Stef

Kirsten

on your previous blog you had some emoticons, for what it’s like to have PMDD. I can’t find them anymore and the computer that i saved them on crashed.

is there anyway you can direct me to those?

I have severe pmdd, finally, after fighting with 4 drs about Yaz and my inability to take it, I had a Mirena IUD put in 9 days ago, I’m hoping and crossing everything that it’ll help.

I want to track my symptoms again with the Mirena in place, but as I said I lost the emoticons. (They were easy for hubby to look at on the computer to see whether or not he should ask me what was for dinner. ever had those days?)

Thank you so much for this website, it’s been a great asset to me and my husband.

Angela

Special diet stuff: Stay away from dairy during your 2 wk hell time (I stick to yogurt only), dairy has been known to intensify the PMDD. No (or very little) red meat during your 2 wk time.
PMDD Women are super sensitive to caffeine, though no one knows why- stick to one cup or alleviate if you can any caffeine. (I do admit to not giving up my coffee, it’s my one thing i am holding on to, but it is highly highly recommended. No processed foods- stay away from fast food, stay away from the ‘quick cook’ frozen section of your grocery store. If you are going to heat something from that area rather than cooking, read it before you eat it, you don’t want something cooked in a lot of salt, fat, etc…
I find it easier to just buy chicken breasts and stick them in the oven with bbq sauce or throw them on the grill and toss them in a salad, plus it’s usually cheaper than frozen foods.
No alcohol (especially if taking anti-depressants, but really none during your 2 wk time, period)
No junk food- If you are like me you are thinking, how am I going to keep myself away from the salty and sweets during this time? I limit myself if I am having cravings. I find that drinking a bottled water when I get these cravings helps, it helps me to just eat a couple of chips or 1 cookie, the water fills me up and takes my mind off of it.

I hope some of these ideas get you started. Please let me know if you would like more.

Do not worry I do not feel dismissed at all, actually I just would like to thank you for taking care of my situation.
I have been quite confused myself when they told me I have PMDD since the premenstrual symptoms of it are actually postmenstrual for me.
I just feel lost…it has been already difficult to realize that my depression was connected to my period, and this was not like that before…I am just thinking thinking, thinking, searching, looking in internet because I do want to improve my quality of life and if there is a possibility to be better we should not give up, right?
Could you please address me to some sites where they talk about this kind of allergy to shedding, I did not find anything but I might have typed in the wrong words. (allergy to shedding?they talk about cats and dogs stuff…guess it is not my case, postmenstrual syndrome also did not help a lot, just some forum where in the end they talk about premenstrual syndrome.
Anyway, my period just arrived this morning… I am going to try this yaz pill…at the moment I am okish, a little nervous, but probably I am just scared the monster might come back!

just wish me good luck and I do the same to you for your BIG decision!

Nina

OK, with that said…
First, it’s not unusual for Women to start acknowledging or eve recognizing PMDD as late as their 20′s and 30′s and ALOT of Women start researching in their 40′s because of peri menopause. So, you not realizing it early on is not a big shock.

Next, PLEASE! PLEASE! don’t think I am dismissing you as not having PMDD as I write this next section. That is NOT what I am saying by any means, just offering you something else to look into in addition to PMDD.
For some Women, and since you said that yours starts when you start your period and you have a long history of depression, it could be that your hormones are causing your Depression to be much worse, rather than just the PMDD. A lot of times your cycle can cause an existing disorder (your depression) to be thrown into overdrive.
Regardless, you still have the symptoms and as long as we can help you, with your doctor, have a better quality of life, it really doesn’t matter what the name of the disorder is that you are living with, KWIM?
I was just thinking that with PMDD really your symptoms shouldn’t go longer than 1-2 days, 3 tops once you actually start your period. Again, this makes me wonder if an allergy to your shedding is kicking your depression into over drive. That would explain the vicious cycle you are living, you start-symptoms get worse.

You asked about me and anti-depressants and pregnancy. I took them until I got PG and as soon as I found out I quit cold turkey. Do I recommend cold turkey-NOPE! With the Prozac I didn’t feel it as badly quitting since so many Women take it for 2 wks and off anyway. You could definitely just taper as recommended and you would be off early, if you are watching your body and know when you get PG, early on.
My body is really LOUD when I get PG. Literally, I can try to take a sip of coffee and the smell alone will make me sick, I won’t even be a month PG and all the signs are already there for me. Maybe it’s from years of knowing what’s going on with my body and all the monthly hell.

