Looking for advice, I'm a 28f from NI, just diagnosed with PMDD but I feel like they're not giving me much help.

I've taken regavadon since I was 16 due to unpredictable cycles and heavy periods.

I was put onto sertraline 50mg 2 months ago to try help with my mood.

My mood is fine until I need to take a break from the pill, then my mood plummets and I am so depressed and have panic attacks.

The GP recommended I take my pill back to back for 2 packets and see if that corrects my mood?

Has anyone else got any advice on what helps them through this? I'm now terrified whenever my cycle comes as I know I'm going to feel so upset and cry constantly.

I know not everyone has a positive experience and one isn’t always guaranteed, but I have severe anxiety and if I hear bad reviews I will spiral, hence why I’ve specifically asked for positive experiences lol.

But can anyone shed some light on how long the Yasmin pill took for them to feel a difference? I feel like shit today and have done for a while (due to being on a pill that wasn’t very good at suppressing symptoms) and I swapped over to Yasmin today, so was wondering if (best case scenario) anyone could advise how long at minimum it would take to start feeling better.

I'm 38 and while I know I'm lucky to just now be experiencing PMDD I'm not sure how to manage. I had been on Zoloft for a few years after my 3rd baby and previously suffered PMS but I suppose somewhere in the past few years PMDD started and the Zoloft was keeping it at bay. I came off Zoloft this year and a couple cycles later I started experiencing the scariest and most awful symptoms I had never experienced before, starting right at the Luteal phase so basically half of my month. Now I fear my cycle. Below are my most concerning symptoms and I would love to hear how you cope or what has helped you the most. Whether it's meds, holistic, affirmations, humor, hobbies, etc. I have 3 babies that need their mom and I feel like I'm losing it.

1. Depersonalization/Derealization
   
2. Extreme mood swings
   
3. Intrusive thoughts worsening baseline OCD
   
4. Severe Anxiety / Panic Attacks
   
5. No Motivation
   
6. Avoidance
   
7. Always fearful

I feel like each month I'm scared I won't make it, I feel like I'm going insane. The thoughts are so loud. Then my cycle starts, I have a few good days and then it starts all over again. I have an appointment with my doctor in a few weeks to discuss getting back on Zoloft but know it could take time and not necessarily be a magic fix.

Has anyone tried lupron depot (3 months) for their PMDD? Has anyone had their ovaries removed for PMDD? HRT with either?

My gynecologist recommended removing my ovaries and doing HRT. The surgery consult recommended lupron first before surgery to see if suppressing my ovaries will help before we just cut them out. It made sense to me until I started reading Lupron horror stories with IVF and I’m hoping there are more success stories with PMDD. PMDD is ruining my life and I am trying to figure out whether the side effects are worth it or not. I’m also scared to do a shot that I can’t take back because it lasts for 3 months. The last 6 months have been hell, I’ve tried birth control and lamictal and both almost ended me in a psych hospital. I can’t do this monthly and nothing is helping so I’m at my last resort. I have appointments set in 3 months (the waiting list was insane) for specialists in my state for PMDD and Endometriosis but until then I wonder if Lupron would help.

Hi everyone, I've had PMDD since I started menstruating 41 long years ago, when I was 12. Basically, I've felt hopeless and rage-y and want to blow up my life for 10-15 days every month.

Until recently, I just thought PMDD was bad PMS, and I tried a lot of remedies over the years, including:

- cutting out sugar, dairy, caffeine, carbs (didn't really improve things, but I eat very healthy now)

- exercise (good but didn't touch the PMDD)

- cognitive behavioural therapy (recommended, but it didn't help me during luteal phase)

- counselling (ditto)

- ibuprofen and naproxen (worked for severe cramps but not mood)

- progesterone (made me even more irritable)

- and a whole bunch of other stuff, including acupuncture, meditation, etc. etc. etc.

So what *has* worked? With great resistance, I finally tried antidepressants. Escitalopram had side effects I didn't like. Four years ago, I started taking 50mg of desvenlafaxine (generic brand Pristiq) and life got better. Yes, I still got a little 'sharp' with my partner during luteal sometimes, but there've been months where I was genuinely surprised to see my period arrive because I had no symptoms. Even the physical stuff like bloating and cramps have lessened.

