Medication for PMS?

[Anonymous2411]

Hi everyone,

I am suffering horrifically with PMS, not sure if it’s PMDD. The week before my period my mental health is awful, in particular rage. The other night I repeatedly smacked the back of my hand against a table during a disagreement, it’s now swollen and bruised.

I have a history of self harm and during this week the urge is overwhelming. I’m upsetting those closest to me which further gives me the urge to self harm.

I feel alienated because no one in my household (OH and 13yo DD) understands and I’m looked at like a monster. I hate it so much.

The rest of the month I am a generally happy person who loves life and is very caring to my family. For one week I feel like I’ve had a personality transplant.

Has anyone had a similar experience? If so what did you do to make it better? I don’t know if medication can help but I’m willing to try anything right now.

Thanks for reading

Yep. Sympathies from me! Currently checking my knickers every half an hour to see if my period has started.

It definitely sounds like PMDD. I don't have an official diagnosis, but I call it that to distinguish it from the PMS that many women suffer with (I meet the criteria for PMDD and work seemed happy to take my word for it). I have ruined meals out and cried in work because of it and I am a snarky bitch to my husband and kids. It can start up to ten days before my period is due. I genuinely worry sometimes that I'm going to cross a line and then there will be no going back to how things were before.

I contacted my GP a few months ago and they did bloods (showed nothing) and we agreed I'd up the sertraline I take anyway in the run up to my period. She also recommended vit B12 and I take primrose oil capsules as well. I had a disorganised month in May and I forgot. It was horrid, I even posted about it on here after I'd stomped off in a rage from a family outing. I still struggle a bit, but it's not as awful as it was before I started taking supplements and additional ADs.

Speak to your GP and also look up the info on the Mind website about it. Speak to your husband and DD about it, but not when you're in the throes of it! Good luck! It sucks and there's always the worry that people think you're just some hormonal, emotionally unstable harpie...

Thank you, I’m going to have a look into the supplements and I definitely need to make a doctors appointment.

I’ve had PMS which was being tearful for a couple of days around my period, this doesn’t feel like that.

The worry of going to far is awful isn’t it? And the guilt! My DD is quite good, I say to her “enjoy your periods before they go insane!”. OH doesn’t get it, I wish all men had six months of periods to realise we’re not just bat shit!

Good fun being a woman 😂

Mine improved quite a lot when using hormonal contraception (combined pill), I think because it reduced fluctuations in hormone levels. I’m now on HRT, which I have no intention of stopping, ever.
No other medication was ever of any use, and I was prescribed lots.

Interesting, as I've never got on with hormonal contraception, apart from the nuvaring (which I'm not allowed to take anymore). It was suggested by my GP, but she acknowledged that it can make things worse, which it absolutely does for me. I had the implant for about two weeks and then paid £150 privately to have it removed as I was genuinely worried I was going to smack (or worse) my then toddler, it was scary! But OP, it might be worth trying the pill or reassessing your contraceptive if you're on one already.

I hope you find something that helps you! I asked to speak to a female GP specialising in gynecology/ women's health and she was very understanding and pragmatic about it. Don't knock ADs if they're suggested for the worst week. The vit B complex and primrose oil you need to take every day. I also take vitamin D (because I happened to have some) and magnesium, but they weren't recommended for PMDD specifically. Be careful with things like Aquaban etc, as they contain insane amounts of caffeine!

How old are you? I'm late thirties and I do worry that it will get worse as I move towards the menopause...

I’m open minded to anything at this point, I can’t carry on like this. That’s good to know about the aquavan though, I completely avoid caffeine.

I’m 32 and it’s got so much worse as I’ve got older. Same as you, I worry about the menopause

Just to add, I’m currently not using any contraceptive pill, I didn’t want to as I wasn’t keen on it slowing me down if I wanted more children.

However if I carry on like this then I won’t have a partner to have kids with anyway!

I would speak to your GP and say how markedly it is affecting your life for that one week per month.

In the meantime, something that might help is to eat more regularly at this time in your cycle. This is advice my GP gave me and it definitely makes a difference as it keeps your blood sugars on an even keel. After a year of doing this in the week running up to my period, I now naturally feel like I want food at the right time and I've learned not to fight it (I'd rather gain a bit of weight than decimate a friendship or lose my temper at DD). I try to make sure it's reasonably good food like wholegrain toast, boiled egg, full fat greek yoghurt etc. that I have for these extra little meals as this'll help the blood sugars issue. It really has helped and I've gone a few months with no major incident.

I take the mini pill, I can’t handle the combined one, tried five different types and it’s like I have permanent pms, out of desperation because I also have endometriosis I tried the progesterone only pill and it’s a miracle worker, no pms and no periods.