Every month I have afew days that I am much more moody- sensitive to criticism, stressed, mentally overwhelmed by minor issues, angry more easily at DH and raising my voice at 6yo DD, and (whilst I would never get outwardly angry at her as she is only a baby) i also feel less patient and more stressed with 20 month old DD...yesterday she was climbing on me pulling my hair etc and I had to put her in her cot crying for afew mins so I could calm down and have some space (DH was there so could luckily step in, as I hate leaving her crying and would never usually do it)
This has always been a theme I think, but only became more obvious my intermittent bad moods/MH problems were linked to periods awhile after having DD1, and by the time she was 3ish I was pretty convinced I had PMDD as it had got to the stage I was having major emotional meltdowns etc.
I first approached the doctors about it all in Spring 2019 once i began to reliae the pattern of my moods being linked to my cycle, and they prescribed me antidepressants (fluoxetine) but it caused nasty side affects straight away, and so I stopped straight away especially as I was breastfeeding and caring full time for DD, and tbh especially now I feel ADs are too extreme bearing in mind the side affects they cause (tried them once when DD was a toddler) and the fact this is only afew days a month, I am completely fine mental health wise the rest of the time.
I also tried evening primrose (didn't work) and St John's wort (didn't suit me, again due to side affects) in Autumn 2020 once I'd stopped breastfeeding DD1.
I also tried taking the pill back to back, trying different pills (combined and progesterone only) but these didn't help things or made things worse.
The doctors didn't really know what PMDD is or what to do about it, one dismissed it and one even asked me to tell them about it!
Then I had DD2 and so with pregnancy and exclusive breastfeeding before weaning her, i didn't have periods for 15mths.
Since they have returned, I would say my mental symptoms are definitely less extreme and intense than they were, more PMT level than PMDD, which is good, but they are still causing me to be more stressed and impatient, resulting in arguments between me and dh and stress and upset between me and 6yo DD, and it's not fair on her or 1yo who is still witnessing it all.
Someone mentioned to me today that they have been prescribed a medication that they can take to reduce anxiety only on occasional days when it is bad.It got me wondering maybe I could have something like this, so was wondering if anybody has any experience of something similar?
Thanks all