To ask if you have any experience of PMDD?

[DressesWithPocketsRockMyWorld]

My 15 year old daughter has been struggling with her mental health recently and been at crisis point on a number of occasions. I posted about it on relationships and someone suggested PMDD and oh wow. Every symptom fits my DD. She hates me suggesting her moods are at all linked to her cycle but when I sent her a link for it she said oh my God Mum I get all of those things.

Does anybody have any experience of this please? Did anything help? We are happy to go to the GP and discuss the contraceptive pill but it really badly affected my moods which makes me so wary.

Any advice gratefully received, we are waiting on specialist CAMHS for one to one CBT but the waiting list is so long.

Zoloft

A colleague in work has had a traumatic many years supporting her daughter with this disorder. She talks about an Australian support group, maybe on Facebook, that has been a critical source of info and support so maybe google for that.

I have struggled for years, I started on fluoxetine in feb after exhausting all herbal and hormonal options, I’ve never felt better! I’m 36 and wish I’d of not held off so long.

Hi OP. There is a Facebook group that is very helpful I think it's called UK Pmdd support.

I had a private phone consultation with a consultant at the London menopause and pms clinic today (used to be the John studd clinic) and they are starting me in oestrogen gel straight away.

I have struggled with this condition since I was a teenager but only put two and two together a few years ago. Every GP I have spoken to has been absolutely useless and obstructive to referring me, hence finally went private - the phone consultation was £350.

Oh and I have been on anti depressants for ten years and although they help a little they do not mask the effects enough for me.

Yes. I was diagnosed with PMDD a few years ago. Personally I found my GP very unhelpful (she rolled her eyes). Whilst she did offer me antidepressants, a common treatment that's successful in lots of cases, I was looking for something preventative rather than mask the symptoms. I chose to see a gynaecologist privately, a specialist in PMDD. £200 later I had a diagnosis and a treatment plan (HRT), I had to change my dose after review but I'm so much better (and no longer put myself in danger once a month)

I never bothered to get diagnosed because at the point I realised that was what it was, doctors tended to be rubbish and there weren't really any treatment options, and by the time things improved, I had made lifestyle changes that ,allowed me to live with it. But if I had a young daughter showing signs, I'd definitely look at medical intervention - I spent my teens and twenties either seriously depressed, coping with the after effects of a week of serious depression, or planning for the next bout.

One non medical thing that really helped was tracking my cycles. I used the fertility awareness method for contraception for a while, and it taught me so much about how various things would make my symptoms worse iri better, and I could predict when things would be good or bad. Toni Weschler, who wrote the Fertlity Awareness book I used has also written a cycle tracking book for teens calked Cycle Savvy, which might be helpful. I haven't read it, though.

I wanted to add that I believe I would be dead without medical intervention. My symptoms were destructive and I attempted suicide on a number of occasions. I struggled to leave the house when my hormones flipped. I was almost arrested because my symptoms made me panicky (which came across as agression). Looking back I'm also certain I failed my exams because I struggled to function for those 1-2weeks a month. For me it got worse as I got older.

Yes for me it has gotten worse with age. It is worth having a private consultation if you can afford it OP. It will be life changing for your daughter having medical intervention. I have lost jobs, friendships, relationships. opportunities etc and also attempted suicide as pp has too. Even if the GPs weren't so obstructive to referral, apparently many many gynaecologists aren't trained to treat it either.

I had it. Now treated and functioning well with low dose anti-depressants for 10 days a month. Feel like a new woman. Your DD doesn't have to suffer