Alternative to Prozac for PMDD/Severe PMS?

[tinfoilhat]

I'll try to give as much info as possible but keep it brief too!
In February I went to the doctors about panic attacks that I'd been having for over a year. She prescribed me with Valium for as and when I felt the need and said to keep a diary on when they occurred. I soon discovered that the panic attacks and a whole load of other symptoms, which I'd put down to possible depression, were trackable to my monthly cycle and had started to occur when I got my periods back after having my DC2. I went back to discuss this just over 5 weeks ago and was prescribed 20mg Prozac a day for what the doctor agreed to be severe PMS/PMDD.

As warned by the doc I felt very anxious for the first few days, to the point where I thought I was going mad, but then started to feel better mentally than I have in years. I felt like myself again! Unfortunately the physical side effects were quite strong - feeling very spaced out and 'drugged', sore throat and wheezy cough and my restless leg syndrome returning with vengeance. After 3 weeks I returned to my doctor as I was concerned the physical side effects weren't going away and with a 2 and 3 year old to look after, I just didn't feel safe being so spaced out. She said either stick it out another week or so as it was common for the side effects to last a bit longer or reduce the dose. I decided to reduce the dose and began taking 10mg a day in liquid form. At first I felt it was the key and I felt fantastic, but then the old mental symptoms started to return but not as bad and yet the physical side effects continued. So here I am, over 5 weeks later, still feeling spaced out and with a wheezy cough and yet not on a strong enough dose to get the positive effects anymore.

I have a doctors appt for Tuesday and I think the best way forward is to try something else. However, I am scared at how awful I feel physically and because the current dose isn't work positively any more I'm getting panicky again that I'm losing my mind/screwed up my brain.

Has anyone had experience of Prozac not suiting them for PMDD/Severe PMS and tried something else that worked? Do you think I switched the dose too soon and should have given it more time at 20mg? The thought of feeling this awful physically for a few more weeks is terrifying but I am lucky in that my DH is around at the moment during the day, so if I need help he's there. So it's more important I get it right long term.

Thanks for sticking with this so far, hope it makes sense. Sorry if it doesn't but it's like trying to think through treacle at the moment...
Thanks for any help you can provide.

Sertraline is another SSRI. I was on Prozac years ago but it gave me tremors & the first few weeks I felt really detached from my body. I felt too hyped up on it. I take Sertraline (lustral) & it's been the best one for the least side effects. My psychiatrist always starts me in 1/2 the lowest dose for 2 weeks which minimizes the side effects.
I found my PMS has improved since eating small snacks every few hours. Something about keeping the blood sugars constant is supposed to help PMS.
Evening primrose did nothing for me. Vit B complex made my heart race but they are supposed to help.
You could maybe try acupuncture or reflexology. There is also a herb Agnus Catus that is supposed to balance hormones.

Thanks so much for your reply tabbycat15 - it's really helpful.
I had heard of Sertraline, think I'll mention it Tuesday and see if I can give it a try. The half dose to start with makes sense too.
I've considered Evening Primrose and also Starflower but the doses recommended were so high that, tbh, I couldn't really afford to try it. I'm not one for automatically turning to prescribed drugs, I'd always normally try and find a natural way to resolve things, but this has affected my life so much that I felt I needed a sure way to get my head straight again, then once I've been 'normal' again for a while I'll feel a lot stronger to look at more natural ways. I'll look into the Agnus Catus too, not heard of that before.
Thanks again for your help, much appreciated.

This is very interesting, as I'm in a similar situation. I've had PMDD since my mid-teens, but didn't realise that that was the problem until much later and I've never been officially diagnosed. I manage to keep the worst of the symptoms under control with lifestyle stuff (regular exercise,plenty of sleep, no grains, no refined foods or sugar, lots of veg and healthy fats, meditation/relaxation, not much alcholol and none at all between ovulation and when I start to feel OK once my period has started)but as I get a huge urge to binge eat crap food as one of my symptoms, the healthy living tends to go to pot every couple of months leaving me back at square one. I also take evening Primrose oil (Morrisons do a very good value enormous pot of capsules) although I think that has more of an effect on my eczema than my PMDD) and eat a lot of Brewers Yeast.

I've been considering going to my GP about it, but like you, I've had a really horrible reaction to prozac in the past, and am a bit wary of taking SSRIs as a result, especially as with diet etc I can get my symptoms down to a level which is seriously inconvenient but livable with. I was considering asking for a course of CBT to help me deal with the craziness symptoms and stop them bleeding over into my life, but was also thinking of discussing possible alternative SSRIs, starting with a low dose taken only in the second half of my cycle.

This is a useful website www.pmddawareness.co.uk/ and there is a Facebook fgroup called PMDD Support Red Tend which has some useful links, including the RCOG guidelines for the Management of PMS/PMDD:

www.rcog.org.uk/files/rcog-corp/uploaded-files/GT48ManagementPremensturalSyndrome.pdf