Life w/PMDD/Severe PMS Support... - Page 22

[mystic~mama]

hey mamas, I am also curious if anyone else wasn't completely satisfied with their experience working with a Natureopath for PMDD?

not to put down natural medicine AT ALL! I just think that can be a very strong imbalance and after working w/a natureopath for 5 months, here I am on meds...

[umami_mommy]

i tried for 2 years. two years of supplements, diets, yoga, acupuncture, meditation, deep breathing, EFT and therapy. nothing changed as far as my mood. in fact, it was just getting worse.

for me, PMDD seems to follow a pattern in my life of mood disturbances. it's been this way since my late teens... anxiety, agitation, depression, PMS and PMDD.

recently, i learned about being right brained. we right brained people are very prone to mood disorders and difficulty with emotional regulation. the other thing i read in that book on PMDD was that blood tests discovered that women with PMDD have the same blood levels of hormones as non-PMDD women. so, in my case i kinda think it's not a matter of too much estrogen, but rather for some reason my serotonin levels are really easily affected by cyclical hormone changes. is it because i am right brain dominate? i have no idea. maybe. i wonder how many women on this thread are RB.

anyway, i feel much healthier than i used to, but whatever was/is wrong with me doesn't respond well to natural treatments. it requires the big guns. i simply am not willing to go back to the agitation and anxiety and loss of emotional control. i'd rather take meds for the rest of my life than loose it with my kids ever again.

of course that is just my story and i am sure it is different for others.....

[Surfacing]

Originally Posted by mystic~mama

not to put down natural medicine AT ALL! I just think that can be a very strong imbalance and after working w/a natureopath for 5 months, here I am on meds...

Sometimes you just need the meds. I had an AMAZING midwife who encouraged me to get meds in the first place, which were life-altering for me and my family. She said if you broke your arm, you wouldn't take supplements for it, you'd get a cast. There's having a down mood and then there's chemical imbalance that the medicine can treat.

[mystic~mama]

I am really glad more dialogue has come about regarding meds over natural remedies. I can very much relate to what you are both saying about meds...

It is day 19 of my med journey so I am just starting.

Ovulation was 2 days where I was a different person and the Poof! I was back,,,I haven't had that "magical" transformation happen that way for a long time.

Day 21 now so I am in the last stretch of my luteal phase and we shall see how it goes.

[Surfacing]

Originally Posted by mystic~mama

I have considered uping my dosage to 20 mg....just for the PMS time and going back down, I got the OK from the DR to up it but I didn't specify I was thinking of just doing it during the last week of my cycle...

any thoughts on this?

I'm also thinking of sticking to 10 until Next ovulation and if I flip out again then increasing...

or

I thought If I am feeling really really bad like no improvement in my PMS this week take more

I would LOVe your thoughts!!

Really there's no way to know but to try it out, right? You could try taking it for the week before your period and see if that is enough. Or if you need that extra support all the way from ovulation to menstruation, you could try it like that for those two weeks too. You could wait and see.

Do you have a really bad day or two of ovulation, and then okay again for awhile until closer to menstruating?

(Just for the record, I usually have a very b*tchy 2 days around ovulation and then okay until 1 week premenstrual.)

Did you ever end up being able to open up that link with the study I posted here? Just wondering.

Be well

[mystic~mama]

Originally Posted by Surfacing

Really there's no way to know but to try it out, right? You could try taking it for the week before your period and see if that is enough. Or if you need that extra support all the way from ovulation to menstruation, you could try it like that for those two weeks too. You could wait and see.

I'm concerned about changing the dose on myself like that, I know your not suppost to stop taking it cold turkey and I"m wondering if messing with my dose back and forth would be bad. Maybe I could do 15 mg...

Do you have a really bad day or two of ovulation, and then okay again for awhile until closer to menstruating?

(Just for the record, I usually have a very b*tchy 2 days around ovulation and then okay until 1 week premenstrual.)

yes exactly that!

Did you ever end up being able to open up that link with the study I posted here? Just wondering.

No

Clicking the link did nothing so I copied and pasted and it took me to a page that said didn't exist and I tried to find a menu and search for PMDD but came up with nothing.

[DanishMom]

Originally Posted by mystic~mama

I'm concerned about changing the dose on myself like that, I know your not suppost to stop taking it cold turkey and I"m wondering if messing with my dose back and forth would be bad. Maybe I could do 15 mg...



yes exactly that!



No

Clicking the link did nothing so I copied and pasted and it took me to a page that said didn't exist and I tried to find a menu and search for PMDD but came up with nothing.

Mystic - it's ok to change the dose and stop cold turkey when you haven't taken it for a longer period of time.

How are you feeling now?

[mystic~mama]

Originally Posted by DanishMom

Mystic - it's ok to change the dose and stop cold turkey when you haven't taken it for a longer period of time.

How are you feeling now?