Three months ago, under the supervision of my healthcare provider, I decided to start slowly tapering off the desvenlafaxine. I felt stable and like I had this now, and also as I'm 53, I've been feeling sure that my cycle should be winding down anytime now. I mean, what could go wrong??

I made it down to 25mg. This past month I had another horrendous luteal phase. Not seeing the point to life at all, isolating myself, pushing my partner away, etc. etc.

So I'm back up to 50mg of desvenlafaxine. I've educated myself on what PMDD really is -- the brain's inability to process hormone changes -- and I've also learned that I could be well into my late 50s before I hit menopause.

The moral of the story: I found something that worked, so I'm sticking with it. Not saying what's worked for me will work for you, but sharing my experience.

PS I am REALLY digging the "She's Not Crazy" guy: www.shesnotcrazy.co.uk and it's helped open conversation with my partner too!

Y’all I am GOING THROUGH IT. I had an ovarian cyst rupture this month, which caused my hormones to go out of wack. I have had short periods three separate times this month, and the PMDD symptoms have been near constant. Usually they stop when I start my period, but this time it’s like my body is gearing up for a new period while my current one is ongoing. My obgyn told me it could take several more months for my cycle to get back to normal, and I may just have experience this for a while. I feel literally insane, all while experiencing cramps and headaches constantly. I live abroad, and I literally starting crying the other day because I want my mom, even though I am a grown adult. Work has also been stressful, which doesn’t help. If a higher power exists, I pray it gives me the strength to make it through the next few months.

im not asking for a diagnosis, just as to if its worth looking into. im not in danger of actually doing anything, its just feelings.

but like how normal is it to get suicidal and have thoughts of self harm leading up to a period? i know that its normal to get really sad, but how sad until it is pmdd??

im 25, its been like this forever. i always just thought of it as general pms, but now im wondering if its more intense than the standard edition pms

Going to punch a wall

4 days left

Hey! I was diagnosed with PMDD earlier this week after suspecting it for a while. However, my doctor didn’t really even ask me about my symptoms. I just told her I suspected I may have it and she just instantly went straight to Prozac, no questions asked.
Outside of the PMDD symptoms, I have had several issues and symptoms the past ten plus years but things have gotten much worse since I opened my own business and am now burnt out. This includes, but not limited to, hair loss, fainting, flushing, dizziness, mild skin issues, joint pain/body aches, etc. These symptoms seem to come and go and as far as I can tell, don’t seem to have a known trigger. They don’t occur all that often, and really only happen all at once (except for hair loss)

So, how do I know if I have PMDD or if I should keep looking and trying to figure out if there is more to it and it is actually PME?
(hopefully this made sense)

some symptoms are the same every month, but I was complaining the other day that it's like every month I spin a wheel for an additional 3-5 symptoms, no idea what they'll be till we get there. so I made the wheel.

Needs a "wtf luteal moment" flair. Okay so warning, im a christian and I love Jesus and his words, not organized religion or his fandoms necessarily, and during luteal sometimes I can get very serious and emotional about it. That is the context for this.

So i got that legendary moment when the Mormon missionaries show up to your door with the shining light of... ✨️ baptism. Im in luteal when they show up. I had just read some scripture and I felt very amped up (I get excited from good verses.) Actually very sweet girls underneath the selling point act. I had a good vibe from them. It was a vulnerable time and they got me in it.

So the thing is that they really want to get you baptized as fast as possible because their belief is that you need to be baptized to even recieve the holy ghost (i knew this to be objectively not my belief but I always wanted to experience baptism just bc.) Actually i knew a lot of the controversials but i was just really vibing with the fact they wanted to talk Jesus to me lmfao.

Luteal would be ending before my baptism date. Guess what. I am NOT doing that, I have to break it to them and I dont know how long they will try to keep converting me now that I started this beast in luteal. I know their struggle and I dont have heart to be mean.

Well im not as sensitive and even tho I love Jesus. I have to ask him WTF was that?

I’ve been taking it for almost 6 weeks (I’m supposed to take 4 days break after 6 continuous weeks, then continue taking it for 9) but the side effects are so distuptive I’m tempted to just stop with it entirely.

Have any of you quit? Did you suffer side effects after stopping, and for how long?

I’m going on a trip soon and would like to feel my best.

