Anyone with PMDD willing to talk about how you manage it, esp with work and relationships? The stress of the last year has had a compounding effect and it’s been 😵‍💫

(Have an obgyn appt booked - looking to gather some anecdata in the meantime!)

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From my end - diagnosed as a teen and put on HBC to keep hormone levels steady. Switched to an IUD 8 years ago and love it.

Problem is I have no visible signs of my cycle, making it really difficult to track and anticipate. My bad days (which sometimes necessitate days off work) therefore seem to come out of nowhere and I feel like I’m going truly mad until I realize what’s going on. How do those of you who don’t bleed track & manage?

I have this sense, maybe unfairly?, that being a professional woman = being able to navigate and be proactive about health issues but I still haven’t cracked this one

Glad you’re seeing your doc! I’ve had similar issues and it’s been tough to manage. Thankfully I do follow a fairly consistent cycle even if I don’t have physical signs so I use a tracker and it’s fairly accurate. My bigger issue was with severe emotional swings, and I did decide to try an antidepressant. It got to the point where self-management was working and it was the right call for me.

It’s tough cause everyone is different and it may take some trial and error. Sending support!

I use the Apple health one. But some of it I do I input. Even though I don’t always have physical symptoms, I can still kind of tell when it would be based on other symptoms (mood swings, occasional cramps, etc).

For me, it was just the complete frustration of feeling out of control. I tried so many things on my own but when work and relationships started to suffer, I knew it was time for me to pursue further options. I also do therapy and my therapist even recommended considering it.

I do. I recently started an antidepressant (Lexapro) and it’s been great for me. I am no longer intensely depressed, having intensive mood swings, crying hysterically, lying in bed unable to function, anger, irritability, etc. I have been very careful about lifestyle and I have always been particular about exercising every day which includes yoga, interval training/cardio (essential for the serotonin), eating well, and meditating. I never wanted to take medication but I’m lucky I found something that works for me. I also see a therapist weekly. Any hormonal birth control neutralizes your cycle, including IUD, so that’s why you are not experiencing a “natural” cycle which includes ovulation and the changes in different hormones that go with it. You may consider going off them and learning your natural cycle, which I found empowering, but it’s totally up to you if IUD is working for you.

You can take an antidepressant only during the week+ before your period or whenever you start having symptoms, you don’t have to take it all month. It is cumulative so that may be less effective but I read a study that it was shown to be just as effective as taking it every day in the case of PMDD. For me the decision was that my depression is also generalized and I found that I was just struggling to function and I couldn’t handle the level of psychological distress. I also didn’t want to take them for the same reason you mentioned, to change other parts of my life that are working well, but it became too difficult for me to handle on my own. I do find that it dampens my emotions in general, not just the “bad” ones. It’s really up to you if you want to try it, and you can always stop if you don’t like it. Another option might be to do intensive cardio on those days I found that had a good result too.

If you're open to using birth control, there are 3 month low estrogen birth control pill packets that can lessen tbe frequency of the mood swings

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