Life w/PMDD/Severe PMS Support... - Page 24

[mystic~mama]

I could use some input here... the previous 2 days (days 25 and 26) I have had a relapse in symptoms, not full blown but not minor either...

I am on 15 mg fluoxetine and I am starting on 20 now...

does this happen? you need to up your dose to keep it effective?

and now that I am doing that looks like I will be even more suseptable to the weight gain side effect, that really helps for my trip to Hawaii next month

I'd love your thoughts.

eta:

it's also interesting how I am much more confident and accepting of myself and my body thanks to the meds so I guess they help me deal w/the weight but I seriously don't want to be any heavier.

I don't think it would be a good idea to try and change meds at this point especially with a very important vacation 6 weeks away...thoughts? thanks mamas

[babygrant]

I keep reading about how a high carbohydrate diet is good for PMDD. Has anyon found this to be true. I've been trying low carb for weight loss.....but the PMDD (what I assume is PMDD) hasn't been changed. I'm going to stop focusing on the weight loss and get my mental well being taken care of first, and hopefully the weight loss follows.

[BelovedK]

Well, it's back again!!! I am post O, and I can feel the craziness and tension coming back. First of all, DH and I are worried about money, and are trying to be positive together. It does help bc worrying never gets you anywhere. But when I am going through this cycle, DH looks very unattractive to me, I am always starting fights and though it seems that I have gotten better, it is still there. I am crazily attracted to him other times, but during a PM cycle, it is fleeting, and I don't want sex (though when we do, it is always better between us)

How on earth can I support him through all of this. I don't want the kind of relationship that fights, and bickers.

[umami_mommy]

BG, back in the summer when i was going the eat to live diet i found that anything less than 300 grams of carbs made me feel really horrible.

considering that an SSRI really helped my symptoms, this makes perfect sense. "potatoes not prozac" is a good book to read about this.

i just made sure my carbs were not refined junk. i ate oatmeal, corn, brown rice, yogurt, etc.

[mystic~mama]

Originally Posted by BelovedK

Well, it's back again!!! I am post O, and I can feel the craziness and tension coming back. First of all, DH and I are worried about money, and are trying to be positive together. It does help bc worrying never gets you anywhere. But when I am going through this cycle, DH looks very unattractive to me, I am always starting fights and though it seems that I have gotten better, it is still there. I am crazily attracted to him other times, but during a PM cycle, it is fleeting, and I don't want sex (though when we do, it is always better between us)

How on earth can I support him through all of this. I don't want the kind of relationship that fights, and bickers.

I am sorry BelovedK, I can relate to what you say...on one hand you feel this contempt for them and on the other you truly love them...that is a really hard place to be.

Maybe counseling? Or venting to a trusted friend....Journalling....walking....crafting, dancing, some way to help get it out....

And I know what it is like being in those shoes and so far for me the biggest thing that has helped is my SSRI

I up'ed my dose to 20 mg and I am doing wonderful (it is day 28 for me)....I am also doing better with my eating and exercise and I feel thinner already.

peace mamas

[~Boudicca~]

I'm due at the end of this week, and after the week I just had I am petrified of it. The last one I was pretty much off my rocker, so irritable and weepy that I could barely function for the first day or two.

I have been trying to be consistent with the supplements, I take Fish Oil, a B complex (but no extra B yet ), and some Cal/Mag. I took a couple doses of St.John's Wort but I know that you have to take that very consistently for several weeks before that is effective. I also picked up some Cherry Plum Bach Flower essence and I hope that will be helpful.

I just can't imagine being like this anymore. I have never had such emotionally out of control periods in my life. It's like from ovulation on I am a different person that i can't stand. God I am a miserable B*tch.

[umami_mommy]

yooo hooo... where is auntie flo?????????????

i am two weeks overdue for her and i am tearing the place up. i have DOUBLED my zoloft and am taking my DH's anti-anxiety meds too boot. i didn't sleep last night, my kids are driving me stark raving mad and i warned DH to give me LOTS of room last night unless he wanted to me remove his head.




if anyone knows where she is, send her ass over here before i go out looking for her!!!

[umami_mommy]

do i HAVE to be SO depressed today? i have SO much to do before saturday.

[Surfacing]

Any chance your PG Mama?

Hang in there until the meds kick in.

[umami_mommy]

well, i suppose mary got pregnant, so there's certainly a chance. but no, my DH has been snipped. we were all really sick last month, including me, who had pneumonia after having the flu. it's not weird for me to skip ovulation when really stressed. so, i'm not surprised, just crazily waiting for her to arrive!!

[Surfacing]

Dh and I just got over walking pneumonia too, after having the flu. I hope you are feeling well again soon. It's frustrating to be waiting for AF and wondering where the heck she is!!!! Yeah stress can keep her away.

[mystic~mama]

hey mamas,

hope you are all feeling better

doing well here. switching back to 15 mg is doing the trick...the quick weight gain I had after starting the med has gone, it seems like it was bloating or something.

