Severe PMS

[Carrie]

Well this is more for the ladies… Sorry to the guys, some just cant handle the thought of the menstruation. I am a very open person about things so I apologize in advance if this is TMI hahaha (and that its so long, but im hoping someone understands, and can relate!)

My PMS is so bad I want to get surgery, a hysterectomy. About a week before I could eat and eat and eat and eat some more and NEVER fill up! Of course I want the carbs! GRAVY! I could drink it! Then on top of that you have bloating, sodium plus retention makes the scale go up, and then your emotions are at an all time high depression sets in.

About 2-3 days before the period my breasts get very tender, sometimes so bad I cant sleep without a bra it hurts to move. 1-2 days before, then comes the ups and down. I become VERY hyper. My husband always says “Its a good thing I know this is PMS because I could swear you are on drugs” Im happy, bouncing all over the place, talking one million miles an hour, and brain everywhere… Of course you all know the feeling hahaha ADD to the extreme. But with in a mater of minutes (literally) anything could set me off and then im what I call “raging”. I throw things, I become verbally abusive towards hubby. I yell at nothing, then minutes later im apologizing for my unreasonable behavior, feel bad and then depression sets in. Hubby then makes me feel better and im back to hyper and this repeats all in 5 minutes. Perfect example: Im happy, go to see husband, give him a big hug, he hugs me too hard hurts my breasts I freak out punch him, go off on a rage, pick up his tools “WHY ARE THESE HERE” throw them everywhere, see my behavior “im so sorry!! im sorry!! I dont know whats going on! Im PMSing I know thats not an excuse! Im such a horrible person!” He hugs me says its ok, he knows not to take me seriously, Im feeling good again, he accidentally steps on my toe and it starts over!

ITS THAT BAD!!! The day before I get very depressed. To the point where I have locked myself im my room crying without saying a word and my poor husband was outside the door making sure I wasnt going to kill myself. No I would never do that. Though at these times I do think about it. I feel nothing will ever change, im such a basket case, I cant do anything right, im a horrible mother, and wife etc etc. You know what depression is about.

The day of my period, cramps beyond cramps. I could puke they get so bad at times. I feel a general malaise. I have NO energy, I could just sleep in the fetal position all day long. Dont touch or talk to me. Pain, pain, pain. But my moods are stable. The second day of period, I feel AWESOME, back to normal, stable almost happier self.

When I was first diagnosed with the ADD the psychiatrist wanted me to track my mood to see if it was PMS or Bipolar. I KNOW its not bipolar it ONLY occurs during PMS. She wanted me to try some antidepressants during PMS to see if it would help. I havent yet. My doctor didnt want to have me go from never taking meds in my life to all of a sudden taking ADD meds and antidepressants. I said I wanted ADD treated first. That was months ago now. This Friday I have an appointment with her to change my ADD meds yet once again, and I dont want more meds, I JUST WANT MY UTERUS AND OVARIES GONE!! I DONT NEED THEM ANYMORE! Bleh!!

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[Carrie]

Ah I just looked it up. Everything points to PMDD.

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[memzak]

Yes I have had cramps so bad that I threw up. I had severe PMS but I don’t think it crossed over into PMDD. I don’t know. It’s a moot point at this stage of my life. Just like my mother, I welcomed menopause with open arms. My daughter is having the same problems I had only earlier in her life.

I did find that vitamins helped a lot. Some months I would sleep for 1 to 3 days. I usually tried not to plan any physical activity during my period but my husband was less than understanding. One time we went to the county fair during the worst part. I was walking in the area of the fair that had the medical tents and one of the nurses ran out of the tent and took my arm and insisted that I come and sit down. During my period I would actually turn gray and looked like I was in shock. I was also very overweight at the time which made everything worse. I did find that being on Prozac made things a hundred times worse. If I remember correctly, Prozac increases the serotonin in your brain. Unfortunately, that also makes PMS worse. I started bleeding really bad before I stopped taking the Prozac. I had to change my pad every 10 to 15 minutes for a couple of hours during the worst day then it would slow down.

The worst period I ever had was about 6 months before I hit menopause. I was driving on a major highway on my way to pick up my daughter. I had picked up some food because I had not eaten dinner yet. Half way to where she was I started getting the severe cramps. It was so bad I just wanted to curl up in a ball but there was no place to pull over due to construction. In just a few minutes the pain got so bad I threw up what I had eaten while driving at 60 mph in a construction zone. The pain kept increasing and after my stomach emptied I lost control of my bladder and bowels and still no place to pull over. I was already late picking up my daughter so with the damage already done, I just kept going. I was an absolute basket case by the time I picked her up and had to take a shower as soon as we got home. I did have fibroid tumors which would contribute to the bleeding and cramps but all that is gone now. Hormone production doesn’t stop until you reach about 80 years old so I still think sometimes I have a ghost of a period with very mild PMS where I just get really cranky and irritable but no bleeding or cramps.