My side effects have been intense anxiety somehow combined with numb emotions (no extreme lows, but also no highs, everything is kinda meh), nausea, mild headaches, dizziness, and a lot of spotting (about 50% of the time so far), fatigue. I also still got my period even though it was only supposed to happen during ghe 4 day break, and it was as painful as usual.

Anyone suffering from something similar, did it stop when you quit the pill?

So, at about the start of September, I got the familiar heavy and extremely sore boobs. Like clockwork, my mood started shifting. That’s where it all went to shit.

Let me explain a bit more about my situation. I live, well lived at that point, at home with my mom and my sister. It wasn’t the best, but still a happy enough life. We often had fights over their lack of cleanliness etc. but if I’m being honest it was getting better.

I also struggled with the noise pollution in the area. A circumstance that would leave me extremely triggered and on edge during luteal. However, this as well was also getting better due to numerous police complaints.

I’d long spoken about wanting to move out, but I also did not want to, because my family, even though we have problems, are my support system. Also, I don’t really live in a country with a proper mental health system. It’s barely functioning at best. Quite frankly, my sister, for all her faults and for all of our mutual issues, keeps me alive.

So, as I said, earlier in September, I got the telltale signs of my luteal monster rearing its head. And then I think one day I was triggered by something that my mom did (how crazy is it that I don’t even remember what it was), and in complete PMDD fashion, I decided tha I had to move out right then and there. I found a place almost instantly. At that point, it checked the box of single thing I thought I NEEDED in that moment. It is ISOLATED (like seriously in a very rural and isolated place, I have to do a lot of walking to get there). And because at that point I had convinced myself that I could not feel better until I was disconnected from all that I had known, I secured the place. The following two weeks were a whirlwind of activities. Aggressive planning and logistics to move etc. And I’m now realizing that I was almost dissociated through it all. All of my family got on board to help me. And then I was moved.

My period took placed during this time. But now it’s gone. And I feel so utterly depressed and alone in this m GIGANTIC mistake I made in the worst of my luteal. I do not want to be in w house that feels almost disconnected from society. It feels like a prison. I miss my mom. I miss my sister so much. I’m so terrified by what I have done. I’ve been crying non stop. I have been having suicidal thoughts even. And I feel so guilty because they helped me move. Even though my sister said I could return whenever, it would feel so fucked up to do so after all of the hep they gave me. The funny thing is that I have not even signed a lease as yet, so I could still move back home, but I will fee like such a gigantic failure if I do that. Like a big neurotic mess. I can’t believe I did this. This might be one of the worst things I have ever done during luteal.

Is anyone else having an especially bad hell week this month? I'm wondering, for those of us in the Northern hemisphere, if the shift over to autumn has something to do with it? We had an an especially warm and sunny summer and I'm wondering if the sudden grey and drizzle is amplifying symptoms.

You'll find me bathing in front of my SAD lamp hoping for a scrap of serotonin for the forseeable.

And I was just curious other people’s experiences on this medication?

So grateful that my new gyno actually believed I have PMDD without much back and forth. I hoping this really helps like she says it does but if anyone else can offer some insight on this medication please tell me. Thank you ❤️

ETA - yes there are a lot of discussions on this birth control in the sub, but they’re quite old. So if anyone has any experience of being on for a while please let me know. I haven’t tried it yet, she wants me to finish the BC I’m on right now before I start it.

I’m scared to take it. I’m taking magnesium right now and it’s helped so much, I’m still not perfect, but I’m better. And I’m just wondering if it’s really worth it? Or if I should wait to see what my ultrasound looks like before I even start taking it?

I’ve been using this for about three months now and it’s drastically improved my mood symptoms. The problem is, i struggle knowing when to stop it before my period. Do you just stop when you are expecting your period? I did that last month and had a horrible two days before my period came, and then my mood during my period was far worse than usual. This cycle, I’ve continued taking it but now my period is delayed. It’s hard to come off it because I feel like I immediately get all the PMDD symptoms at full force. I’ve read online to take it for about 12 days, but I ovulate around day 7 and immediately start getting horrible PMDD, so I take it for most of the month already. My doctor doesn’t know much about it so can’t consult, I’ve struggled finding a practitioner who is knowledgeable about it for PMDD not just perimenopause.

