[hudsonagain]

I have suffered from PMDD for over 20 years and this is the very first time I am talking about it. All of my adult life I have known that something was seriously wrong with me emotionally. I have single handedly destroyed every relationship I have ever had and my current relationship is teetering on the edge. Most of the month I am "normal". Then for 3 days I loose my mind. It's like a switch goes off/on. One minute I'll be fine and then BAM! It will end as abruptly as it begins. Let me begin by listing my symptoms:
1. Hysteria - crying for hours
2. Hallucinations
3. Inability to rationalize
4. Violent/Angry Outbursts
5. Suicidal thoughts
6. Debilitating migranes (I feel like my head is being crushed)
7. Heart palpitations
8. Dizzy/blurred vision/disrupted speech
9. Self loathing
10. Hatred for everyone around me

Just writing these things is making me want to vomit because I feel so ashamed. I can't live like this anymore. I've tried taking antidepressants (Lexapro and Celexa but of course, not being honest as to why I needed them) and it didn't help - my PMDD broke through every time. I can't take birth control pills because I have issues with blood clots.

I had an ablation in December 07 and my PMDD seemed get better for several months following but then it returned with a vengence.
I've had my hormones and thyroid checked. There is a history of thyroid disease in my family but I always check out ok.

I read on this board that having a hysterectomy might work for PMDD sufferers. Is there anyone out there who has been cured of PMDD? I'm so tired of living like this.

[PCLee]

I have suffered from PMDD for over 20 years and this is the very first time I am talking about it. All of my adult life I have known that something was seriously wrong with me emotionally. I have single handedly destroyed every relationship I have ever had and my current relationship is teetering on the edge. Most of the month I am "normal". Then for 3 days I loose my mind. It's like a switch goes off/on. One minute I'll be fine and then BAM! It will end as abruptly as it begins. Let me begin by listing my symptoms:
1. Hysteria - crying for hours
2. Hallucinations
3. Inability to rationalize
4. Violent/Angry Outbursts
5. Suicidal thoughts
6. Debilitating migranes (I feel like my head is being crushed)
7. Heart palpitations
8. Dizzy/blurred vision/disrupted speech
9. Self loathing
10. Hatred for everyone around me

Just writing these things is making me want to vomit because I feel so ashamed. I can't live like this anymore. I've tried taking antidepressants (Lexapro and Celexa but of course, not being honest as to why I needed them) and it didn't help - my PMDD broke through every time. I can't take birth control pills because I have issues with blood clots.

I had an ablation in December 07 and my PMDD seemed get better for several months following but then it returned with a vengence.
I've had my hormones and thyroid checked. There is a history of thyroid disease in my family but I always check out ok.

I read on this board that having a hysterectomy might work for PMDD sufferers. Is there anyone out there who has been cured of PMDD? I'm so tired of living like this.

I wish I had some news for you that would help. What I do have is a little encouragement. If anything this and other boards should tell you that you are not alone... and for heavens sake.. dont be ashamed. Half the worlds population deals with periods during their lives and we cant all be the same. Some are harder. You have access to a medical system, get it to work for you and keep demanding tests and trial treatments. This is your sanity - dont spend even one more month feeling bad about this.. spend that energy resolving to find a balance. There is one. Find a doctor you can be honest with. I swear you will never regret spitting out the truth.

[Dysphoria]

Hello, I really identified with your post. I am 20 years of age and I now realize I have had PMDD since my periods started at 13. My doctor and mother have agreed that that was what it was for years that was causing my monthly outbursts but I have been in denial. Reading your post is like reading my own thoughts. I am really thankful for your honesty. The guilt after I have acted like a crazy banshee is awful I just simply forget about it until the next one hits me. Because it happens every month it makes people feel on edge around you. Every symptom you listed apart from migraines and hallucinations I experience. I do sometimes fantasize about how simple life would be if I had a hysterectomy. Im sorry I don't know the answer to your question of a cure. The cure seems to be management of the condition. I had some luck taking the herb called Magnolia Phellodendron which calmed me down. I had no luck with SSRIs or contraceptive pills, like you the PMDD broke through at a climax every month a few days before my period. I was thinking if I got a coil implanted it might stop the cycle. Maybe that would work for you? A hysterectomy and an ovarectomy would definately do the trick and that's about as far as my biology knowledge and research go!! But how many doctors would do that for you? Unless you had cancer? And therein lies the problem. It is extreme but I empathize. For me, the most stressful thing was coming off the antidepressants that I got hooked on from being 15 because the doctors had no idea what was causing my insane unexpected panic attacks. It was PMDD. The withdrawal was like having a continuous episode of PMDD.

