Thread: How I cured my PMDD

PMDD affected me for 7 years of my life. I was 13 when I began to experience symptoms. This could be dismissed as regular hormonal changes that accompany coming of age, however compared with other girls at that age I was having serious debilitating problems. For the two weeks before my period I was depressed, I would cry for no reason all throughout the day, I would be inexplicably angry at the most trivial experiences. I was suicidal, I hated myself, and I hated my life. I can not explain how miserable I was and how miserable I made life for those closest to me.
The other two weeks of the month I was myself. My PMDD symptoms would start to fade away in the first 1-3 days of my period. I also had many yeast infections, and experienced vaginal dryness.

It took me 7 years to get help with this disorder, I'd tried dieting and exercising (which I've been doing for 8 years now), acupuncture, allesse, aviane, tricyclen-lo, and seasonalle birth controls. Nothing helped. On several occasions I was diagnosed with depression, for which I had the option of taking anti-depressants. Because I was not depressed for two weeks of each month (half the year) I decided I would not take the risk of using prescription antidepressants.

I looked up some of the possible causes for my disorder, and noticed that some of my symptoms were similar to symptoms that a woman would get while going through menopause.

I went to go see a women's specialist at a facility that deals with things like hormone replacement therapy for women who are going through menopause. She did a consultation with me, I explained my story to her, I gave her a written diary of my symptoms over the past month. She sent me in for blood testing on a specific day in my cycle in a two hour time range, and looked at everything from vitamin and mineral levels, to hemoglobin saturation, cholesterol, hormones, and more. She said I was a little low in testosterone, but I was noticeably low in progesterone concentrations in my blood.

I've been on a progesterone and testosterone cream that I apply vaginally for a year now. There isn't a single person that I'm close with that hasn't noticed the difference in my mental health and perspective on life. I haven't had a single one of those days where I wanted to kill myself or one of those days where I just can't help but cry. This hormone therapy was the cure for me.

Originally Posted by klofto

PMDD affected me for 7 years of my life. I was 13 when I began to experience symptoms. This could be dismissed as regular hormonal changes that accompany coming of age, however compared with other girls at that age I was having serious debilitating problems. For the two weeks before my period I was depressed, I would cry for no reason all throughout the day, I would be inexplicably angry at the most trivial experiences. I was suicidal, I hated myself, and I hated my life. I can not explain how miserable I was and how miserable I made life for those closest to me.
The other two weeks of the month I was myself. My PMDD symptoms would start to fade away in the first 1-3 days of my period. I also had many yeast infections, and experienced vaginal dryness.

I totally know what you mean! I have felt the same way, except for suicial thoughts, however, I do have catastrophic thinking.

I went to go see a women's specialist at a facility that deals with things like hormone replacement therapy for women who are going through menopause. She did a consultation with me, I explained my story to her, I gave her a written diary of my symptoms over the past month. She sent me in for blood testing on a specific day in my cycle in a two hour time range, and looked at everything from vitamin and mineral levels, to hemoglobin saturation, cholesterol, hormones, and more. She said I was a little low in testosterone, but I was noticeably low in progesterone concentrations in my blood.

I've been on a progesterone and testosterone cream that I apply vaginally for a year now. There isn't a single person that I'm close with that hasn't noticed the difference in my mental health and perspective on life. I haven't had a single one of those days where I wanted to kill myself or one of those days where I just can't help but cry. This hormone therapy was the cure for me.

I have been taking progesterone cream as well and it is a god send, however, I did not like the testosterone because I started to break out a lot on my chin and it would not go away and I think I started to grow peach fuzz. I did feel TERRIFIC when I was taking it, however, I can't handle having acne all the time on my face because I'm an entertainer. I have never heard of it being applied to the vagina before. Can you tell me more about that and can your doctor tell you where someone can find informatino on that so that I can show it to my doctor. Thank you!