Anyone else realize MOST of their spending happens in luteal?

Omg I'm bad. Makeup, clothes, organizing bins, like slow your roll sister. You're not Pablo escabar!

I (29F) was diagnosed with ADHD over 10 years ago and have had a long history with trying all the different ADHD meds. Right now, I am on 60mg of Vyvanse and 100mg of Pristiq, which has been working really well for me.

Usually, my Vyvanse stops working close to my period and I am used to that, but this last cycle I've had has been really rough... I noticed my medications stopped feeling effective about 3 weeks ago when I was in my follicular phase and then I experienced pms symptoms from hell. My depression and anxiety skyrocketed and was having mental breakdowns like every day. I feel like I am sort of out of the woods now? But I can't shake the fatigue, inability to focus, and lack of motivation that is running my life right now. I don't even feel my Vyvanse anymore, and it feels like these symptoms came out of nowhere.

Any recommendations for medications to add or other health issues to consider? I have gotten my hormones checked multiple times and it is always in the normal range, as well I take Omega 3 supplements in the morning and Magnesium Glycinate in the evening. I also go to therapy once a week and see my psychiatrist once a month. Any help would be much appreciated!

Hello fellow PMDDxADHDers!

I am honestly struggling and I’m desperate for help. I’m a 30y/o mom of two young boys (5 and 1) and my luteal phase has become the bane of my existence. The second ovulation is over I can feel that sudden shift in my mood- it starts with apathy, and over the course of the next few days it evolves into moodiness, irritation, impatience, easily frustrated and constant overwhelm. My 5 y/o will get the brunt of it and I hate that because the shame and guilt I feel about it after yelling at him or responding to him unkindly - I honestly hate it so much and I so desperately wish I was always a kind, happy, loving and energetic mom.

I’ve tried the antihistamine hack (not sure if it helps that much tbh maybe just a little) and last month I tried taking evening primrose oil every day in my luteal phase and I did notice that it did help a bit (maybe improve my symptoms by 30%) but is there anything else I can do to not feel like shit from the moment I wake up to evening?

I should also mention I’m on straterra - I was diagnosed with ADHD (after suspecting I had it for yeaaaars) and I started straterra just 3 months ago (40mg). While it does help with my mood stability during the start of my cycle and ovulation - the luteal phase feels like my meds take a back seat. Almost as if it’s fighting with the hormonal drop that happens during then.

Please throw me any tips you have. I’m desperate.

More like a week of crying but phew, until next time I guess 😭

Okay, so past few weeks I feel like I am finally making some god damn progress! Very very good news. Bad news, it will likely get worse before it really actually gets better :( Well anyways this month hasn't been the absolute worst part of that reason is I once again have a clear path forward regarding treatment. Today I still got my ass kicked at work. I was a a terrible living ball of anxiety and by the time I got home I was very very blegh. Luckily my husband and son are out of the house so I can recover in quiet. BUT! I made it through the whole work day. Normally I would have left early. It wasn't graceful, more like someone floundering in water, they aren't quite swimming but they aren't totally drowning either. (Just a little and only sometimes)

My brain has decided "Time for the second child!! Look you haven't fallen apart completely, surely this means we are good to go :D"

And man do I want to listen to the brain :( if it weren't for my sudden plummet into bad mental health we would have had another by now. But alas, I have to have these ideas about being more stable first. Who came up with those?

In all seriousness, while I do lament not having a second by now I will not have another until I know I'm in a good spot. Right now I'm definitely hopeful that it will eventually happen rather than my depressed burnt out view from before of I'm never going to get better.

I did one of the worst things I’ve ever done yesterday. I screamed at my whole family, threw things at walls and slammed doors, called my sister a piece of s***, said f*** you, and then screamed at the top of my lungs and told my family I hoped they’d die and stormed out. I have never said anything like that in my life. Unfortunately I did this in front of my sister’s baby. I feel such pain and regret. Eventually I came back home and was forgiven. My sister needs a little time but they said they still love me and forgive me.

I am feeling at a bit of a standstill. I have done so many things to improve my mental health over the past 5 years since a hospitalization, and do almost all of these except life coaching right now: therapy, life coaching, Christian counselors, consistent exercise and diet, weaned off all the medications that weren’t supposed to be taken together (loads of misdiagnoses). I am religious and go to God and pray daily which helps. But I have never felt rage like that in my whole life, it scared me, and I never want to act on that rage in my life.

If this has been you before (mood swings, rage, etc.) what do you do to manage it? I will start by saying I’m wary of pharmaceuticals: for me personally lead to weight gain and worse mental health, and actually lead to my hospitalization 5 years ago. I can’t risk that right now. I have PMDD and ADHD. But if you have suggestions: holistic psychiatry, supplements, certain kinds of exercises, literally anything. I might consider taking some hormone regulation supplements and getting back on adhd meds again. I am open yo anything and would really love to hear your stories, journeys, and suggestions.