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[Curlymoe115]

Instead of anti-depressants have you tried the birth control patch. I used it for 5 years straight. No period, no problem. Once every year I would have to remove it, have a break through period, then go back on it. This may eliminate the worst of your symptoms. You don’t know until you try. My mother had a hysterectomy when she was 42, she was bleeding period heavy on a daily basis. My sister and I both had constant bleeding for years, she went for the depo shot and this worked for the first 6 months but the second time it didn’t work at all. I had the balloon appellation where they put a balloon full of 200 degree water into the cavity and burn off the lining of the uterus. 98 percent of women who get this done never have a period again. In their life. I, of course, am part of the other 2 percent, and within days it had started again. Then my doctor prescribed the patch. No periods, no pms, no problems. When I had to have the balloon therapy they had fixed me, so it wasn’t as though we wanted more children. And I didn’t miss the sore breasts, mood swings, nervousness, panic attacks and all the other things that went with “the curse”. I have now been off the patch for 6 months with no return to the bleeding. My periods now last 2 or 3 light days instead of 5 heavy days. I do get the soreness, and some of the other symptoms lightly but the worst of it is gone. Maybe I am ready to embrace “the change” as I have been getting more hot flashes and other symptoms. I had a friend who had the whole enchillada removed and she has worse symptoms then a lot of women who only have the uterus removed. So if you do decide to go the hysterectomy route make sure they leave the ovaries.

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[Carrie]

Its not that I have a heavy flow forever. Just the symptoms before, the PMS is very bad. Once I get my period in happy. heavy for the first day and a half, then I have almost nothing for 2 days. But my moods are VERY VERY bad. My husband gets the worst of it. Before he took it very serious, but luckily we talked about it and he learned that im not mad at him. In fact not mad at anything. Reading about PMDD I sound EXACTLY like that. And it really is hindering me, even more than ADD is.

I will talk to my doctor about the patch… That sounds like a great idea. The only reason I dont want hysterectomy is because im scared of surgery. hahaha plus I doubt my doctor would give me one at my age anyways. I really dont want anti-depressants. Yeah the SSRI’s which are not the best to take with Dexedrine. I dont want the withdrawal, and there is an increased risk of suicide thoughts with those 24<. Im 24… hahaha Prozac was TERRIBLE for my uncle. Messed him up pretty bad. And I dont want Serotonin Syndrome. But I don’t know too much about these things yet… Was just reading on the internet.

I also came across this natural 5-HTP… Have you heard of it? I bought some today. Thought I would try it. The pharmacist said it wouldnt interact with the Adderall, but if it did, dont take it. *shrugs* Ill remember that when I wake up in the hospital not knowing whats going on hahahahaha

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[Anonymous]

I had a tubal ligation at age 22 which made my already BAD periods worse. In the 80’s my husband pointed out that I had PMS. Lucky for him it was when I was a good time in the month to tell me. I was put on birth control low dose to help and it did with the periods but the mood swings were still there along with the migraines- all cycle related. I went on Seraphim to help (same as Zoloft/Prozac). WOW! that helped both ways- mood swings and migraines. Seven years ago, I had to go off birth control pills due to not tolerating the side effects. They put in a Mirena IUD that helped. But after 2 years, had problems with that and it had to be removed. Luckily the PMDD is not as bad in my 40’s. I am now 45 and doing okay. I can’t always tell at the time, but as soon as my period starts, I can look back a a couple of days and know I was in mood hell. My poor first husband lived through hell during my 20’s. I know it wasn’t easy at all. But he learned quickly that it wasn’t an excuse, as I could not stand being that way. He also learned quickly once when I told him that he needed to leave me alone and let me be or the argument would not be good. I told him I didn’t care if the President and all of Congress was on his side and he was right– there was still no way he would win the argument. He pushed on, I chewed him up one way and down another. The next day, I apologized and told him he was right, but for the sake of both of us, to respect that when I tell him I need space and it’s not a good time– don’t push it– it only hurts us both with things said and then the recovery from the aftermath. He did let it go after that. It was all prep for my daughter. Sadly, she also has “horrible” periods and PMS. So, by then, he knew to stay clear and if she hibernated during that time– let her.

I don’t think that guys realize that we do not enjoy being in our bodies during that time. It is not fun being on the emotional roller coaster from hell then the physical aspects of cramping and feeling like you are giving birth every month or having to watch the days to make sure you only were dark clothes or take an extra pair of pants to work.

I was denied a hysterectomy for the bad periods. He said that a hysterectomy wouldn’t resolve the PMDD.

Now, recently I realizing that roller coaster could have been made worse by my undiagnosed ADHD. Oh well, this is when I have to realize the past is just that. I can’t change it. All I can do it know that I am doing the very best I can for today.

I can tell you to try to stay away from caffeine as that does make symptoms worse, as mine are again since I switched to drinking lots of coffee to try to focus and have energy over the past couple of years. All this resulted in lots of doctor visits and progression of diagnoses of low vit D, anemia, and now ADHD. Hope now I can back off caffeine and still have focus and energy with decreased PMDD.

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[Anonymous]

Opps sorry Ladies, excuse me…..wrong room, shoulda looked at the sign on the door……………

Toofat

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[munchkin]

Toofat’s too funny

I also think I might have PMDD, but got tired of having to take an SSRI every day just to fix 3-4 days out of the month. (And by fix – I mean, make slightly less horrible – no more dents in the drywall, but still pretty moody) So, I quit Celexa about 2 yrs ago.

