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PMDD - my experience
Summer6020
Posts: 3 Newbie
So I’ve always struggled mentally and had really extreme emotions for most of my life. I’ve said this before but some days I can feel suicidal and like my life doesn’t matter and then other days it could be the complete opposite, I could feel insanely productive and like I could accomplish anything in the planet for it to then switch and go feel so hopeless, depressed, suicidal etc. I’ve always just wanted to have control over my emotions.
Since I was a teenager and got my first period I had the worst cramps and body aches etc ever! I literally felt like I couldn’t walk and sometimes threw up or passed out on my period. It took me forever to get the courage to go to the doctors and ask for help on what is happening to me.
I first went to the doctors in 2021 and ended up in the implant for 3 years. I only ended up on this type of birth control because I had a boyfriend and I thought that being on birth control would also help with my cramps etc.
After this I was still having awful periods and had a time where my back pain was so bad that I couldn’t even stand and had my ex bf shower me because I couldn’t do anything. I also had a 2 month long period at one point around a year after having the implant! I got to a point where I was just so fucking sick and tired of feeling like this and having awful periods that were inconsistent and made me feel awful, so I ended up at the doctors again. And after explaining all my issues and having to make SEVERAL appointments and having the same checks over and over again they suggested I take the combined pill for 3 months straight then take a week off. So that’s what I did for about a year. Didn’t help at all I ended up going back to the doctors in between this time and got recommended to also have the injection as well!? I was so mad because I wasn’t being listened to I was just being given more and more birth control to try and mask the issue that I actually had.
Anyways fast forward to now and I’ve had my implant changed and then also asked the doctor that changed my implant if I should come off the pill too. I ended up coming off the pill and feeling a lot better in myself until recently when I had really drastic emotions again after the pill and implant made me feel so numb I forgot what I used to feel like.
I almost killed myself Tuesday night and my recent ex bf called the police and ambulance after I sent a suicide text to him thanking him for who he is and how he has helped me etc. The police ended up at my house and then the ambulance came after and both the police and ambulance did welfare checks and the ambulance made an appointment for me to speak with the crisis hub (how I ended up finding out about mix).
I went to the appointment the next day at 11am the ambulance had left at 1am and I hadn’t had much sleep but i rarely sleep anyways. The appointment went well I spoke about everything I could think of that could have affected my mental health over the years. I then had therapy shortly after that appointment and just felt drained after that day. My therapist believes that I have PMDD (pre menstrual dysphoric disorder) which explains a lot to me, I’ve now been given tablets for this that I will start taking tomorrow or once I have collected them.
I’m just fucking pissed off that it took me almost ending my life to be taken seriously by doctors with a problem that I had brought up fucking years ago!
I was wondering if anyone else has experienced PMDD and how it affected them and what their coping mechanisms are. Because like I said before some days I feel great and I can be super upbeat and productive and other days it can completely flip and go to the worst extreme possible of feeling suicidal and depressed, hopeless etc. I just want a way that could help me figure out how to help myself and get better mentally.
Since I was a teenager and got my first period I had the worst cramps and body aches etc ever! I literally felt like I couldn’t walk and sometimes threw up or passed out on my period. It took me forever to get the courage to go to the doctors and ask for help on what is happening to me.
I first went to the doctors in 2021 and ended up in the implant for 3 years. I only ended up on this type of birth control because I had a boyfriend and I thought that being on birth control would also help with my cramps etc.
After this I was still having awful periods and had a time where my back pain was so bad that I couldn’t even stand and had my ex bf shower me because I couldn’t do anything. I also had a 2 month long period at one point around a year after having the implant! I got to a point where I was just so fucking sick and tired of feeling like this and having awful periods that were inconsistent and made me feel awful, so I ended up at the doctors again. And after explaining all my issues and having to make SEVERAL appointments and having the same checks over and over again they suggested I take the combined pill for 3 months straight then take a week off. So that’s what I did for about a year. Didn’t help at all I ended up going back to the doctors in between this time and got recommended to also have the injection as well!? I was so mad because I wasn’t being listened to I was just being given more and more birth control to try and mask the issue that I actually had.
Anyways fast forward to now and I’ve had my implant changed and then also asked the doctor that changed my implant if I should come off the pill too. I ended up coming off the pill and feeling a lot better in myself until recently when I had really drastic emotions again after the pill and implant made me feel so numb I forgot what I used to feel like.
I almost killed myself Tuesday night and my recent ex bf called the police and ambulance after I sent a suicide text to him thanking him for who he is and how he has helped me etc. The police ended up at my house and then the ambulance came after and both the police and ambulance did welfare checks and the ambulance made an appointment for me to speak with the crisis hub (how I ended up finding out about mix).
I went to the appointment the next day at 11am the ambulance had left at 1am and I hadn’t had much sleep but i rarely sleep anyways. The appointment went well I spoke about everything I could think of that could have affected my mental health over the years. I then had therapy shortly after that appointment and just felt drained after that day. My therapist believes that I have PMDD (pre menstrual dysphoric disorder) which explains a lot to me, I’ve now been given tablets for this that I will start taking tomorrow or once I have collected them.
I’m just fucking pissed off that it took me almost ending my life to be taken seriously by doctors with a problem that I had brought up fucking years ago!
I was wondering if anyone else has experienced PMDD and how it affected them and what their coping mechanisms are. Because like I said before some days I feel great and I can be super upbeat and productive and other days it can completely flip and go to the worst extreme possible of feeling suicidal and depressed, hopeless etc. I just want a way that could help me figure out how to help myself and get better mentally.
3
Comments
I’m sorry to hear you weren’t taken seriously. Unfortunately your experience is very common among women - we let something period related bother us for years, finally go to the doctor, and doctors just shrug it off and say it’s normal.
I don’t have PMDD so I can’t comment on that, but I had extremely heavy periods for a few years. I went to the doctor and was told it was because I was still a teenager, but they also put me on birth control, specifically the combined pill. Thankfully for me it has made such a difference that I’ve stayed on it for 7 years (I’m now early 20s) but I sometimes still wonder whether there was more to that issue and if I ever came off contraception if it would come back. It’s really just a sticking plaster for many issues, and while I’m happy with a sticking plaster for now, I might not be forever.
Hopefully someone with more relevant experience can come along and give more help, but I share that because really, it’s such a common experience that we aren’t listened to, particularly for younger women. We’re told it’s normal, we’re told it’ll settle down, and my favourite one “it’s just a period, we all get them” (mostly said by older female GPs).
I’m glad you’ve got some answers now, and I hope the tablets you’ve got now help.
I suppose as well knowing that your symptoms are related to your cycle, you might be able to keep track of them a bit better. You might have already tried this, but using an app to track periods and symptoms could help you to spot patterns like how many days before your period your symptoms start, etc. This has helped me before too.
Yeh I’ve used apps before but my cycle is really unpredictable so with pmdd and my moods being all over the place I’m trying to figure out if my moods are a specific way so that I can tell what part of my cycle I am in.
I’m early to mid twenties now and I can’t believe it’s taken this long to try and get a diagnosis for something that could have been resolved ages ago if they just listened to me.
Thank you for your help
Oh god I know. So many women I know with conditions like PMDD, endometriosis, adenomyosis, PCOS, etc struggle to get diagnosed and so many ask the same question as you. We shouldn’t have to suffer for years because doctors don’t understand this stuff. For some people periods affect their life every day, not just while they’re happening. And additionally, some of these problems can lead to fertility issues down the road, which is heartbreaking to go through.
It’s no problem - I’m glad you’ve found us here, and hope you find it helpful