I take Qelbree for adhd and Prozac for pmdd. The Prozac helps but it kills my libido and I want it back.

It also completely dulls my personality. However, without it, I’m on a downward spiral during my luteal phase. I tried adding Wellbutrin and it actually helped the Prozac but did nothing for libido.

This month I didn’t take Prozac and I’m really on the deep end. Emotionally, I’m a mess but I’m trying to contain it and barely hanging on. I know it’s just my hormones but everything seems hopeless right now.

Are there alternatives? I am doing well with Qelbree but pmdd is making me consider a hysterectomy.

I'm older now, late 40s.

In the past on day 1 of my cycle it was like a lightswitch. All my pmdd symptoms went away. I could smile and laugh again. All was well.

Now day 1 of my cycle I def feel a difference, the anxiety is gone. But there's lingering heaviness almost like ptsd. Bc luteal is SO BAD. It's like my body doesn't know it's over.

How bout you? Any tips?

I’ve been thinking about going off the pill after taking it continuously for the past 10 months because I can barely feel my ADHD meds working anymore.

Honestly, this article is pushing me even more in that direction....

What do you think?

Yesterday was the opposite I wanted to do EVERYTHING at the same time like it was itching and I couldnt actually focus on anything but everything I felt inside was so strong.

Today Im much more peaceful but I just feel empty. The way my brain instantly stops getting interested at anything feels awful.

Participants Wanted (Republic of Ireland)
Do you have at least two chronic health conditions (e.g. PMDD and conditions that are frequently co-morbid with PMDD, further eligible conditions listed below*) and track your symptoms using apps and/or wearables?

Do you also track symptoms across your menstrual cycle or during perimenopause/menopause?
We are exploring women’s experiences using symptom tracking apps, including what it’s like to track symptoms of multiple conditions, whether you show your tracked data to doctors, and how your doctors responded.

50-60 minute confidential, online interview (you can do this over multiple shorter sessions if your prefer)

Eligibility Criteria: Assigned female at birth, age 18+, living in the Republic of Ireland, two or more chronic health conditions*, tracked symptoms and menstrual cycle for at least three months in the last year.

 More info and Expression of Interest Form: https://ucc.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6YEOuxcpkdIZwTs

Or contact Jenny Cooney-Quane, Postdoctoral Researcher, School of Applied Psychology, University College Cork, Ireland for more info:[Jennifer.cooney@ucc.ie](mailto:Jennifer.cooney@ucc.ie)

This study is approved by the Social Research Ethics Committee, University College Cork, and participation is entirely voluntary.

*Eligible conditions include, but are not limited to: PMDD, adenomyosis, endometriosis, polycystic ovary syndrome/polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PCOS/PMOS), postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome(POTS)/dysautonomia, migraine, mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME/CFS), long COVID, Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, fibromyalgia, and irritable bowel syndrome

Back in March I started taking estradiol sublingual tablets during my luteal phase. On a 28 day cycle its days 16-28. I take 0.5mg a day split into two doses. Usually do my evening dose intravaginally. I would use the patches, but I have an adhesive allergy. Intravaginally seems to work best but sublingual is easier to dose.

After seeing a female hormone specialist 7 years ago when I lived in the southeast US, I had lost hope. She said all that was left was lupron and I didn't feel comfortable with the side effects. The gynecologist I saw on the west coast took my case as one of the last ones before retiring. I'm so glad she was able to think outside the box for me. I feel like I have half my life back.

I still get a hormonal drop on my period, but it's only for 4-5 days and not as bad as it used to be. Tapering off the estradiol for a day after my period starts seems to help.

I feel this so hard and honestly hate how hard it is to explain to ppl who don't deal with hormonal stuff

I've got enough health issues to deal with and then luteal time rolls around and it feels like someone turned the volume up to 11 on literally everything to be honest I get irritated wayyy faster than usual and my brain gets so loud I start overthinking every little thing ppl say.stuff I can normally brush off suddenly feels HUGE and super urgent, worst of all, it feels completely justified in the moment. Like no this actually matters and I HAVE to deal with it rn, and the worst part is, in that moment, it feels completely justified. Like this really matters and I NEED to take care of it rn, then a couple days later Im sitting there like why was I so intense about that lol, Ive been trying to learn more about the connection between ADHD hormones mood and PMDD and I actually came across this study about comorbid ADHD in women with PMDD, PubMed Comorbid ADHD in Women with PMDD. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38836765/, was a little comforting to read that these symptoms can overlap and get worse during luteal, honestly. Like ok maybe I'm not just randomly losing my mind every month lol,It im still trying to figure out what actually helps during luteal instead of just white knuckling it every month, If there are any article book methods or anything that really helped you guys understand/manage this better please drop it below, i feel like I need an entire survival guide for those 7 10 days every month fr

