To wonder if there’s something medically wrong with me when I am this enraged before my period?

[hapna]

It’s got to the point since having Dd (14 months) that I am absolutely vile before my period. Really vicious and unkind, I get very upset, I feel a bit out of control emotionally. This is for around 48 hours then I’m fine, back to normal and it’s like a fog has lifted and all is well again. I have cancelled plans for next month around this time as I know I will be a nightmare to socialise with. Has anyone experienced this?? I was always emotional before my period and did have some episodes like this but it is really really full on now and I dread it each month.

Definitely PMDD go to your drs and don't leave without a plan of action going forward and a prescription. You can either have the pill taken continuously or very low dose Prozac.

I didn't want to take either but I was ruining my life, marriage and kids. I was like a monster for 48 hours. I tried the pill for 4 months and it definitely helped a bit but not enough and the rage broke through. I'm doing the low dose Prozac and and am only in the first month but so far so good.

I had a mirena coil fitted in February, due to my heavy and painful periods, it’s taken 6 months to fully take effect but I don’t get anything like I used to. It’s a hormone coil, I’m 47 so GP said it would also help with peri menopausal symptoms. I don’t think I’m as PMT as I used to be but it’s worth looking into if it could help your symptoms.

I hardly ever respond to posts but having lived 30+ years with awful periods I felt I should share - there is help out there x

Sertraline for PMDD really helped me - take it for 2 weeks before my period, then 2 weeks off. 24mg. Instant results pretty much. For depression/anxiety, ie traditional use, it’s a higher dose and takes about 6 weeks to start working. But there’s growing evidence that taking it as above for PMDD works.

I’m awful too ☹️ just for a day or two, but for those days I have zero patience with my lovely husband and child. I only really noticed it this year, so I don’t know if it’s a new thing or I just didn’t notice before. I’ve set reminders on my phone to watch out for unreasonable anger around that time (not totally accurate with a variable cycle length)

I had this for a time after my periods came back after my last baby. And actually it did lift naturally without any medication but it took a while. Six months or a year maybe. I still get irritable before my period but now it feels like normal PMT rather than this god awful all consuming rage.

Hey OP.

I had exactly the same after the birth of my first child. Had never really suffered with any Pmt before that. About 2 weeks before my period was due I would turn into a completely different person. I would have extreme thoughts of self harm, harming my child and would dream about throwing myself off a building. I would be shouty and miserable and snappy and just awful to be around, and it would get more intense in the lead up to my period. Then as soon as it came, it was like this fog had been lifted and I felt normal again. Please go and talk to your GP. I suffered for ages because I was really ashamed but the Dr was so understanding and she said it was very common after having a baby. I tried a few various things like hormone contraceptive and anti depressants until I found something that worked for me. I eventually came off them all and the symptoms havent returned and my child is 9 now. Really hope you get the help you need x

I was like this. Also the night sweats continued. I was a horrible horrible person to be around, and it continued getting worse so it wasn't just the week before. I was on the verge of going to the doctor but I started taking Health & Her Perimenopause Mind + tablets. They've changed my life, no exaggeration. I stopped taking them for a few days when we moved house and I forgot and I could really tell the difference.

I was actually going to say this too. I have recently started to get ridiculously ragey with PMT and have only been on it a bit less than a month but it really has seemed to have helped.

Yes the urge to be vicious! I actually WANT to be horrible… just totally unlike how I am the rest of the time (thankfully!). I seem to want to be angry, it’s awful.

I started like this in my teens, weirdly my dh knew I was pregnant before I did because it got worse in the first few weeks.

Know I'm perimenopausal, I keep expecting the rage people warn about, but I'm strangely calm. I've only felt out of control a couple of times this year. It's so much nicer feeling like me.

Not much help to you though op, sorry.

Interesting. Is there not an issue with withdrawal on the off days?

I started feeling like this in my forties. It honestly felt like a mental illness. I now take the mini pill which has stopped my periods and things are much better.

This was me and the only solution I have found is to take the pill straight through which I have done for years and years

Yes, I hardly ever swear but at that time I would get something like Tourette’s and really couldn’t control it.

+1 for pmdd. I have it and take sertraline and it really helps. I still get normal levels of pms, but I don't feel the overwhelming urge to abandon my family or hurt myself every month any more. I think I've always had it, but before kids I was only hurting myself and could hide away until I felt better. Dealing with small kids along side those feelings made me realise I needed to get help or it would harm my children as well.

Are you on any kind of contraceptive?

I recommend reading Period Power by Maisie Hill, it's a bit woo, but it's fascinating the impact our periods have, lots of science, I have started tracking to really understand myself as it's not just about PMT. One of the things she discusses is that PMT is often exposing an issue that was already there which I find quite validating, I might be less patient, but there's a reason why I am irritated and it isn't just hormones! But yes I empathise, it's crippling and I've lost many years to it, I've had my copper coil out and had no issues since, I am fuming, I thought I had gone for a safe nonhormonal option but alas it's not as simple as that. The lack of medical attention on female health is a catastrophe.

Yes I have this and it was ruining my life. I now take citalopram 20mg every day and most months don’t even know I’m due on!

Another one who was in the same boat after my second child. GP recommended either the pill or low level anti depressants. I went for the former as I needed contraception and it's really helped.
Its horrible and scary and not talked about enough. I loathed myself and then got eaten up with guilt.

(That should have been 25mg but I’m sure that’s obvious 😁)

I didn’t experience any withdrawals, maybe cos it’s such a low dose. I ended up taking it full time for overall anxiety and then coming off for various reasons (overall anxiety seemed to get way better due to lifestyle changed) but am watching and thinking I might have to go back on for the PMDD. It’s funny because my overall anxiety was so so distinct from my PMDD anxiety, I really could separate the 2 like that.

Sertraline changed my life. I really think it would have helped my mum too, but it wasn’t available when she was going through all of this.

I had it when I was on the pill. First pill made me terribly depressed on the off week and I recognised it for what it was. I changed onto a different one (unrelated reasons) and it made me a super bitch and I had no idea for well over a year.

I just thought the world was against me. I lost friendships, cocked up multiple things, bruised a bone in my foot kicking a suitcase really hard because it was in my way. Worst one was having a meltdown at the station because I couldn't understand the departure boards (brain fog). I ran several times between two platforms, shouted at many people and was a total diva. I am mortified when I think back and so upset I didn't realise.