Good Luck with finding your cure. If I find one for me I will definately tell you about it!

[tch]

I must say thank you to all you wonderful ladies (absolutely not for the disorder ofcourse )but for making me realize that for the past year I haven't been going crazy. All the symptoms that were named above I pretty much have been experiencing most severely the past two months. I am 24 years old and get my period 4 times a year so you can only imagine that these symptoms have changed everything in my life. Being absolutely terrified of pills have made it all worse. I see my doctor( which is easily accessible to me) at least several times a month making excuses for other medical problems knowing its my menstrual problem trying to avoid birth control because of the side effects. I've become terrified of everything. I cannot commit to anyone or anything because I don't want to leave my bed. I've become mean and feel like I want to quit my job everyday because I can't concentrate at all. Im living in a cloud with cramps and no flow. Im pretty sure its pmdd I was given gianvi the generic for yaz but im stalling what do I do?

[chuchi123]

Hi I am 22 years old and started my period at 12, I have just identified I have PMDD, for 2 years I have suffered thinking I was going crazy because nobody could identify my illness the psychologist kept saying that I was suffering from depression and that I had unresolved problems, I just didn't get it because I didn't have a unresolved problem literally I thought I was going crazy. Yesterday I went again to the psychologist just so she could say that I was bipolar. I was in denial I knew that I wasn't bipolar so I did my own research and found out that every time I feel like I was going crazy was before my period and right there I knew I had PMDD. so for all girls like me don't just stick to what your doctor says do your own research so you know exactly what is going on with your body. Only YOU will know what you feel.

[lynn71]

I completely understand and empathise with you. We have the same problem. I can only help you with two peices of information:

A normal number range in your thyroid testing means nothing. I have a great doctor who says if the numbers are close to being out and your not feeling well, let's try the medication. It won't hurt you to go on it. Find a doctor that is willing to look at your thyroid results objectively. To many of them just go soley by numbers and not by symptoms.

Secondly, my PMS is pretty much like yours. I tried a doctors advice and he put me on an antidepressant which didn't really help. So I tried a naturopath who put me on progesterone pills only because it had success in the past but the dose was to low. Anyway, I am still playing with the dosage to get it right. If this doesn't work he says I should go off of it to erase it from my system and try something else like estrogen. Hormone testing can be just a misleading as thyroid testing and show everything in range.

In summary, I am so desperate for answers and finally assertive enough to tell a doctor to refer me to a specialist or just go find another doctor if they are not willing to just experiment with new hormones or medication.

Finally, my only caution is that if you try any type of hormones, just like medications they have side effects including higher risk of breast cancer or heart disease with some types.Good to ask your doctor for that info and do a lot of research.

Good Luck

[lynn71]

It Is So Frustrating

PMDD for me is one of the most pervasive disorders. I am 40 years old and on my second marriage. It was bad enough it effected my first marriage but at that age I still got my period only once a month. Now, my hormones are all over the place and it comes and goes as it pleases. I'm trying a hormone called progesterone but still playing with the dosage. The most frustrating part is how *****y and moody I get. My husbands first wife and mother never got PMS so this is all new and a bit frustrating for him
too. It's hard to explain to your family why you are so irritable. My moods during this time isn't something I'm good at controlling either. I'm extra sensitive to sounds, touches, and smells. And let's be honest, when your feeling like ****, it's really hard to be a good mom, at least for me. Does anyone else feel this way or should despite the irritability etc. should I still be able to be nice?