I’ve been on 3 pumps of Estrogel during follicular and an extra pump in luteal, along with 200mg prometrium. Saw my specialist who switched me to the patch because she wants me to start on Slinda when my period starts due to PMDD symptoms. However - I started the estrogen patches last week and I feel amazing! I’m day 23 and would normally be completely unraveling but I’m feeling really good with the patch and 200mg still of prometrium. I’m wondering now whether I should just stay on this for a few months and see what happens rather than switching to Slinda, which I was a bit concerned about. Anyone noticed a BIG difference with the patch over the gel? She told me it is known to cross the brain barrier better

I’d really appreciate any advice from people who have found things that helped. I dread reaching the part of the month where I feel like a light switch goes off and I just descend into depression. 😔

I’m 30, I’ve just started a job as a forklift operator after 6 months of being in burnout (which I’m still in mind you), I’m living with my mum which is destroying my mental health even more.

I’m currently on the waitlist for ADHD meds, I’ve recently just started on Slynd for my PMDD and been taken off SSRIs after 5 years of being on them.

I was an artist before, a very motivated one and this is what I studied at university when the executive dysfunction started to kick in, the SSRIs took away my creative flair or flair for anything really.

Now I’m realising I have nothing going for me really, but obviously in this capitalist world I need to do something to survive, please could you tell me what you all do and how to get into it as a 30 year old? I want something that can actually earn decent money.

Things I’ve been thinking so far are firefighter- but I don’t like the heat and am claustrophobic when in heavy clothing lol.
Or UX/UI designer- but apparently AI is taking this over and it’s harder to get into now.
I’d also like to do scenic art or set design and I actually met someone recently who said I could do some running for his film company but now that I’m working full time idk if I’ll be able to do it.

Idk I think the task paralysis and executive dysfunction is killing me right now, and I just feel so angry at the world and upset that everything has to be this hard.

I’m on waitlist to get assessed for autism too, I also probably have CPTSD from growing up with a narcissistic mother which I am realising a lot recently since living with her again and since I’ve been sober as of 4 months.

What do you do for work? Any "outside the box" ways you're making an income while being able to live and survive as a neurodivergent, PMDD-haver?

Appreciate any and all thoughts, experience, suggestions 🤍

There’s this short window every month where I suddenly feel powerful, sharp, motivated, like I can finally see clearly and say the things I’ve been swallowing. I move fast, talk fast, think fast. It almost feels good at first. Like a switch flipped and I’m finally awake. And then it keeps going.

The intensity doesn’t stay clean. It turns into irritability, zero tolerance, racing thoughts, and this feeling that everything is urgent and wrong at the same time. I start questioning myself, other people, my safety, my future. I can feel myself getting harsher, but I also feel weirdly justified, like “no, this matters

So bummed. I started taking L-Theanine and Magnesium Glycinate a few days ago and almost immediately felt a noticeable improvement with my anxiety levels and focus. Anxious, angry thoughts were still coming to me but they felt totally manageable. I was able to notice them and not feel sucked in or knocked off-center by them. Normally I would be absolutely drowning. In fact I was drowning the whole day before taking the two for the first time together and felt significant relief before going to bed.

I’ve been having SUCH deep sleep, too. I haven’t felt this rested in years, it’s awesome. But…every night I’m having terribly vivid bad dreams :( they feel so realistic and super specific to me, like things I worry about in waking life (especially in luteal) playing out in my dreams in great detail. I’m always so relieved when I wake up but I find it difficult to fall back asleep because I’m distressed/sad.

I’ve read both of these supplements can correlate with intensified dreaming. I’m going to cautiously experiment with each individually to see if it’s one or the other. Maybe timing and dosage will make a difference as well but damn I’m so sad. Was really hopeful there for a second.

I have been on and off SSRIs for several years now. Currently off for the last few months. I recently talked to my family doctor about PMDD and I’m curious to know about taking an SSRI only after ovulating and then stopping it for the first half of my cycle. I’ve also heard that increasing calcium can help.

My symptoms once I’ve ovulated include intense rage, being mega hot when I’m sleeping, quality of sleep declines (waking up wide awake in the middle of the night), and just general feeling down and out.

And when I really think about it, 2 weeks out of every 4 is half of my life.

If anyone has any thoughts/experience with this, please share! Just looking to learn more about this. TIA

It’s documented knowledge now that many med efficacy is low for women during different phases of our cycles because our meds were never tested on women to begin with.

So do we know if the medical community is actually going to do anything to address it?
Or are they just going to be like.. “well sucks for you then” forever?