I’m just concentrating on ADD right now, but I wish I could find some kind of med that would help PMS, but not have to take it all month.

I have noticed… If I can somehow control my unhealthy eating and water intake, it does make a difference. Exercise too. Maybe drinking and sweating dilutes the hormones? I don’t know. It’s a really serious problem though. I can’t help but think that the emotional regulation and impulse control problems of ADD make the PMS a lot worse. Still – the ADD med has not eliminated the problem – that’s for sure…

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[Anonymous]

I had minor PMS a few days before after I had babies. I’ve had Toxic Shock way back when I was 19 so there is no way I can use anything put inside like a Mirena or IUD. I had a tubal when I was 39 and so just dealt with the heavy periods and minor PMS. Then I started bleeding for 3 weeks straight and having night sweats and hot flashes. Last summer at age 45 I had severe abdominal pain that put me in the ER and it was determined that I had ovarian cysts that blew up like a balloon and then exploded. The pain caused me to miss a ton of work and I had this once and then after a few months had it 2 months in a row. This is due to menopause and issues with not ovulating correctly. The Dr put me on constant estrogen bc. I take a pack and start with a new pack skipping the sugar pill week. I wanted all my stuff yanked out. But, they wanted to try something less drastic. Thus far it’s working and I have an extra positive of not having periods although my body breaks through and bleeds a little every once in a while. The night sweats and hot flashes have almost completely went away too.

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[Anonymous]

I feel like I have the same thing !! I feel like I am Bipolar and crazy I eat like no ones business right before my period and it is only that first day! I found that if I didn’t take an extra strength asprin before I would throw up because the pain would kill. The only solution I found was that I would be taking asprin all day, maybe use a heating pad, try to relax my body with a heating pad and hopefully it would relax my emotions haha and sometimes I just decided to go off of my meds because I thought they might interrfear with the mood swings and constant focusing on how much it hurts. Now I have no idea if my methods work but they do help ;P

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[Patte Rosebank]

I hate having to go through this every month. And that’s before I add up how many thousands of dollars I’ve spent on “harpoons” and meds every month! You can bet that if men went through this instead of us, all that stuff would be paid for by the government. Or they’d have figured out a way to stop it without major side effects.

I feel like I’ve spent a lifetime paying rent on an apartment that will never, ever have a tenant.

Bloody stupid!

P.S. – Ibuprofen (Advil or Motrin) works way better than aspirin, because ibuprofen stops the over-production of the prostaglandin hormones that are causing the cramps. It’s also the best painkiller for dental pain, because it’s the most effective one for reducing the swelling that’s causing the pain.

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[Anonymous]

(this is kinda funny) I was gonna write ibuprofen but i didn’t know how to spell it so i put advil cause I’m like oh it’s the same haha good to know if I give future advice

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[Anonymous]

i have been dx with PMDD since i was 16 and sadly it is looking like it may also be connected with this ADD/ADHD thing bc as a nursing student i have learned hormones are linked to PMDD/PMS/mood ISSUES and given the deficits with ADHD and chemicals i am seeing a connection with the lowered hormone chemicals and ADHD chemicals to be connected….

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[Scattybird]

This is all really interesting. I have suffered from PMS all my life. When I was younger I could be really nasty to those I loved most – it was like I couldn’t stop myself from saying stuff. I was on the outside looking in and then I’d feel so guilty that I’d be really upset and tearful. They knew it was cyclical but it didn’t make their lives or mine any easier. I still get grumpy (late 40s now!) and quite irritable but not as bad as I was – the PMS seems to be improving (famous last words!). But as I am getting older my ADHD is more of a problem and associated with that is the emotional regulation aspects that I have to deal with. Guess PMS is worse for those with ADHD and emotional regulation problems. Life can be a battle.

I am trying to regulate my behaviour now – I was only recently diagnosed with ADHD so that explains my overly expressed emotions sometimes and all those things that I never understood before. But when it’s time for the PMS to make me the creature from hell I try to avoid unnecessary contact with people then or just joke about the time of the month. The meds help enormously though and as long as I take my Ritalin I feel quite relaxed – even at ‘that’ time.

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[Carrie]

A little update here… I have been put on an anti-depressant now that I only take when I PMS. So from about the 15th of every month until the first day of my period (normaly the 4 or 5th of the next month). Sorry if TMI!

It has been LIFE CHANGING! I still get the physical things like tenderness and cramps, but NO MORE MOOD SWINGS!! wooohoo!! My ADD meds level out my hyperness and impulsivness where are my anti-depressants level out my anger and depression. I have not had an outburst in months! The only thing with my mood is my energy is still next to none right before… to the point where I sleep the entire day away where normally I cant sleep for the life of me! The Doctor said its a side effect of the anti-depressant and reduced my dose which worked. I really couldnt imagine life again without the meds!

My mother in law just found out that I take meds and she asked my husband. He told her that in literally minutes I would go from hyper to screaming to crying and wanting to die. I dont do that anymore! Frankly I hardly remember those days!!

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[Author]

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