Its day 25 and I am feeling fine.

I am reading and ABSOLUTELY AMAZING book

http://http://www.selfleadership.org/store

it's the first book listed...wanting to share it with people because this is the first book I have ever read that really gets down to WHY people have such a hard time in relationships and how those parts of us get wounded in the first place and what we can do about them...that book is golden!

[Surfacing]

So great to hear the Therapist is working for you. If/when you have the energy, if you could tell us more about that book, it would be appreciated (I have limited funds and a long Amazon Wishlist ).

Too bad you can't get to that study, it's wonderful in explaining HOW and WHY the SSRI seems to work. I'd be willing to print it out and mail it to you, if you want to PM your address. But no biggie. I just googled Ellen Wasserman, PMDD and SSRI -- this is what I found:

Regarding duration of treatment http://psychcentral.com/news/2009/05...apse/5798.html

PM symptom severity and length of treatment http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/c.../full/44/14/26

Cool stuff about serotonin and it's link with hormones http://cme.medscape.com/viewarticle/553603_2

Hope these help some.

Over here, dh BEGGED me on the weekend to PLEASE TAKE MORE PROZAC! My 1 week premenstrual began on Thursday and sure enough my old bedfellows: Anger, Irritability, Yelling, etc were happening. So I'm on the week of an increased dose and wow, it actually DOES make a difference! So wonderful. I'm so grateful for these drugs. If I didn't have them, my poor children.... and husband....

I'm home with walking pneumonia right now. These antibiotics that I got yesterday are finally kicking in. For the first time in a week I have no more raw sore throat! Yay! I feel the stuff in my ears popping! Yay! My chest is clearing up! Yay! We TTC this month and I swear I felt PG on the weekend but then it just went away.... took some early PG tests and they've been negative. Must wait a bit longer and find out what's happening.

Be well, all! Thanks for listening!

[TexasG]

I am so glad to find this thread! It will take me forever, but I will be reading all the info on here!

[mystic~mama]

Surfacing~ I had a reply written and lost it...

glad you shared about altering your dosage...I did that today too, I took 15 mg since the pills were easy to break in half...

oh and thanks for the links!!

I will write more about the book when I'm in a good mindset for making sense and I'm not always good at explaining what I've read

TexasG

very glad you found us! There are A LOT of posts here,,,some good info and some venting, i guess both are helpful when u r dealing w/ this ....

I was thinking if we could condense all the good links and resources down and I can add that to my first post or maybe we can get a sticky on the mental health forum that would be good...think I will work on that during these days of my cycle.... gives me something to divert my attention which is a good thing since DP is on his way home.... (i'm a bit nervous and so is he, I'm sure we will be okay....)

[mystic~mama]

best wishes

[mystic~mama]

Cycle Day 26

Medication Day 21 - 2nd day on 15 mg

had trouble sleeping last night, got up at 5:45 (not too bad) I felt very fidgety.


Thanks for reading mama's, hope you are having a good day.

[Surfacing]

Originally Posted by mystic~mama

Is it possible that I conditioned him to get angry at this time of month?

This scenerio makes me think of the book The Dance of Anger by Harriet Lerner. She talks about how when we argue, there is a certain pattern of dance steps that we go by together. And when we change one of the steps, the other person cries CHANGE BACK! because they know the steps to the old dance, not the new one. Change brings about anxiety, and the anxiety evokes the CHANGE BACK response.

It could be possible that he is responding this way because he is used to the old dance. Yk?

[mystic~mama]

thanks for that reminder, I have read The Dance Of Intimacy, as well as Dance of.....Connection and Anger, could be something like this.

[mystic~mama]

day 2

I DID NOT feel any of the PMS Crazies either!

that was a relief!

[~Boudicca~]

I am joining this thread. I think I definitely belong here. Be back later.

[Surfacing]

Originally Posted by mystic~mama

day 2

I DID NOT feel any of the PMS Crazies either!

that was a relief!

[coco4cloth]

Hey girls. So after months and months of suffering I decided to go get help. I have been on AD for 7 weeks now and it has worked wonders. I had my first symptom free period I am not one to jump on medicines in fact they scare the crap out of me but I felt like at this point it was try that or lose everything. The first 2 weeks were really hard adjusting to the meds. but after that it was fine. I'm glad I got help. I hope everyone else is doing well.

[mystic~mama]

Originally Posted by coco4cloth

Hey girls. So after months and months of suffering I decided to go get help. I have been on AD for 7 weeks now and it has worked wonders. I had my first symptom free period I am not one to jump on medicines in fact they scare the crap out of me but I felt like at this point it was try that or lose everything. The first 2 weeks were really hard adjusting to the meds. but after that it was fine. I'm glad I got help. I hope everyone else is doing well.

that is GREAT news mama!

I am in a similar boat, it is quite a relief, I have a different perspective on meds now..... there truly is good and bad in all things......