PMDD and Combined Pill…any advice please

[Smithy37]

Hi ladies,
so I have struggled with PMDD for a long time now..only recently officially diagnosed by a Dr who actually has listened and believed me 🥹.
My mental health is fragile at best at the moment due to a marriage break up and the doctor has put me on Venlafaxine which I believe is helping a little now that it has kicked in. However she has prescribed me the combined pill to potentially help with my PMDD as she said it stops the fluctuation in hormones each month…the issue is that as promising as this sounds I am absolutely terrified of it making me worse mentally and emotionally. I am already finding work difficult at the moment due to the anxiety and awful self doubt I feel a week before and during my period (sometimes longer) and am just so scared I will fall into a bigger hole.
has anyone got any experience of trying this for PMDD or severe PMS? Needing a big hug and a hand hold at the moment 🥹💜

I take the combined pill back to back as was really suffering and it helped me. I never take a pill break.

Everyone is different - all the best - fully empathise

Do you also have PMDD? Did you feel scared to try it at first? It’s horrible isn’t it I just am so terrified of it making me worse xx

Yes. I take Eloine which is on the NICE guidance for PMDD. It’s helped massively. I take it consecutively without a break.

Maybe it is worth a try after all

@Smithy37i think it’s worth trying. I was very hesitant and the first three weeks I felt constantly like my worst week of the month and had headaches but I am settled now and it’s the best decision I’ve made. I was about to request medical or surgical menopause at 35.

Oh gosh really…this gives me some comfort. When I separated from my husband in April I ended up with the crisis team due to my mental health…when I worked dates out I realised I was in my hell week and once my period came it started to lift…it just can’t go on. I think this is why I’m so terrified to try it because of where I have been if that makes any sense. I need to give it a try don’t I xx

@Smithy37good luck! I’d say give it three months. I saw a noticeable difference in my patience and mood after the first month. I do miss my super productive energetic week the week after my period but on balance level and stable all month is worth it.

I just can’t continue as I am I know that for sure. Did you find that before you took it the PMDD was really affecting your life?

@Smithy37yes. I’ve quit jobs. My marriage ended (for various reasons but pmdd was a contributing factor) and so many events and holidays have been overshadowed by me either feeling too depressed or too irritable to participate.

Gosh this is me. I most certainly think that it was a factor in the end of my marriage even though I wasn’t happy for other reasons. But it’s just a battle that I can’t keep fighting every single month..I’m now finding that the fear of it coming it affecting me now so I’m just never free from it xx

Hormones can be awful for my mental health and aside from when trying to conceive I'm on the pill to help my mental health. I don't have pmdd but do have life long mental illness.
I personally didn't get on with the combined pill as on the weeks off I was bed bound with depression by day 2 but this was 20 years ago when you were discouraged from taking back to back strips of pills.
I've been on the progesterone only pill since 2010 and the stability in hormones has really allowed me stability in between episodes of ill health due to my condition. Once identifying that I didn't get on with the combined pill the switch was pretty quick. I was offered a different combined pill for a month. The first week off I was depressed again so I was moved straight on to the progesterone only pill then and noticed a difference straight away.
It's definitely worth trying.

Thankyou so much for this lovely. Like you I have struggled with my mental health for my whole life really.
it has to be worth a try surely. I just worry about my job and my mental health declining. Xxxx

I have been taking sertraline for PMDD for the last 5 months or so, it's transformed me! I take the lowest dose and only between ovulation and my period starting and I no longer want to murder my partner or my boss... got myself into a bit of trouble with that one in the past! I can't tolerate the pill, any fake hormones make me even worse, buy i really wish id tried sertraline earlier..

So I have collected my prescription today and have been given Microgynon..does anyone have any experience of this in the treatment of PMDD….im so scared to start it as I already feel so anxious at the moment 😥