[ShoB]

Wow, it's amazing that everything you wrote describes me perfectly. I didn't think anyone out there had the same problems as me. I too gave been suffering for over 20 years and it's just getting worse and worse. I'm on lexapro but it doesn't work, I've tried different meds but they have horrible side effects. Birth control pills make me miserable. I'm so miserable most of the time, I only have a few days out of the month that I kind of feel ok. It's ruining my life and marriage. I really want help but I don't know where to turn.Do you know if a hysterectomy would help?

[Rrleah]

It is so comforting to know I'm not alone!!! I just read a few of these posts because I think this is happening to me. I'm 44, have 2 great kids and a great husband and I feel like I've been making them suffer for the last 2 yrs! I had an ablation 2 yrs ago so it's been rather difficult tracking my cycles. But when I look back to when certain episodes have occurred I think it's way too coincidental. I've been trying so hard to act normal and try to not let certain things bother me but then the volcano erupts. BIG TIME!! How can one day something not bother me and then the next make me totally insane. I've been on SSRI for about 13 yrs when I started post partum depression. Theyve been great all these yrs but recently when the time comes I feel like Im a basket case and cannot control anything!!! My gyn said my vit D was very low and she wants me to increase my lexapro when I think I'm ovulating til for 2 weeks. I'm praying it will help!

[Dee2]

I have suffered from PMDD for over 20 years and this is the very first time I am talking about it. All of my adult life I have known that something was seriously wrong with me emotionally. I have single handedly destroyed every relationship I have ever had and my current relationship is teetering on the edge. Most of the month I am "normal". Then for 3 days I loose my mind. It's like a switch goes off/on. One minute I'll be fine and then BAM! It will end as abruptly as it begins. Let me begin by listing my symptoms:
1. Hysteria - crying for hours
2. Hallucinations
3. Inability to rationalize
4. Violent/Angry Outbursts
5. Suicidal thoughts
6. Debilitating migranes (I feel like my head is being crushed)
7. Heart palpitations
8. Dizzy/blurred vision/disrupted speech
9. Self loathing
10. Hatred for everyone around me

Just writing these things is making me want to vomit because I feel so ashamed. I can't live like this anymore. I've tried taking antidepressants (Lexapro and Celexa but of course, not being honest as to why I needed them) and it didn't help - my PMDD broke through every time. I can't take birth control pills because I have issues with blood clots.

I had an ablation in December 07 and my PMDD seemed get better for several months following but then it returned with a vengence.
I've had my hormones and thyroid checked. There is a history of thyroid disease in my family but I always check out ok.

I read on this board that having a hysterectomy might work for PMDD sufferers. Is there anyone out there who has been cured of PMDD? I'm so tired of living like this.

Hi.

I'm almost 40...And only since writing to a man online (over two years now) have I discovered a pattern to my quite bizarre thoughts and behaviour.

For three weeks a month I will be fine. Then, exactly one week before I'm due, I'm crazy. It seems to build over the week. It starts off with irrational thoughts and the oversensitivity and argumentativeness is evidently building and then a few days before it is due I just go mad. Accusations which are not true, old past long gone things are brought up, I couldn't believe it - it's just, this time I could actually look back on what I had written and seen the so obvious change in me - and it was clockwork - spot on. Apart from that week a month I was fine, no irrational unfounded thoughts, nothing. Happy as Larry. Then I'm crying and angry, and it honestly is literally ruining my life. Anything good I have... Bam.

And not only that but I also suffer from really bad heavy mensuration. So bad I can't go out anywhere for days. Clots and just...everywhere.

I want a hysterectomy, I want this finished with, I'm so tired of it all.

I also can't go on the pill - or don't really want to due to the risk of blood clots.
Antidepressants are not for me.

One thing I have found, this time around anyway, is I have come to realise and acknowledge - I am sick during this time, I am not right. It is marked on my calender (as it had been for ages now) but I make an extra point of realising that any thoughts I have are not correct. And I'm being extra careful to be quiet and peaceful. I know that in a few days will be the worst, so, fingers crossed, I will be fine...