PMMD desperate for help please

[Roseandstar]

Anyone who knows the hell of this !!!
Any apps that inform you when you’re due.
anyone notice it got horrendous peri meno ?
supplements that actually work?!!!
May the absolute end of my tether

Go to your GP and see if they will prescribe fluoxetine. It really helps.

Solgar B6 100mg taken every day. Really helped me

I also use the Clue app to track periods and moods. Definitely useful to see what’s working and planning around your cycle

Sertraline was game changer for me

Nothing has helped me, and I've had fucking everything. My sympathies. It ruins my life and it has gotten worse as I've gotten older.

What is PMMD?

www.womenshealth.gov/menstrual-cycle/premenstrual-syndrome/premenstrual-dysphoric-disorder-pmdd#:~:text=Premenstrual%20dysphoric%20disorder%20(PMDD)%20is,two%20before%20your%20period%20starts.

I will be totally honest, the only thing that worked for me was a total hysterectomy, I could have kept my remaining ovary, but due to the monthly mental hell decided to get rid & it was like a fog lifting as I came out of theatre. You can just have your ovaries removed but I had endometriosis. I have no problems with HRT at all. I hated myself every month running up to my period, was suicidal, even slammed my head into a concrete wall, had an argument with exh when I was married, took off in my car & sat outside a tower block of flats revving the engine, willing myself to take my foot off the clutch & drive my 2 ton 4 x 4 into the building. How I was never sectioned I will never know, I had it from 10 to 45, I used to think I was losing my mind.

Losing your mind is exactly how I feel

I don't know if I have PMDD but basically my mensteual cycle happens and like clockwork my mental health goes haywire. Extreme anxiety, paranoia, depression and just kind of recklessness - like not caring what I do or what impact it would have

Gotten so much worse since having a child. I was hoping to have another but I think it's in my child and my best interests to get rid of the lot and do HRT.

@Nat6999 how did you convince them to do the op? (I have endo too...so assuming it would be broadly accepted).

To the OP - the thing that's helped me is a) tracking so I can have some sense of why I might be feeling the way I do and b) exercise - I bloody hate it, and am not a sporty person, but running til my legs feel like they're burning off seems to help. Probably yoga is more calming tho...

Following with interest. It's absolute hell and it feels like it's getting much much worse as i get older.

I use the built in health app on iPhone to track my period but my husband can instantly spot when symptoms are kicking in. 7-10 days before my period starts he says I start staring into space and zoning out and then go downhill from there. It also makes my other health conditions harder to live.

Speak to your GP (try to get one specialising in women's health). I was recommended an increased dose of sertraline for the days it was worst (I have been on ADs for years anyway), vitamin B and primrose oil. It's not perfect, but I now have manageable grumpiness rather than irrational, damaging rage with violent fantasies each month. Tell your employer as well if you need reasonable adjustments.

I got a choose & book appointment to my local private hospital, had to have 2 laparoscopies to find the endo & then go to appeal panel at my CCG to get an individual funding request, they wanted me to have a Mirena coil but I refused, I hadn't worked for nearly a year as I was in so much pain. How I never lost my job with the PMMD as I was a monster, I picked fights, had meltdowns & horrific moodswings. I was diagnosed with Autism 4 years ago & I wonder how much that contributed to it.

Fluoxetine two weeks a month saved me, with few side effects (though libido definitely dropped). Now on HRT and don't need the fluoxetine any more. Talk to your GP.

Are in the UK? There’s a really good support group on Facebook- ‘UK PMDD Support’

Me too.

PMDD actually made me really psychologically unstable when perimenopause began. I didn't link the two.

I went on Sertraline first then 6 months later started HRT.

Still on both and thriving now.

Aw OP PMDD is horrendous. I had it from age 14 and have been a slave to my hormones ever since. Now 56 and menopausal.

30 years ago I began to track my ‘feelings’ every day as I knew something was making me crazy, angry and depressed every few weeks. I soon build up a picture of the usual PMDD craziness although at that time PMDD wasn’t a thing. There are often cycles within cycles, mine was worse every 3rd month. I found Agnus Cactus helped, no alcohol, exercise but the game changer was Citalopram, an anti depressant. I still take it now, along with HRT.

PP mentioned the Facebook page, that’s a real help, I followed it for years.

I have a teenage daughter and tracked her cycle for her first few years, I am so relieved she doesn’t have it. Often she can feel a little insecure, but she knows to check her period tracker App and can see for herself it’s only a temporary state.

Wishing you the best or luck finding a solution.

I have it too. Once a month I ruin my life/relationship and I spend the next 3 weeks picking up the pieces and the cycle continues.

Im on fluoxetine now and it’s working as best it can.

Its trial and error but it’s very debilitating I’m sorry you’re suffering OP.

@TeenMum87

Brilliant that you tracked your daughters cycle and made her aware. It’s obvious now my mum had it too. I wish she’d have done the same!

Mine was awful, really debilitating and negatively affecting my family life abd work. I'd tried all of the alternative treatments, homeopath, acupuncture, all of the suggested vitamin and mineral supplements but nothing worked. then I read an article about Sertraline being used to treat it (in US I think). Asked GP for it and it worked! Same for my friend who equally suffered. Been on it about 15yrs now. I hope you can find what works for you.

Had it most of my life. I was continually diagnosed with depression and other disorders when all along it was PMDD. So debilitating. Each and every month I’d start to do reckless things, think about ending my life, my relationships, leaving my job. Awful.

i tried all the supplements. Eventually I got an infection that put me into chemical menopause with added back HRT. Was on that for 18 months, and not I’m three weeks post total hysterectomy. I’ll not lie, I’m struggling about with hormones and moods but I feel it’s fixable with the right HRT.

I feel your pain. PMDD is such a cruel thing to suffer from.

Im experiencing peri symptoms and it was the worst I’ve ever known it to be - although I’d thought it couldn’t get any worse it did.

I’ve countered it by doing weights, walking and eating better. Well it’s still there but not as bad.

Treatment here was fluoxetine in the week before my period and even that stopped working - GP wanted me to take it full time but the anxiety was crushing. I have also gained a stone in the past on SSRIs.

im dreading the next twenty years tbh!!

Thank you all for your messages a few ideas there I will try xx

It's hell on earth, then it passes and I forget what pure torture it is til the symptoms rear their head again.

There is also a strong link with neurodiversity and PMDD - if you have adhd or autism you're more likely to have PMDD then if you're neurotypical.

I feel like I must have been bad in a previous life tbh 😅