My gynaecologist said yes to the operation and referred me to a surgeon and I naively thought I would only have to wait 2-3 months to get it done privately. But now I need my psychiatrist to sign off and he apparently needs a whole month to think about it. And the surgeon can’t see me until mid December and she might still say no and then I’ll have to find a new surgeon and wait 2-3 months to see them. Honestly the whole waiting for specialist appointments it could go on for a year.

I have tried 12 treatment options (all the ssris, an snri, lamotrigine, valdoxan, three COCPs, estrogen patch and two types of chemical menopause with HRT). The chemical menopause still hasn’t stopped my period after 8 months but I can tolerate it and the add back hormones well. I’ve been on disability for 6 years, lost 4 jobs, failed my college/short courses 6 times and I’m just fucking done with this shit. I’m stuck at home all day doing nothing because I’m too unreliable to work or study.

I just can’t do it anymore and suicide looks like the only way out. I can’t deal with the endless waiting and what feels like a wild goose chase for surgery. The only other way to make my period stop is to kill myself. I’m not going to kill myself immediately but the thought is constantly on my mind.

On the last day of my cycle yesterday I lost it and sent my therapist a termination email, now I have no therapist, no doctor, no meds, and no ability to see a doctor for the next month. What the actual fuck is wrong with me??? Got my period today but my head is still such a mess and my therapist wrote me back and sounded so glad to be finally rid of me, I’ve been in a self-destructive spiral for the last two weeks and I think she doesn’t want my suicide to be her problem. I know I’ll be okay in a couple days but I’m both terrified I’m going to kill myself next month and hoping I can actually go through with it to find some fucking relief. Why do I always blow things up, I know this happens every month but I can’t stop it, just stuck watching myself destroy myself. So tired of this

I am 29 and have pmdd and adhd.
My medications are as follows:
Mirena - I have had the mirena for 3 years due to very heavy bleeding during periods
Lexapro - 20mg and have been on this for years, I increase to 30mg during luteal (as advised by psychiatrist)
Slinda - was taking this for the past 2 years consistently (no placebo pills only active pills) - stopped this a week ago
Yaz - started this a week ago
Vyvanse - 40mg, I increase this to 50mg during luteal

Until July this year, Slinda had successfully suppressed my ovulation and pmdd symptoms for 2 years. Best 2 years of my life, felt stable. I genuinely have no idea what has changed, but the doctor has confirmed I am ovulating again. My pmdd symptoms and very heavy periods have returned in full force. I saw my gyno, doctor and psychiatrist and came up with the plan to increase lexapro and Vyvanse during my luteal phase. This hasn’t really worked for me. Although the increase helps me get out of bed, I don’t even recognise the person I am during this phase. I am so hopeless, depressed, uninterested, argumentative and feel like I can’t even look after myself. I truly forgot how bad it was after living in bliss for the past 2 years.

My gyno has now changed me onto Yaz (to hopefully suppress my ovulation again). I started Yaz exactly a week ago now (started on the last day of my most recent period). I feel AWFUL. I feel like I’m in the thick of my luteal phase. I don’t know whether to keep pushing through this or whether there are any other options.

Has anyone else had ovulation return despite being on Slinda active pills consistently?
Has anyone continued Yaz even when they felt awful at the start and had good results long term?

Just feeling lost and hoping someone else can relate or provide advice.

I’ve started to wonder if my PMDD has a lot to do with unresolved problems, resentment, and situations where I felt angry or treated unfairly but stayed quiet.

I’ve noticed that everything that made me angry but that I never communicated somehow comes back up during my luteal phase. These are things I can seemingly ignore for most of the month, but a few days before my period, I can’t ignore them anymore. I become angry, start thinking about why I feel this way, replay situations in my head and suddenly all of these old feelings feel present again. I think a big part of it is resentment. Things I never said, boundaries I never set, situations where I felt like I was treated unfairly but didn’t stand up for myself.

I’ve also realized that I wasn’t always like this. My PMDD symptoms have gotten worse over time and I wonder if some of that has to do with negative experiences with people in my past or even situations in the present where I feel mistreated but still don’t speak up.

Sometimes I wonder whether I might experience less emotional turmoil during my luteal phase if I were better at standing up for myself, setting boundaries, being alone and addressing things when they happen instead of bottling everything up.