I have also stopped using agave nectar, I think that may have had something to do with it as well.

blessed be

m~m

[umami_mommy]

thank goodness AF showed up yesterday. whew. course i am having monster cramps that motrin isn't touching. OW! 6 cranberry-orange-nut-ginger breads done, 3 more to go!

[mystic~mama]

feel better soon mama...

maybe some herbal teas could help ease your cramps

[subtlycrunchy]

New to this thread and just getting caught up. My story: The week before my period it feels like a tasmanian devil (and not the cute WB one) is trapped inside me trying to claw its way out. I eat sugar by the pound. I yell. I cry. I can't get anything done. My kids suffer. My husband suffer. I suffer. I hate having my period.

What kinds of resources are out there for us (I see lots of references to prescription meds, but I am looking for a book that might cover natural cures? Does one such book exist?). The best web resource I've found so far is this article from Women to Women: http://www.womentowomen.com/menstrua...msandpmdd.aspx

[umami_mommy]

i don't know that there is a natural "cure" for true PMDD. i tired a lot and nothing worked, but many women get relief (and i did too for a while) with different remedies.

i guess it really depends on what is causing your symptoms and how you respond to the different remedies.

i still take my supplements and workout and do yoga. i still avoid sugar and processed carbs and try to eat lots of greens and broccoli, even though i take meds. the only thing i haven't been doing is acupuncture. which didn't seem to do much for me anyway.

[mystic~mama]

I could have written everything Umami_mommy posted...

I was wondering, after starting meds did you experience more bloating in the luteal phase?

seems like this happened last month too, at 10 days prior to AF I feel like i swell up like I've never experienced before.

I've been going through a lot of growth myself....still seeing our counselor who is helping a lot. DP impresses me with how he opens up and grows. Things are going really well, I do like the med except the weight side effect and I said I would never take it because of that on this thread....

not even going to say it...

[Surfacing]

Today I spoke to a psych nurse (triage to get care to tweak my meds since I am pregnant with baby #3). When I told her I gained weight with Prozac, she said that was *the opposite* of what usually happens, it's unusual, etc etc. I thought, "Oh really?" Well maybe most people don't have it but a significant enough group do.... ? Well whatever, it happens anyway!

Still, rather be adequately medicated and a bit plump than a nervous wreck.

Mystic~Mama glad to hear that the meds continue to be helpful.

[mandirigma]

Happy New Year, mamas.

I'm old to the Mothering community but new to this forum. My story: Essentially never had issues with my period before. I was on Mircette (birth control) steadily from age 18 to 23, and at the time it was the only birth control I could take that didn't give me severe headaches, but had nary a single PMS symptom to speak of. I had my daughter at 25, and breastfed her until she was 18 months, so I was on the mini-pill from when she was about eight months til we stopped breastfeeding (which was this summer). I went on regular birth control this summer, was originally put on Kariva, and switched back to Mircette sometime in September. Basically, when I started having a regular period again (which didn't happen until summer), I had the normal PMS symptoms again -- mostly cramps, but some bloating and backaches too -- but they were marked by severe anxiety and sometimes severe depression. I noticed I would have a very short temper with my daughter and boyfriend (well, now husband), I would yell and start fights, and then I would cry uncontrollably over the guilt afterwards.

Thinking it was a side-effect of the birth control, I switched to Mircette in September after I had a serious blowout with the boyfriend over something ridiculous that had never bothered me before. I started researching PMDD and have become more cognizant of the way I behave the week before my period. Now that I'm more aware of it (and can track my period with my birth control), sometimes I'm successful in keeping it in and not being a total asshole to my loved ones, but sometimes I'm not. And either way, it feels terrible. Even if I can keep myself from lashing out (which is almost insurmountable in itself), in my head tiny problems become unbearable. I absolutely cannot handle stress at this time and I get irritated very easily. I especially worry about how this might affect my daughter, and I feel especially guilty whenever I lose patience with her because of this.

I'm on the last few days of my normal birth control pills before it's the "period week" pills, and I have been very mopey all week. My mother in law was just in town for the holidays and I was very anxious the entire time; it took all of me not to freakin lose it while she was here. Since she left I've mostly been reflecting on the year and feeling really depressed about how crappy I've treated my family during my PMS time, and at the same time, not knowing what to do about it.

I'm gonna look over the forum for some natural remedies. Now that it's a new year, I want to be serious about doing something about this instead of opting to let it run its course and allowing myself to ruin my marriage over something stupid.

Anyway, I'm glad that I came back here and found this board, and I just wanted to introduce myself.

[BelovedK]

Ladies, I *just* Od, and felt the shift immediately DH is getting on my nerves severely I am repelled by him while I am in this state, I don't want to ber hugged/touched let alone sex

I took my 5htp, and extra vitamin B and I guess later today I will see what flower essences I have. Arg! I just feel and

I am so affectionate and so in love with DH between AF and O, but this was immediate and strong. I wonder if this means I am *not* pregnany, the onset of PMS so strong. Oh well