Pre-menstrual Syndrome (PMS) Support Group

Hiya,

I'd take low-dose Remeron along with something called Efalex here. One is antidepressant, the other is a combination of Omega-3, Omega-6 and GLA. It worked great for me - but I really needed to sort out what caused most of my mood-fluctuations. That meant that once I got in with a psychologist (clinical spec) I got a more even mood. I didn't need to feel I lost control only because I got a little bit emotional at all. I think that was worst really - the fear of loosing control.

Now I just live on with my PMDD. It's genetic and my mother really fought depressions and anxiety. At the time she died, no one knew very much about even PMS I suppose so mental health care has come a really long way.

Pills can only stabilize us, but the problem is still there. With counseling, my problems became more manageable. I only needed a great infusion of trusting myself and a whooooole lot of stress-management.

Hill

Kate,
I have PMDD too. My doctor diagnosed it when I was in my mid 30's. I tried Sarafem too but it did nothing! I tried Celexa, Lexapro, Zoloft, and probably more. The only one that helps a lttle is Pristiq which is new and I've been on it about 3 months. It helps mellow me out. It makes you sleepy when you first start taking it but then that goes away. The other thing I just started taking is progesterone. It's still too early to know if it is helping. I'll keep you posted. As far as the breast cancer thing it's too much estrogen that causes breast cancer, not progesterone. What happens the week before your period is that progesterone drops which causes estrogen dominance. That's why we get angry, tearful, anxious, depressed, etc. I hate it too. The other thing I've found that helps is marking on the calendar when you're going to get PMS and then reduce the amount of stress in your life as much as possible during that time. Hang in there, Kate. I'll say a prayer for you too b/c I'm in it right now too!
Thanks,
Dot

You are not alone!

I understand and feel where your coming from..What women go through without PMDD is rough so the added uncontrollable episodes of anxiety and emotional breakdowns that we go through are enough to drag us down every month...the total disconnect with the world is far greater when medications and treatments or non or slow reacting....I have attempted birth control, anti-depressants and therapy only to find that nothing is altering the changes that occur with PMDD longterm...Paxil and Celexa eventually aided to severe long term memory loss.As I write to you I am experiencing the anxiety and the feelings of hopelessness and the aftermath of poor choices but I refuse to allow PMDD to take hold of me......Do note that I applaud your ability to reach out and pour your honest story and feelings into the open; for it caught my eye and helps me to realize how important it is to join with others and build a support system.

Take care and be a strong as you can; know that there is a brighter day ahead.....

to all three of you: thank you for your advice and concern. feels good to know im not alone, and at the same time, makes me feel bad that any of us have to go through this.

im so afraid that my doc will put me on meds that wont work, and ill have to endure another however many days of hell again next month. i wound up taking .25mg of xanax the other night to get me through, i just couldnt take it anymore. i was in the shower (which was a huge step because for those past 2 days i literally just laid in bed...i had to work at 430 the next am, buy food for lunches and do a laundry, let alone shower) and noticed that my sister had taken my shaving cream with her on a trip without asking me. i COMPLETELY lost it in the shower. that was it, crying over missing shaving cream and xanax here i come. i wound up doing a laundry and my mother was amazing enough to go out and get me the food i needed. i even cleaned my room a little. so, i was clearly feeling better a little, or, forced myself to function. im still feeling leftover anxiety, and am wondering if it would be better to just go on anti-depressants daily. ive been in therapy forever, and i love it, couldnt survive without it, but have been told that if you really do have a chemical imbalance, sometimes it takes about 6 months for the antidepressants to come out of your system and the depression return...its been 7...im wondering. i do not want to feel like the meds are making me happy, i want to feel like im making me happy. ive responded well to antidepressants in the past and am just kind of wanting to go back on them, to get rid of this low lying anxiety...maybe a small dose. ok, im rambling, so ill stop. thanks everyone for listening, it helps so much to have this support.

i've gone through extremely bad anxiety to the point where i couldn't stay at work because i couldn't breathe. you will get through this. go to the health food store and pick up some rescue remedy. you drop it on your tongue as often as you need for relief of anxiety/bad thoughts. it has no side effects and has been reported to be almost 100% effective for anxiety. i use it whenever i am in a crappy mood/need to calm down and it is wonderful. also, tea, yoga, reading, exercise and talking/venting are incredible. hang in there.

I am hear with you. My doctor doesn't call it PMDD - she frankly didn't really name it at all. My BCPs usually work about 10 months then I get immune. This month has been horrendous. I've been anxious and having horrible waves of heat/nausea/dizziness for over 2 weeks now. I also take .25mg xanax to help me calm down enough to cope. This will be my first month trying progesterone. I'm starting the natural cream on day 14 and then oral prescription day 18. I'm praying this works - cause it's such a horrible feeling to be so out of control. Mine usually only lasted the first couple days before my period - now I'm LONG done with my cycle and I'm still hanging on to the symptoms.