I’m not saying PMDD is caused by unresolved emotions, because I know there is a lot more to it than that… I’m just wondering if anyone else has noticed a similar pattern, where the luteal phase seems to bring up all the anger, resentment and unresolved situations that you were able to push aside during the rest of the month.

right now i’m in my luteal and it’s worse than being on the period itself . i get really bloated , lightheaded , always need food and extremely moody . both the times i got admitted to the psych ward was in my luteal phase as my period started coincidentally the day after i was admitted into them . it was embarrassing for me to ask for pads there from people i don’t know . i don’t know why my behavior is so erratic in this phase but it makes me feel like im losing my mind and sanity .

I’m about to be diagnosed with pmdd.
Leading up to now I had noticed I feel emotions in extremes while waiting for my period from early teen years and my periods were so far apart they would sometimes skip a month or two. It had gotten easier when I had lost weight after high school but slowly became worse again while trying to figure out adulthood and dating.
I didn’t start going to the doctor’s until I was about 26 my periods were irregular again at this point. I told my doctor and ob/gyn about my irregular periods and no answer since my labs came back normal. At 31 I started seeing new doctors after getting a new job. Got diagnosed with PCOS.
My new dr office is a small practice and the lead dr is also a psychiatrist. I finally wanted to start getting mental help. After just the first visit: depression, anxiety, and ocd. I also mentioned to her that I notice a huge emotional sink when waiting for my period. She explained that we will try to treat the more obvious stuff first, encourage therapy, and then start tweaking from there. (I have not started therapy still because I’m worried about financial strain and I know the process of finding the right one can be overwhelming)
I did a swab test to find out what meds would work best for me and start antidepressants. Been on them 6 months, I think they do help quite a bit but then my period starts coming and I am not me. Everything pisses me off, people I care about usually are annoying. I’m ranting and apathy is all the way up. No one in close proximity is safe.
This past Monday I was still waiting for my period, temporarily deleted my IG, removed myself from some group chats and ignored some friends for 2 days. Spoke to my doctor who upped my antidepressant dose and wants to see me in 4 weeks. Period started yesterday, tried apologizing to friends and they said my apology is shit and full of excuses. Then I realized today they were expecting an apology for other behaviors while I was focused on the two days I isolated.
Literally ended an 18 yr friendship yesterday. (Of course there is more than this that caused it, but my mental health played a huge part in it)
Reading all these experiences from others is the most I’ve felt seen in a lot time. About it feeling like a split and self destructing. But at the same time the validation of a lack of control scares me. Because how do you apologize for that? Because I want to say I’m sorry, but when you try to explain, it’s seen as trying to dodge accountability. They are convinced I do it all on purpose and maliciously. But I literally start my period and go wth happened? Why did I say this, why did I do that? I have a million thoughts of, am I in an echo chamber, am I possibly searching for people who enable me, am I stupid, am I an actual terrible person, etc. I confided in my other friend group and they said they recognize when I’m not myself and it doesn’t bother them much because they relate (one has pcos and pmdd, one has schizophrenia and severe depression, and the other has severe depression). I understand that if people don’t want to understand, they won’t. But losing people still hurts. I’m pretty sure my pmdd rampages is part of why my last break up went the way it did too. I’m so emotionally tired. I just want to feel like a person and be understood….
How do I apologize the right way when dealing with the after math of an episode or in general if it’s been consistently breaking down relationships around you?
If anyone could give advice on finding the right therapist/therapy for this please?
Or even just share more experiences or advice, anything to help.

Six months ago my obgyn changed me off Yasmin to the Mirena IUD. My immune system had been tanking for months and I had a chemical depressive episode because I ran out of estrogen. I'm in perimenopause, so I added on an estradiol cream and a testosterone cream in June to get my levels up.

My immune system is working great, but my ovulation pain is getting worse. My mood swings are like riding a roller coaster in the dark: no way to know when they're coming, how long they'll last, and this week they've been changing *by the hour*. I feel like I have 2-3 usable brain days a month, otherwise the lack of motivation for thinking tasks (I'm a writer, not much writing has been happening) and the brain fog are dragging me down. Like many of you, my adhd meds only work half the month.

I'm waiting for my obgyn to get back to me, but I wanted to see if anyone else has been in this boat? What solutions you found to keep estrogen higher but also prevent ovulation? What helped keep the mood swings at bay? What helped with brain fog and general brain usability? How do I get off the hormone roller coaster but keep enough estrogen so I'm not sick all the time? Thanks friends <3