PMS & PMDD

Hello everyone,

My name is November. I am 45 years old and have a beautiful family. A husband of 25 years, two grown children and a most precious granddaughter, who is the stars that shine in the sky to me.

About a year ago I noticed something was not right with me. I started keeping a journal. The symptoms of PMDD were beginning to emerge. I had never had PMS before or any other significant problems with my menstruation cycle. In keeping this journal what was happening to me was getting worse. About a week before my periods I had become a different person. After my period began I was me again.

I knew something was wrong. The symptoms were gradual in coming but increasing with every month. Now I have every single symptom and my periods are disabling me. This time the swelling in my joints was so bad for three days I could not hardly move.

This was it the breaking point I had had enough and was ready to become proactive in getting rid of what ever this was. I just wanted everyone to go away. A vacation for them from me. I needed to be alone. I could not go to work. I could not even get up to start a load of laundry if my life depended on it.

I hated myself although I have read some women become suicidal I have not felt that. Every single task was like trying to swim across one of the great lakes. I thought I cannot do this, honestly I do not have time for it. This time the reasoning, rational, and meditation I had used in the past was not working. How much worse was I going to get?

I finally went to the doctor. I told her my brief little synopsis of what had been happening. Within 10 minutes I was diagnosed with PMDD. We began discussing treatment options. Birth Control pills came up. I told her no. I am 45 never having kids besides my tubes had been tied and to me this option was counter productive. The next option was fluxotine. I was not thrilled with this either. Prozac for something that happens a week a month? This was not going to sit well with me either. She came up with another idea. How about a depo shot. Just stop the periods seens how that is what is causing the symptoms. I thought is she kidding sign me up!

I agreed to the Prozac for two months until the Depo is sufficiently in my system. I am not sure how this will all turn out but to me at my age was the most logical solution. Actually I thought just removing the spare parts would of been more to my liking. That was not offered.

I have been reading a lot about this condition and found somethings that clearly have not made a lot of sense to me. PMDD is listed in the DSM-IV as a psychological condition that pissed me off. Understanding that ovulation creates this condition to me this does not qualify the condition as a psychological disorder.

The treatment option I picked is fairly new. I have not even read where it has been offered on many of the medical sites. It will be interesting to see if that does the trick. I was wondering if anyone else here has tried it?

-November

I was offered depo, but refused it. It has a very strong black box warning concerning bone loss. It is considered a very dangerous drug by many and whatever you do don't take it for more than 2 years. For more info on Depo you might want to visit the Birth Control board.

The other thing about depo is that if you have a bad reaction to it, and I hope you don't, you are stuck with the bad reaction as there is no way to stop the hormones once they are inside of you and they last for several months. Just be careful :) also, the bone loss is permanent.

The medical field is somewhat torn about what PMDD is (but less so as we understand it more), but what we do know is that it is a reaction to the normal hormonal shifts of the menstrual cycle. Getting rid of those shifts by stopping ovulation (as depo or BCPs do) is one of the treatment options. Since PMDD so profoundly affects our brain chemicals through the hormonal system, it is a pretty difficult disorder to pin down. Several medical groups have come up with diagnostic criteria for PMDD including the OB/GYN people. The one in the DSMIV is the most widely used and is very comprehensive. Psychiatrists generally acknowledge (now!) that it is partly hormonal and not just psychiatric. It is a complex disorder that involves multiple bodily systems. It is becoming more and more common to treat it with BCPs (low dose like Yaz) along with Sarafem, although the success rate with SSRIs has recently come into question and there is the problem of suicidality. Another class of drugs used are the anti-anxiety meds that work on the gaba system and help ease the rage and anxiety of PMDD.

You might want to check out some of the articles in the resources section about PMDD research.

Hi there, welcome...

Glad you found us.  I was diagnosed with PMDD while I was suffering from a very severe case of PPD after my now 5 1/2 year old was born.  I was on meds for the PPD, however, none of those meds helped the PMDD when it came about.  I was hospitalized twice... once with the PPD, once with the PMDD.  I was very suicidal once a month b/c of the PMDD. 

It was only after I begun taking Yaz birth control that I felt relief.  I don't need it for birth control purposes, either, since I had the Essure procedure done back in 12/04.  The Yaz is definitely my lifesaver.

Just so you know, the removal of the uterus will NOT rid you of PMDD.  The removal of the ovaries will make PMDD worse.  The depo shot is not recommended for PMDD, it can also make it worse.  Please be careful. 

Most women with PMDD are taking an antidepressant (such as Prozac) or a combo of an antidepressant and antianxiety med.  Others take the Yaz or another type of bcp.  For me, the Yaz has been, like I said, my lifesaver.  Without it I cannot function, and like I said, I don't need it for birth control at all.

I wish you all the best.
Vida

Hi, I just wanted to say that many of us have been down this road you are on and have even begged our docs to remove the "spare parts." I just want to clear something up...by removing the ovaries PMDD would go away. It is the only known "cure" for PMDD--it won't make it worse. It actually gets rid of all the hormones that are causing all the problems. However, at your age and my age (48) we are still protected by the hormones that our ovaries produce. A very large study revealed recently that women who have their ovaries removed early are at 70% higher risk of dying an early death from heart disease or stroke (to name a few of the problems). So doctors are very wary of removing ovaries except in cases of hormonally caused cancer or women who are at very high genetic risk of hormonally caused cancers.

Having the ovaries removed also puts one into premature menopause and that can actually be worse than PMDD. I think that is what Vida meant--having the ovaries taken out can actually make things worse because it causes menopause. Having the uterus removed can also cause premature menopause and you would no longer bleed, but does nothing to relieve PMDD because the ovaries are the organs that help produce all the hormones. Some women have had their uterus removed thinking the PMS/PMDD would go away and it does not because the ovaries are still there causing all the trouble.

I don't know if your docs talked to you about perimenopause, but at your age (and mine:) it is a very real possibility. Usually PMS/PMDD gets significantly worse when peri starts. I have entered peri and my symptoms got way, way worse. I have had PMDD for many years. The treatment for peri is usually a low dose BCP like Yaz or there are many others. I am on one called Mircette.

Please let us know how you do and don't stay on the Depo too long, okay? It's really not safe.

You might also want to check out the menopause and perimenopause board at

Menopause and Perimenopause Board

http://messageboards.ivillage.com/iv-bhmenopause?ice=ivl,searchmb

and here is the Birth control board if you want to learn more about depo

Birth Control

http://messageboards.ivillage.com/iv-bhcontracept?ice=ivl,searchmb

Thanks, Marcella, for elaborating what I said.  I am not feeling well (possible sinus infection or just bad cold coming on) and I wasn't able to really think of what I was saying.  :)