PMDD

[MaBee91]

I’ve had what I believe is PMDD for years now. About 10 days before my period, my mood becomes awful and it affects my daily life, but once my period starts I feel much more like myself again.

I’ve tried Ditto for 3 months and honestly didn’t notice any benefit, so I’m looking at other options. I’m not keen on taking antidepressants at this stage and would prefer to explore whether a contraceptive pill might help.

If you’ve had PMDD and found a pill that worked for you, which one was it and how long did it take to notice a difference? Equally, if you tried a pill and it made things worse, I’d be interested to hear that too.

I’m in the UK and planning to speak to my GP about this, but I’d really appreciate hearing other people’s experiences.

I have PMDD and I rand fluoxetine for approx 11 days before my cycle starts. It’s obviously prescribed from my GP. It really helps. Don’t get me wrong I still don’t feel great but I am not literally clinging on by my fingernails. One month I felt the fluoxetine was making me feel a bit wired so I skipped it. Huge huge mistake. It was horrific and made me realise how well the fluoxetine works. Hormonal contraceptives never suited me. They really heavily affect my mood so I didn’t want to go on a pill or coil. My GP did offer the mirena coil but I didn’t want that. I got my tubes tied after my last baby so contraception isn’t an issue that way for me, just synthetic hormones don’t agree with me !

Similar story here! I've long suspected I suffer from this and after having my children it got significantly worse.

I take fluoxetine on days 14-28 of my cycle and it has had huge benefits for me. I feel a lot better in myself, a lot less anxiety.

Hormone contraceptives never sat well with me and actually make my moods worse, so I now steer clear of these and I also don't need to rely on them as actual contraception.

My GP has been really supportive and we have regular check ins to make sure that the medication is still doing its job.

Following! What’s Ditto?

There are a couple of combined pills shown to work for PMDD I believe. I’ve never tried them due to migraines.
I tried the mini pill which made everything worse. I know that for some people it helps, but I think the evidence shows it’s more likely to make it worse.

Another one for fluoxetine. Without it I can hit quick depths of not wanting to be here, like a light switch has flicked. It stops that. I can still get emotional (& deinfately still want to scoff all the carbs I can't find!) pre mentally but it definately helps more with the proper lows and questioning my sanity times more than any contraceptive pill ever has.