Also, depending on which meds you are taking would depend on how fast the taper. There are Women that take anti-depressants during PG and your doctor can tell you which would be the safest. If you find that it’s your depression is controllable because you aren’t shedding, it may be easier to stop. Of course you know your body best and if the depression is still too much, even without your period, your doc will decide what’s best, with your thoughts and wishes.

The vitamins you can purchase at the store, no prescription necessary. I last read that taking no more than 100mg/day of the vitamin B6 has shown in studies to help, no more and no less needed.
Right now I am only taking a multi-vitamin and calcium. Trying to stay as limited as possible to see where I am with regards to my decision of a hysterectomy.

If you are having trouble sleeping only during your hell time, take the melatonin. Use the recommended dosage on the bottle. I struggle with sleep all month long most of the time, but sometimes i am blessed with good sleep during my 1 wk good time. I use the melatonin when ever necessary. I can tell when it’s getting later and I know I will struggle to sleep. I figure it’s better than taking a sleeping pill. I have mentioned before that when necessary I will also use a store bought sleep aid.

We are here so that you know you are not just a crazy woman. LOL, at this site there’s no such thing. PMDD is the crazy, not us. :)

thanks a lot for your reply!

Yes it is correct, I start feeling bad with my period, it actually gets worse and worse during my period and the first week after my period stopped and then slowly down to normality in the next one week, then one entire week for just being myself and do what I usually enjoy.
Actually before I took citalopram, 5 to 7 days before my period I was really nervous and getting annoyed in a exaggerate way for nothing, especially with my boss and my boyfriend, but somehow citalopram gave me one more week time to recover from PMDD!
It is true that exercising helps a lot, I have been always sportive luckily, but when I am with PMDD I also get such a stomach hake and cannot eat for at least 10 days, I obviously force myself to eat a little but I generally lose 4 to 5 kilos in 1 week and of course I get very tired and without energies, do not sleep and so on…but somehow I needed my evening walk in the park with my boyfriend when nobody is around since I have also panic attacks and even to enter into a shop for buying bread is the most difficult task ever ! For that I am taking oxazepam,it helped a lot, but I am slowly decreasing now on my doctor advice, since it is not recommended for long time due to strong addiction (better to save it for the worse time!).
I will meet my psychiatric late this week and discuss with him the medicines issue, I am not sure I am taking the correct ones: citalopram (30 mg) for depression, oxazepam (7.5mg at night and 2.5 at 4 p.m.) for anxiety and trimipramin (35 drops) at night to manage to sleep (this does not work so well in the two bad weeks). I am scared of trying and switching medicaments and obviously also of starting Yaz since I cannot think about something worse than my last cycle, but I also know that I have to be patient and just try… only by trying there is a chance for getting better!!! (I am saying that in my last good days, actually I took the habit of writing good thought during the good weeks that can help me in the bad ones…something like: today the sun is shining and makes me feeling good, I like reading a book on my balcony in the evening..do not give up, be patient and it will get better, go for a walk also if you are not motivated at all and so on, so that in the bad weeks I would also try to do those things, of course in that moment I do not enjoy them like before but very much less but still I have a little feeling that gives me hope!)
Coming back to the meds you said that melatonin helps for sleeping. How much and when (daily for the entire month) are you taking it?
You said that vitamins B6 and B12 help, could I get them in a drug store or I need a prescription from the doctor for higher doses? Which doses are you taking?
About being pregnant I am really relieved that this is possible! and especially that you can have some rest from PMDD! But did you stop completely the meds before trying getting pregnant? In my case this did not work and I guess I will have to take small antidepressant doses even during pregnancy and honestly I am not sure I wanted. How did it work for you or for other women that cannot stop completely antidepressant?
Since I suffered from depression before I am myself a bit confused about having PMDD, why I never had it before and now suddenly it appears? But what I am sure is that since 5 month my depressive symptoms are really cycling together with my period.

Thanks again for your great support, just simply for being there and listening to me without thinking I am just a depressed crazy woman…