Depression? Stress? PMS? What the heck is wrong with me?

[tigana]

So, I can be fine, pootling along in vaguely happy way, then, suddenly I find myself feeling really miserable, negative and tearful. Mood drops really low. Wouldn't say it was a black mood, but certainly grey, dark grey.
By the next day, or later that day even, it is all fine again, and I can't quite believe how miserable I felt.
Then in happens again the next day.

I do generally feel less than "happy". If happy is 10/10 then I am usually a max of 8. But when I am low I drop to maybe 2/10.

Am also clumsy, irritable and tired throughought day.
I work FT out of home and job has been ++stressful recently as opposed to just +stressful, have a toddler, DH away quite a bit in evenings with work.
No particular time of day.

?? diagnose me ??

No words of great wisdom from me and sorry to hear you feel rubbish.
One thought though, does it go in the cycle of your period or do you feel like this all the month round. DO the symptoms go away when your period comes?
It may help to keep a diary, so you can log exactly when your mood drops and the symptoms you feel.

Well, I know I feel angrier just before peiod and am more likely to feel angry or sad out of proportion to actual events (with hindsight).

I know I had a bout of these feelings on or around 18 March as well as more recently and period is due next week...just how 'pre' can pre menstrual be?

It is the relativly fleeting nature of it that I find confusing,surely if I am depressed or stressed or suffering from PMS (or any combination of those!) I would feel it for more of the time each day? Unless I am subliminating it with being busy at work or looking after ds etc?

I too get very emotional before periods, I read this website here and it was me to a tee.

It may really help to log your moods for a while and see if you think it is period related.

As far as I know Doctors prescribe AD's for PMS, however there are natural remedies you could try like Magnesium OK (available from Boots for £10 in Womens HEalth section) and Agnus Castus (herb -I got it from JustVitamins.co.uk online) if you wanted to try that route first. Both these worked wonders for my mood swings which were defo period related.

I have started to log moods, but that means I have to 'live with this' for 2 or 3 months in order to see a pattern if there is one...don't want to! .

Will check out that link, thanks. Have been on all sorts of site stoday in attempt to self-diagnose!

If you scroll down on that link there is something called PMDD which you may want to consider which is a more extreme version of PMS.

Good luck, there is no need to suffer though, it can be sorted whether you want to go down the herbal route or doctors route.

Thanks turkeylurkey...I can feel a trip to the vitamin section and 'natural remedies' section on sainsburys coming on during tonight's grocery shop!!

You are a woman like any other , affected by hormones, full moon, stress,pollution,negative astrological aspects, other peoples moods,bad news on the telly , papers or radio,kids who do to much or little of this or that.
PMT,PMS or however the pre menstrual state of dishamony with the world and oneself is deciced to be deffined, is affecting all of us.
It happens to me very very often in the same way...
you will be advised to get vitamin B, zinc, magnesium,agnus cactus herbal remmedy, milk thistle,siberian ginseng , spirulina my god list never ends..
its up to you to decide .
but my diagnosis of you is simple: you are just a woman who is living in a modern world and is trying to make life better for herself and her familly...but if you start feeeling like this for for longer than usual ,try calcium supplements or bach flower remmedies , they do work most of the time.