Something sure is up with me. My menstrual cycle symptoms in general are just ridiculous.
In doing one of my many Google searches for other’s experiences with severe hormonal issues, I came across a condition called PMDD. I decided to look into this more and talk about in this post!
What is PMDD?
PMDD stands for Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder and is considered the severe form of PMS (premenstrual syndrome). It is said to affect about 5% of women.
Here are some symptoms of PMDD:
- Extreme mood shifts- Changing between different moods
- Extreme moods- Intense depression, aggression, anxiety, paranoia etc.
- Physical symptoms- Heart palpitations, fatigue, cravings, breast pain, bloating, GI upset etc.
- Brain fog
- Sensory sensitivity
Some of the things listed above can occur with PMS but the difference is that they are more intense and disrupting of life with PMDD.
Doctors diagnose women with this condition if they experience at least five symptoms that are intense and get in the way of their daily lives. The following is an example of a PMDD diagnosis profile:
- Severe depression
- Feeling like people in their life do not like/love them
- Lack of interest in things that they normally like
- Binge eating
- Quitting jobs suddenly based on temporarily heightened emotions
- Bad insomnia
If one is wondering whether they have PMDD, it is a great idea to keep track of the symptoms they experience each day of their cycle. A health planner would be wonderful for this or just a regular notebook.
The cause of PMDD is not well known. It is postulated that women who fit the diagnosis criteria are just extremely sensitive to hormonal fluctuations that occur each menstrual cycle.
The current PMDD treatment options are as follows:
- Diet- cutting out caffeine, excess sugars, and alcohol.
- Antidepressants
- Birth control pills- Examples of some that may help PMDD more than others include Seasonique, Amethyst, Mirena and Lo Loestrin FE.
- Getting good sleep
- Supplements- Some have had success with calcium, vitamin B6, magnesium and fish oil.
- Meditation
There have been some reports of women with PMDD having success with micro dosing psilocybin, CBD and weed to treat their symptoms. It is important to look into these three things before trying them out.
My hormonal issues
Like I said before, my menstrual cycle symptoms are bad! I have always had discomfort at certain days during the month but ever since I had a child, things have gotten much worse.
Here are all of the lovely things I deal with during my menstrual cycle:
- Intense bouts of sadness during fertile window and before my period starts.
- Massive cravings
- Quick to anger
- Extreme Irritability
- Feeling like I am worthless and dumb.
- Can not stop thinking about the sexual/emotional abuse I endured at 14-15 years old.
- Severe GI upset and bloating
- Panic attacks and anxiety
- Trembling legs
- Severe itching
These problems have definitely disrupted my life in that they have led me to quit jobs. I find it so hard to work when I am dealing with all these things going on.
If having severe menstrual cycle symptoms were more common than it is, I do not believe that many women would be able to be successful in the workforce. Feeling extremely upset, enraged, mentally fogged up, panic stricken, like you are going to throw up all the time and more is not conducive to successful days at work.
I have PMDD
I am just going to go ahead and diagnose myself with this condition. There is no use having a doctor’s appointment for it because they will not help me at all.
I have been trying for a long time to fix my hormonal issues and I am still searching for the right thing (or things) that can help. I would say that the physical symptoms are the worst part of all this for me so I need to find something that will address them better.
I will continue doing/taking these things for PMDD:
- Vitamin B6
- Getting good sleep
- Intermittent fasting for 16 hours and watching my carbs
- Anti-nausea supplements that take the edge off
I may consider the following:
- Adding in magnesium into my routine- The magnesium spray I had been using was giving me bad stomach cramps and insomnia which made me stop taking it. I need to find one that does not make me feel like that because it is an important nutrient.
- Reducing my caffeine intake- Right now I take 500 mg of caffeine a day which is considered over the recommended amount. I might try to get this down to 200 mg a day to see if that helps anything.
- Adding in calcium into my routine- I had planned on doing this a while back but never ended up doing it.
- Meditation- I keep reading about how much this can help different ailments so I may start trying it.
I feel for anyone who deals with horrible hormonal symptoms
PMDD sucks for sure. I would not wish it on my worst enemy.
I really hope that one day, I will be able to overcome my severe hormonal issues or at least reduce them by a lot.
Do any of you have tough menstrual cycles, too?
Thanks for reading!
Sources-
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/premenstrual-dysphoric-disorder-pmdd
#pmdd #pms #pcos #womenshealth #periodproblems #menstrualcycle #health #supplements #mentalhealth
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