Thread: Newbie with PMDD and open for suggestions

Hey All!! I'm 34 y/o (35 in April) and take Paxil for PMDD. I tried Lexapro and all it seemed to do was make me cry. I am looking for any advice, suggestions or new ideas to look into. I am happily married (12 yrs) and have a 7 y/o son. It seems that after taking the Paxil 2 weeks pre menses, that I drop off or something. I almost seem to be just a moody & aggitated as pre menses. I really don't want to take an Rx full time as the down side of losing my sex drive. I really want to find something that can help without so many side effects. Sometimes I feel that I am alonein feeling this way. My husband tries to understand, but he doesn't really understand just how bad it can get and how hard it is to "turn off" my feelings. Please let me know of anything that you can suggest. Thanks for listening and thanks in advance for your help!!

Jen

Hi!
I had PMDD for years and just thought I had the worlds worst PMS that even my girlfriends didn't understand. 2 weeks a month I would shut down. All I could think about was when my next nap & feeding was though my stomach was FILLLED w/ food and sleep. If I weren't eatting or sleeping I was in a fog, lethargic & cranky. I stopped caring about my goals, my appearance and my self worth. I would have PMDD for 2 full weeks (+) so I thought for HALF my menstrual life I have to be a miserable complaining cow ....Doctors said I was bipolar & I tried EVERY natural supplement (primrose, black currant, wild dong something, etc.). My friends all knew me AND my period. For half the month is was all I could focus on.

I finally at 26 have gotten my period like a normal girl. Thanks to YAZ & zoloft.

After I graduated College in my early 20's my PMDD continually got worse...my period is irregular so ...sometimes I wouldnt get my period for months and my life would be fine....but when you dont get your period for months your PMDD can be up to a FULL month.....

Everything would go down the tubes. All I would want to eat was fast food & chocolate. (usually I am a VERY health conscious person) I had NO energy to work out. I turned down jobs cuz I was too afraid that if I took a Stressful Suave Industry job when my pmdd came I wouldnt be able to 1. fit in my clothes 2. have the energy to work. 3. Have the slef confidence to be around people on their A game all month. I only would have 2 weeks MAX of being on top of it.

So I researched more & more and when I found PMDD online I hit home forsure. It took a while to sink in that other women have what I have & I was not slowly going crazy! I joined a medical research study for a trial drug for PMDD. My period was too irregular to continue in the study...but my Dr there told me the only thing proven to work is YAZ. She had worked on the original trials of YAZ. So I wasn't sure if she was pushing it on me or if she was just offering advice.

PMDD was still new to me & my insurance didn't and still doesn't cover YAZ so I didn't give it a try & at that point i figured it would be just another let down like primrose oil.


So then about a year later I started go to a new psychiatrist....he again said I was bipolar even though I said it was only 2 weeks before I got my period......anyways after trying all the bipolar drugs we finally got to ZOLOFT after I TOLD him I have PMDD

I started taking zoloft and before my period I would up the dose.....it helped with the crying and all that & the horrible thoughts I would get b4 my period.....but the hunger and the lethargic tiredness was still impeding my life.

So flash foward to:

3 months ago I decided I NEEDED to try something else cuz my PMDD was getting longer & I was slowly each month gaining weight. I am still young but I felt since 25 each period cycle the PMDD was getting worse. Horribly worse I was gaining weight quickly...in my earlier PMDD years I could gain and loose 10-15 pounds every month. The weight would come 2 weeks before and when I got my period it would come off till next month....but after 25 I would loose a little when my period came but it no longer just fell off. So gained atleast 20 pounds...each month a little more would stick.

So I sucked it up and paid the $80 for YAZ

THE BEST $80 I EVER SPENT!!!

The first month on yaz everyday around 3pm I would get a headache & I never really ever get headaches before in my life. So I just switched the time of day I take it (now in the evening) no more headaches. And I get a lot of spotting bleeding. BUT ALL MINOR COMPARED!

The first month I still got PMDD symptoms BUT they were for only 2 days before my period. I cried in the grocery store cuz they didn't have the right item. BUT there was something different about this VONS PMDD melt down. As I was crying the world didn't feel like it was falling apart and everything is miserable & I am a useless cow. I was able to isolate the feelings. I told my bf I am crying now, but I KNOW its a overreaction and it will be OK soon. I NEVER HAD THOSE THOUGHTS ON OTHER PMDD OUTTING MELT DOWNS. The tears felt good releasing...like my body was telling me i have to get this out here and now and it will be over soon.

I know this is getting long......but I know how alone and CRAZZZY pmdd can make you feel.....I thought I had tried everything and it was just something I would have to deal with.....I used to dream of a day when Periods wouldn't exist....I wanted to go into early menopause or when things got bad I would dream of a Hysterectomy.

I feel weird supporting a big pharm company, but this is my 3rd month on YAZ and my period is approx 1 week away and I havent felt rundown, miserable, bloated once.

Now when I feel rundown it's because I am. Now when I over eat it's because I skipped a meal or I am making a conscious choice to gorge. Before with my PMDD I felt like a disgusting over-eating zombie. No amount of food could sustain my hunger. Its weird but I would feel the hunger coming from my brain in zaps when w/ PMDD. I would wake up in the middle of the night STARVING even though I had had not stopped eating that whole day.

I feel like now when my periods come I know what reg. "pms" that all my friends experienced feels like. I get the occasional chocolate craving, a zit or 2 BUT theres no huge cloud of PMDD reminding me everyday before my period that life is hard and miserable and to only eat unhealthy food....

I feel like I am running my life again and I am not dancing my schedule around a irregular period always alotting for a 2 week shut down. I am working harder, loosing weight & doing all the things I have put off. I feel like me again.

I hope this helps you!