HANG IN THERE! There's LOTS of us with you!

Hi, I'm so sorry you're going through this, and I know what you mean about needing to know you're not alone. I know I need a support group to deal with my PMDD. It's absolute hell.

I HATE being female. I've been going through this hell since I was 15 and I never seem to get used to it. I've tried every anti-depressant (maybe 12 in all), BP pills (now I'm looking for one that will keep me the same every day - I can't take it anymore, the changes my body puts me through). This has destroyed much of my life and I'm furious about it all.

All humans have the stress of life, but if we're born female, we're going to have the usual stress PLUS endure some horrible drugs (hormones) being forced upon us for at least a week per month!!! Every month I feel as though I can't take it, and this month is no different.

Please keep in touch!!
Kathy

Wow in reading your post, you sound excvately like me. The anger, irritability, I hate it. I have been on tons of med's and nothing ever seemed to work. I took Sarafem for sometime and it worked, but the sexual side effects were not so good. I am 39, and my PMDD has gotten worse after the birth of my kids who are 6&4. I will be getting the Mirena this month, primarily for heavy bleeding, but I am hoping that it helps my craziness too. I suggested to my GYN that I get my hormones tested, but she blew it off. I do take supplements from a site called Women to Women. They are a bit expensive but I have been on them for 3 monthes and feel a little better.

I just found this and I have to say, it sucks that everyone is feeling the same things that I am but it's nice to know that I'm not alone.

I've been going through the worst of this for about four years now. The anxiety, palpitations, headaches, dizziness, shakiness, blood pressure fluctuations, etc... My profile lists more details about my issue with pms or pmdd or whatever they want to call it.

I started seeing a cardiologist four years ago because I thought I was having heart problems. Despite the fact that the tests showed an arrhythmia, my doctor said it was benign and completely normal.

I then visited a neurologist who diagnosed me with migraines. No answer as to why, just migraines.

Then I visited an ENT to check my ears, possible connection to the dizziness, found nothing. They sent me to a rehabilitation center to do these weird head exercises to help with the vertigo but it didn't help at all.

I then ended up in the ER with vision loss. I was told I had a blood clot. Long story short, I was tested for almost every disease possible. Everything came out negative. I was told, due to the blood clot issue and arrhythmia, to never use birth control.

I started to have excruciating pelvic pain around the time I would get my period. My gynecologist thought it was a dermoid cyst on my ovary and ordered laparoscopic surgery. It turned out I had a terrible case of endometriosis. The surgeon "cleaned" me up the best he could and the pain stopped. Now the pmdd symptoms are worse than ever.

There is not a doctor out there that will listen to me. So, now I see a psychologist so I can whine to someone and have some bit of understanding. In the interim, all I can take is 0.5 mg of Xanax when the symptoms occur, which seem to be about a week or a week and a half before my period.

So, basically, for a week or two, I am a complete mess and feel like I have the worst case of the flu ever. My heart does crazy stuff, I feel like I'm gonna vomit, I have trouble eating, yet I crave sugar. My head hurts, light bothers me, I snap at everyone around me, cry for no reason and have ZERO energy. When my period finally comes, I feel a lot better but then I deal with heavy bleeding for about five days and then my period stops for about three days. Suddenly, I get a BV infection, and I don't even use tampons. So, then I treat the infection with Metrogel. This happens every month!! My period returns in a very light form for about a week and a half. So, if you do the math, I get, MAYBE about one week out of the month where things are normal.

My menstrual cycle is slowly destroying my life. I can't take birth control pills or hormonal therapy because the side effect of death is too much of a risk. I can't take SSRI's because of my arrhythmia and there aren't any other solutions I have heard of.

I bought the book, "It's My Ovaries, Stupid," apparently written by a doctor from Arizona who claims to empathize with my plight, how nice... I was hoping for a solution, got to the end of the book and found out that the answer was birth control. So, basically, I paid $20 for a book about information that I could find for free on the internet only to find out that the only solution was something I already knew about and can't utilize.

Ok, sorry for the rant, but I had to get this off my chest. I would love to get to know some of you and maybe get some advice about things you have done that helped alleviate your symptoms.

ok so here's another one who can empathize with you. This is is exactly why I came to this group. I haven't tried anything for it yet and haven't been diagnosed yet but I'm sure it is and I hate it too! The irritability, mood swings, all of the above - check.