Tell me about your mood before your period arrives

[PaddleBoardingMomma]

I'm mid 30s and thought the pms weep/irritated cycle were something I left behind in my teens but bloody hell, seems to be ramping up again as I get older!

I snap at everyone, I feel miserable and bloated, and what's with the bizarre dreams/nightmares? The of course AF arrives and I'm hit with horrid cramps for a day or two then it's like a light switch has been flipped and I'm back to normal.

What about you lot, what's it like for you? Any advice for taking the edge off that doesn't involve meds?

Like some pp, absolute black hole of despair. Rage which has definitely got worse since I started peri. And just can't get anything done. I am on day 3 of my period now and have added exhaustion to the list. Good times

I forgot anxiety. And emotional tearful .Just a total mess basically.

I’m 40 and my PMS is getting worse and worse, magnified by the fact my cycles seem to be getting shorter so about 6 days out of 25 I feel dreadful. Starts with massive sugar cravings, then fatigue, then bloating and upset stomach, then murderous rage towards everyone around me, headaches, clumsiness, then the cramps start and eventually my period arrives and I start to feel better. And a general feeling of uselessness and confusion for most of the pms stage. I’ve got to do something about it soon or even my incredibly patient husband is going to reach his limit.

@frostedfruit

I honestly think PMT is massively overlooked. It's like having a huge mental health problem for 1-2 weeks per month and I don't say that lightly. Since 46 (perimenopause I damned sure) I've had rages that can last literally hours, huge amounts of hate for my partner and - as a PP said - the ability to ruminate on all his past trangressions for days on end. I literally seeth with anger and can't speak to him. Then my periods starts and it's like the clouds part, spring arrives and I feel lighter . . . . and horrifically guilty. I start HRT tmrw.

I will keep absolutely everything crossed for you that HRT gives you that helping hand you need and deserve! If you remember too, pop back and let us know how you get on? Rooting for you x

@nightwakingmoon

I’m overdue right now, and I’m so angry and pissed off I could probably kill Vladimir Putin with my bare hands…

You'd be a hero to be fair 😂

It did used to feel like a bad drugs comedown, (without the fun the night before 🙄). One that lasted 10-12 days. I would be shaky, clumsy- and a friend noticed that even my handwriting changed in my pre menstrual phase. Also, uncontrollable eating.

Now I 'm perimenopausal and on HRT, and there is terrible bloating (I sometimes have a vision of myself as a melon that someone has crayoned a face on 😆), wind, and a generalised low, "meh" grumpiness. Could not be arsed with my children this evening- made the easiest freezer food dinner possible, hid from them in the kitchen on my phone...yep, it's that time of the month.

@Thisisit2022

NO! FUCK OFF!

Bursts into tears

I'm sorry....

Sort of that really. I put it down to peri-menopause.

This... but I'm pregnant so I have no idea why it's still happening. Great fun for DH though. Yesterday he took more than 5 seconds to do something I asked and I was one step away from filing for divorce.

How the fuck have I got to 36 and not known that the massive depression I feel the week leading up to my period is normal?! I literally hate everything about my life, feel so unsettled and like a massive fucking failure who should just die to stop bringing everyone around me down. I always thought I was just odd, never realised how common it was.

Thank you! @PaddleBoardingMomma! I will definitely update on the HRT x

Fucking murderous

Really forgetful, hungry, grumpy & tearful

Basically I forget something or lose something important and possibly expensive. Get tearful over it. Then I get pissed off that I have to rectify the situation of my own doing. Then get hungry from all the emotion

I was appalling! I literally wanted to upset other people and make them miserable/angry and I'd be absolutely livid with even the tiniest transgression (one spectacular example involved the teaspoon being put in the drawer upside down!).

Literally the only thing that fixed it for me was the mini pill. Now I'm period free and stable all month long. It's absolute bliss.

Crippling headaches and fatigue. Anxiety.

All have decreased at least 60% since I started HRT. Could have benefited from HRT from about 40 but the GP said I was too young to be perimenopause (not true).

I turn into a paranoid, snappy, irritable, depressed carbohydrate monster.

Do you drink coffee? I found ditching caffinated coffee helped me hugely.

I then found having a hysterectomy helped even more. Too much oestrogen methinks....

Vile: feelings of failure, worthlessness which manifest in me being horrible to my family and lead to me feeling suicidal.
Does the pill work for this?

@nightwakingmoon

I feel pretty much everything pps have said and it's horrendous. Have a big argument with dp one week before I come on every month and he's understandably sick of it but I don't seem able to avoid it. In the moment he seems soo unreasonable.

Actually considering spending those few days away from him every month just to try to save the relationship. Hormones are the worst.

Fucking horrific. I am not fit to know for a week beforehand. I bite everyone's heads off and I am genuinely full of rage. Hate my job, hate my life, hate everyone.

Definitely more emotional, the worse thing is the sugar cravings .

I turn into an angry, fat potato who exists only to consume carbs and be grumpy. I also can't sleep properly.
Weed helps, alcohol really doesn't.

Awful. I think about leaving my DH, how unfair and unjust mu whole life is, I could easily spend all day in bed eating shit food and watching crap TV. I get anxious about work and become stressed at the smallest thing. Then 2 days in and I'm fine.

One thing I have found kept me balanced is (sadly) diet - low carb, high protein, calories controlled. When I eat well i feel much better. But very hard to do with PMT - dominoes and bottle of wine please!

I’m absolutely vile the week before I’m due on. I fly off the handle at every little thing, have no patience, swear like a sailor more than usual and slam lots of things. I’m also extremely judgy but usually at stuff on tv 🙈

I had 20 wonderful (give or take a few) years on the pill. Then it was dh's turn to do permanent contraception.

I've had 6 years of normal periods now. Except they go from 24 to 40 day cycles. I get various pmt symptoms, but mainly:
The mad, mad dreams.
Night sweats.
Exhaustion. Yawned all the way through my exercise class last night and cba running tonight.
The irritability. I ruined pancake day cos I just lost it. Ihated everyone. Then I cried a lot.
Headaches. I'm not a headache person.
The feeling that my emotions are controlling me, not the other way round.
Sometimes anxiety and chronic clumsiness.

Wow I'm massively in the minority here. I've never noticed a difference coming up to my perios. That's not to say I'm cheerful all the time, there are times I can be snappy, moody, tearful etc, but that can be at any time of the month with no correlation to my period.

The rage, oh the rage. I get so unbelievably irritable, snappy and impatient. I have one day where I'm really really bad with it. Could quite easily punch someone. Seems to vary when I get like this tbh. More depressed and anxious and want to eat everything.