Need help with PMS, extreme irritability

[Still_Learning]

Can anyone recommend some great natural (or otherwise I guess?) remedies for extreme irritability related to PMS?

I've dealt with this all my adult life, but I need to do something about it now.  My little guy, 6, has Asperger's and requires a mama with a level head and even temper.  I screamed back at him this morning and am absolutely disgusted with myself. 

I'm nursing my 19 month old, so need something that's breastfeeding safe. 

I eat a healthy diet and only a tiny bit of caffeine daily (glass of tea)

Suggestions?

[staceychev]

How much wheat and fat do you eat? I find that my mood is more stable overall, and my periods less painful, when I'm eating less grain and more good fats (grass-fed butter, coconut oil, avocado). 

[iris777888]

I'm looking for a solution too, as it's not fair to mine either to have a mama that's this irritable half the time. Asked the midwife at my annual and she recommended a couple options, though I have yet to try them. One was a B complex vitamin (or even just B6). Can't remember what the other was right now. I have also been looking into St. Johns Wort and Magnesium. What about exercise? That seems to help me a little bit. I hope you find something that helps you!

Edited by iris777888 - 2/6/12 at 10:21am

[june'smom]

A b complex helped me tremendously.  I also took a magnesium supplement, as well as a high dose of fish oil.  

Exercise has also been a life savor for me.  That is actually the biggest thing for me.  I feel sane when I can walk/jog or lift weights.  I know it is hard to fit that stuff in, but it is a must.  I just recently started having really bad cycles again.  I realized that I pretty much stopped exercising altogether.  

I have been working out pretty regularly the last two weeks or so and I have seen a huge improvement.

When I first started taking supplements and working out, dh actually commented on how different I was.  

Good luck.

[heatherdeg]

This was the thread that saved me from full-on PMDD:  http://www.mothering.com/community/t/993349/life-w-pmdd-severe-pms-support

In the end, for me, it was nothing more than a B-complex plus another 50 to 100mg of B-6 depending on the time of my cycle.  I was stunned and amazed that something so stinking simple could end such an insane problem.

A word of warning: don't implement more than one resolution at a time.  You won't know what works.  I mean, it' s not like taking extra B would hurt you, but then try it for a month and if you need something else, add to it if you want to stay on the B... kwim?  You want to be able to identify what causes the changes.

Hugs, mama.

[joybird]

My ND recently recommended Evening Primrose oil and upping my green supplements.  I use vitamineral green.  Apparently all the liver detoxifying ingredients help flush the hormones being processed through the liver...