lactational amenorrhea... and PMS?

[Astraia]

Just a warning, I had no idea where to put this! Please move if you need to!

I haven't had a period in over 2 years now- pregnant with my daughter, then got pregnant with my son without ever getting a period in between. I'm now 7 months postpartum, no sign of a period so far.

I'm not sure what's going on, but recently I've been noticing that every 2-3 weeks I go through a week of black, black moods. It started gradually, I was just a bit moody and cranky. The last 2-3 months though... well, it's bad. I consider weaning cold turkey (seriously considering it), I yell, I'm not sleeping, I'm rough with the kids, I think my husband is the most useless nincompoop, I can't be bothered to do housework, I can't stop eating garbage. And then it goes away, I'm patient and calm and I clean and cook and I love my husband.

What the heck? Can you get PMS without getting periods?

Is this a forever sort of change? Before kids, I'd be a bit short tempered and didn't want to be touched as my PMS, but this is really hard to live with. I'm an awful person. I really hope this isn't permanent.

Any homeopathic/ lifestyle things I can do that are compatible with breastfeeding to help combat this? I asked my mom and she just said I needed to wean (yeah, because 2 screaming children is JUST what I need to help my mood!)

Thanks

[Delta]

Same thing is happening here!

I'm 13 month pp and have been getting PMS-y every few weeks. I'm in a dark spell now, in fact.

I've also noticed other fertility signs returning.

[LiLStar]

I'm about to hit 4.5 years with no period (last was late april 06!) thanks to lactational amenorrhea. dd is 3.5 and still nurses before bed, and ds is 16 months and nurses on demand (aka, all day) I just started wondering if maybe not having the regular hormone changes that come with a cycle are wreaking havoc on my sanity. I don't necessarily notice a pattern to ups and downs, but there are really bad spells and then times where its better. I wouldn't go so far as to say "good" though.. I'd say more "functional" and "non-functional" :/

I think its PPD.. or was? At 16 months pp is it even "PP"D anymore? Meh. I was on Celexa for a while but any benefit I was receiving from it didn't justify the side effects. Now I have a counter full of supplements I'm taking in the hopes that something will work! If you get comfy and grab a snack, the "true natural remedy" thread in the PPD forum is helpful. Its like 30some pages long and over 4 years old, but there's plenty of good info in the first few pages.

But I do wonder if maybe gently encouraging AF might be a positive hormonal change for me. Maybe with Vitex? Hmmm... interested in seeing others' thoughts

[Astraia]

LilStar, I was the same with thinking PPD for awhile. I looked up the symptoms and when I'm feeling bad a lot of them fit, and then a few days later none of them fit.

I really do wonder what sort of hormonal things are going on right now. I've always thought of your period as a time of cleansing and restarting with a clean slate, and now I feel like all this negativity is just backing up inside of me (which I guess begs the question of, how much of this is in my head? Reverse-placebo effect?)

I'm really curious to find out what sort of person I am when my body gets more back to "normal"- or even, what sort of person I'll be when I'm not breastfeeding any more (you know, in 2-3 years!).