Redefining Life: Life w/ PMDD

response to a past comment, still helpful

Hi Melinda,

I am so glad you made your way over here. PMDD is very tough to live with. As you mentioned you don’t have ALL of the symptoms listed when you researched PMDD, but it is happening every 2 wks of every month.

We don’t all have EVERY symptom listed with PMDD, but the one thing you MUST have in order for it to be PMDD is it must occur each month 1-2 wks before your cycle. It doesn’t include mania, just manic moods and for most of us it is physically and emotionally debilitating.

Like I said before, it occurs 1-2 wks before your cycle EVERY month unlike regular PMS.

I haven’t heard of any Woman that doesn’t have sleep problems during PMDD time. A lot of us take Melatonin during this time to help sleep. You can get it at any nutrition store and I think even at Walmart.

As we get older most of us start having worse symptoms too. I am 33, and the difference in my PMDD compared to even just my 20′s is huge. It is so much worse. Some women start having PMDD from the beginning of their first cycles, this was me. Some women don’t notice until after having children. That is something that is different for all of us.

That is another marker for you to know if it’s PMDD. You don’t have any symptoms while you are pregnant.

You are dealing with so much stress right now and with PMDD you have to try SO hard during that time especially to relax or it will throw your PMDD into a whirlwind.

I feel your frustration, my children took the brunt end of it too. It then made me feel worse during my good 2 weeks because I had yelled so much during the other 2 wks. It wasn’t fair, but when you are in that ‘zone’ you physically cannot stop yourself.

I hope that your doctor knows about PMDD so that you don’t have to become more frustrated.
I will tell you, Zoloft and Prozac or Sarafem (same thing as Prozac just a prettier name) are the only 2 medications that have been studied for PMDD. Other meds say they are for PMDD, but these are the only 2 that have actually been researched.
Also, any sort of birth control, including the Yaz that says it is great for PMDD, will almost always make your PMDD 1000 times worse. Every once in a while you will read about a Woman that benefits from birth control, but for most of us, regardless of the dose or type, it will make us feel completely psycho.

I hope some of this helps. Please post back after your doc appt, I would love to trade more information with you.

One thing to keep in mind with PMDD, diet and exercise are SUPER important with this ‘illness’. Staying away from caffeine, Women with PMDD are super sensitive to caffeine and getting at least a short walk in every day. I know you are extra exhausted during this time, but if you can walk for 20 min, it will do so much for you.

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