly reminded me it wasn't half a month but half of my life.
It put thing's in perspective I take steps to minimise my moods, this month was really bad I dreamt I had a period the disappointment when I woke.

@CuriousaboutSamphire 🤣

For the sake of balance, what is the male equivalent?

Being kicked repeatedly in the balls.

My mum had this (although i didn't know its name ) and it really impacted on my childhood.

My sister has just realised she has it and is really.devasted how much it affected her and.her family before she made the connection.

I was diagnosed with this over the phone during lockdown. I have always known that I struggle with my hormones with painful breasts and cyst like acne every month. However, in the course of being too busy to think of myself I hadn't connected the dots with the headaches, severe anxiety and deep depression. I just thought I was prone to those at times. In lockdown I noticed that I generally felt better, almost relieved, a few days after my period started.
The (male) doctor diagnosed me straight away, knew what questions to ask and was very sympathetic to me. I've been in citalopran a few months now and am feeling a little better. It is a horrendous condition that caused me to contemplate self harm
I would consider a full hysterectomy. It's not just PMS!

So many ignorant comments, just because it's not affected you or you haven't heard of it doesn't mean it's not serious.

@ProseccoGlass

So many ignorant comments, just because it's not affected you or you haven't heard of it doesn't mean it's not serious.

I agree there are some awful responses.

I thought we were women supporting other women. It's very sad we cannot show empathy for a women who is having her life turned upside down for hlaf of her reproductive years. I tried to commit suicide frequently, like living in a real psychological horror series.

Please, can we all support, or learn if you don't know what to is being discussed?

I knew I was pregnant long before the blue line as I realised I hadn’t wanted to kill myself that month or felt utterly hopeles/deep rage:massively irritable/unable to think. It’s a bloody odd thing.

@blurpityblurp hi, would you mind posting the FB support group you mentioned.

Thank you to all those who provided some really good info and food for thought. I'm going to look into different supplements and see if I can finally get this shit under control.

@YorkshirePuddingsGreatestFan and @Starsabove1 your stories and input have been more valuable to me than anything any medic or specialist has given me in the last 18 years. Thank you. You've done more good than you can ever know by just sharing your experiences. .

@Wishingforanotherlife I'm glad it helped you.

These are two groups that I used a lot for support.

This one is a global group so some of the terms and medications mentioned are different to what we use in the UK:
www.facebook.com/groups/pmddthbsolifeafter/

and this is a UK based group
www.facebook.com/groups/ukpmddsupport/

I have experienced PMDD although things are much better for me now. It lasted about 2 years and was hideous. I genuinely wanted to slit my wrists at certain times of the months and it almost destroyed my relationship. I had to research what was wrong with my myself and take it to my GP who, to her credit, really tried to help. I don’t know what made it better but I still have a lot of hormonal issues just not as bad.

I absolutely feel for those with PMDD as it is HORRIBLE. I also feel for those women who suffer badly with period pain and get ignored by everyone, including other women, because it’s just “something we have to deal with”.

It isn’t, and if these things were happening to men they would have been solved long ago.

@Wishingforanotherlife what a lovely thing to say - I’m glad it was useful.

I use cycle tracking apps as well and at the beginning charted everything from mood to skin to bloating. I got to know that eg from day 17 onwards I’d get more emotional and that on day 25 I’d be more likely to rage and cry and lose the plot over nothing so I’d either stay out of everyone’s way or avoid any possible triggers, even down to watching things that might be sad or violent on tv.
MindBodyGreen have a day by day guide to your cycle and hormones which I found useful.

Now that peri has made everything go a bit skewed I can still tell whereabouts i am in my cycle just from having observed it so closely. So when watching a video about a blind dog jumping in a puddle has me weeping like it’s the end of the world or I get so angry at an inanimate object not working that I want to take a hammer to it, I know my period will start in a few days!

Google Dr Nick Panay as well. He’s a specialist in premature & regular menopause and PMS & PMDD and has published papers on PMDD.

You can request a referral to his specialist clinic through your GP but he’s based in London.

I’m saving to be able to see him privately if needs be once I get to HRT stage.

@oakleaffy

Ok, looks like PMT ..Most women just put up with feeling a bit emotional or grumpy in the days before...I'd not expect the WHO to recognise it as a 'syndrome' as such. It isn't pleasant to feel..but a bit 'minor' to be WHO worthy? 🤔

Yup just PMT which resulted in me having to have a total hysterectomy at the age of 39 with no HRT because I have an adverse reaction to both oestrogen and progesterone that causes mental and emotional breakdowns, no desire to continue living, a pure dislike of everyone including my children for 2 weeks of every month followed by an uncontrollable period for 7 days.

Be grateful that you have no knowledge or experience of PMDD but don't be ignorant to others struggles with it.

www.facebook.com/groups/ukpmddsupport is the one I’m in.

Not sure if it’s been mentioned yet, but Agnus Castus helps some women with PMDD.

It's a way more severe form of PMT...like a different league really...as far as I can tell? We have seen patients suicidal with it...then all suicidality abated once their period starts

It's nothing like PMT.
As others have said, it's like the difference between hyperemesis and morning sickness.
Or the difference between a cold and pneumonia.

I grew up knowing there was a week every month when my lovely caring mum was genuinely terrifying and unpredictable.

I think I should do some research on this condition. I'm most interested to know whether this is a diagnosis that can be made in under 18s. My teens were some of the worst years of my life. Suicidal (hospitalised twice) depressed, anxious, binge eating and probably others I can't remember. I have an 8 year old daughter showing signs of puberty arriving soon (I hit at 11) and I'm concerned she may have the same problems I did. I'd like to know if I could get her some help if she develops the same condition, as I didn't receive any. After one suicide attempt at boarding school I was sent to see a counsellor who ticked off boxes on a piece of paper, decided I was attention seeking and I heard nothing more after. If something had been done I might have not spent the next few crucial self discovery career contemplating future thinking years in total misery.

Yes, I definitely want PMDD to be acknowledged and researched.