I've developed quite severe PMT

[Mollified]

Please help me with this.

I'm 40, DS2 was born two and a half years ago and ever since I stopped breast feeding him about 18 months ago I have been getting really bad PMT.

I initially thought I was suffering from post natal depression but I have come to realise that it is related to my periods.

My cycle is now about 24 days, my periods last for about 3 days but are only heavy for 24 hours.

I start to feel depressed and tearful about a week before I'm due on and it just gets worse and worse over the week. By the end of the week I'm struggling to function in any rational sense.

This basically means that I'm spending a third of my life in depression. I have never had any mental health issues before this and I'm not inclined to go to the GP with PMT as my presenting complaint!

Does anyone else have experience with this and how do you cope? Are there any dietary supplements that may help? I have tried St Johnswort but it seems to make me worse.

hi mollified.sorry to hear you are suffering with this.i dont have anything useful to say but i feel in similar position so will watch and horn someone else comes along with advice soon.
My dc2 is nearly 2 and i have been so down the last few days i was wondering if i have pnd.it is just like a cloud descending and feel tearful like you.think it is also cycle related but i have just finished period and worse than ever so who knows?
It sounds like you have been suffering with this for a while now.i think it would be fair enough to go to drs.maybe that hormone lever are still settling down?you have my sympathy.hope someone posts soon for you...

horn?! Sorry should be hope. Proves i have lost all ability to multi task too.

Thanks Mimmit,

I'm also a bit frightened of going to the GP as I know that I wont be able to explain it rationally and will end up in tears. I'm fairly sure that I'm not depressed in the true sense but I'm really struggling to talk about this.

This is the first time I have tried to talk about it.

You have my sympathies too, its a bit shit feeling like this.

i understand your reservations about going to gp but tbh if you do get upset perhaps that is no bad thing.at least they would see how it affects you.you shouldn't have to spend 1/3 of your life feeling like this.
Rereading your post, 18 months is a long time to have had this.i would have thought hormone levels should have settled.
I have read that cutting out booze and choc can help but that is easier said than done!
I am sure the first step of going to gp is the hardest.do you have a good one that you feel you could tell?you could even write it down.at least you can talk about it on here.hope it helps to share.

cut out chocolate! I don't drink more than a glass of white wine a week so thats not a problem. Also I don't smoke.

I agree that the hormones should have settled by now but they seem to be giving me more trouble now than they have in my entire life to this point.

Hi Mollified, I am in a similar position. I was diagnosed with pnd after the birth of ds and offered antidepressants that I didn't want to take.

It's taken me over two years to realise that it's cyclical around my periods. I feel like I'm losing my mind - can't cope with anything, think everyone would be better off without me, can't get motivated to do anything, feel paranoid and anxious - it's just intolerable. Then suddenly it will lift and I feel like a completely different person - capable, energised, sociable. This lasts for a little while before the black cloud comes down again.

I went back to docs a couple of weeks ago as I couldn't bear the thought of feeling like this any more. I also think it's really unfair for everyone around me to have to put up with it. I was told that the only two options are basically the pill or ads. I've decided to go along the ad route, though I struggle with it.

I did see on a programme called The Food Hospital that it can be linked to low levels of vitamin d and calcium (I think) and their recommendation was to drink four glasses of milk a day, lots of green leafy veg. etc.

I hope you find something that works for you. It is truly awful and you're not alone.

when you put it like that i really think it would be worth getting it checked out.it can't hurt and may even help (note to self to listen to own advice!).
I sometimes think it may be the menopause and then feel even worse
Try and book an appointment if you can.i would but still bf so that confuses matters a bit.aiming to stop partly for this but that could be a whole different thread.
Am sure you would feel better if you did.i will hold hand if you do.

GerMon, That is very similar to how I feel for about a third of my life plus near total loss of libido.

Are the ADs helping? I really don't want to have to take them but I have never been able to take the pill because of breakthrough bleeding and also loss of libido.

Mimmit, thanks for the handholding offer :) If I do screw up enough courage to see the GP I will need it. I'm so bad I struggle to tell the GP whats wrong with DS when I take him in.

I had similar.....google threads about peri-menopause for my full story. But the simple solution is to go on the pill (mono phasic). It took care of everything in my case (and for many others that I know). You are probably peri-menopausal and your body is producing estrogen erratically. The pill just evens out the amount of estrogen in your body. Some women may also find that ad's help in addition to the pill, but I didn't need them.

sorry, I didn't mean "google" threads...just searching within Mumsnet will do it.

Magnesium supplements made a huge difference to me in terms of the weepiness alternated with the rage - they take a good month to kick in but it did really help.

I do think, though, that it's worth a conversation with the GP. If it's affecting your quality of life to this extent then surely it's worth seeing what else is out there which may help. They could check hormone levels, for example - you can't rule out the start of an early menopause which can speed your cycle up before it slows down, and certainly causes weepiness etc.

I hadn't even considered early menopause. Mainly because I was a late starter and didn't get regular periods till I was mid twenties. With pregnancies and BF I've probably only had 10 years of regular periods. This could be bad news for my bone density as well as my sanity.

OK will attempt to get a GP apt tomorrow. Thanks for the advice

Mollified, don't confuse peri-menopause with early menopause. Perimenopause is simply the 10-15 years leading up to menopause. It's amazingly overlooked as a symptomatic period in a woman's life. Some women have no symptoms at all, but far more (in my personal, anecdotal, experience) have symptoms just like what you are describing. And doctors are pathetically unaware and unprepared with solutions. I spent 3 years visiting a plethora (my 9 year old dd's new favorite word) of doctors and specialist in both the uk and and the USA before finally getting correctly diagnosed with peri-menopause and given the simple solution of going on the pill which eliminated ALL of my issues and quite a few others that I had no idea were due to hormonal imbalances. Please google and do a little research before going to see your gp so you are well armed. If you are by any chance in London, this is the specialist I saw who was most helpful: Mr Nicholas Panay BSc MRCOG MFFP
Subspecialist in Reproductive Medicine and Surgery
Queen Charlotte?s and Chelsea Hospital

Chairman of the National Association for Premenstrual Syndrome

Hi Sofia,

I have been to the GP today, not exactly a patient centred interview! She wanted to put me on prozac which I flatly refused so she has recommended some more natural alternatives. I'm going to try vit B6 and evening primrose for a couple of months.

DH has had a vasectomy so she was not keen on prescribing the pill due to the health risks associated with it - thrombosis etc - also I have never got on with the pill in the past stated in a previous post. I get breakthrough bleeding.

I'm in Cardiff otherwise it would be tempting to go and see Mr Panay, thanks for the suggestion.

I will search your threads and google perimenopause though as I feel woefully uneducated on this.

Thanks

hi mollified.that was quick work!good on you for going to gp but sorry you didnt get the best discussion about it.i hope that the evening primrose and b6 help.you have made the biggest step so hope that next time is easier.
There has been really good advice and info on here.cannot believe how awful it is for some.hope you get something sorted.xx

MOllified do you have other risk factors for thrombosis like being overweight or smoking? Please research the risk factors. Also, in my case, I could see stark improvements within 30 days of going on the pill, so it really wasn't much work/risk trying it out. I had use the pill successfully in my 20's, but then had problems with it (breakthrough bleeding) in my 30's, but absolutely no trouble when I went back to it in my 40's. Anyway, do some research and best of luck for the solution that works best for you!