PMDD - symptoms, diagnosis, and my treatment so far

I know this video is old... I have no idea if anyone will ever see this comment... I have never felt so understood, never identified with so much, never have agreed with every single thing you've said... More people need to speak about this... We are not crazy, we are not attention seeking, this is real to us! Every single thing hit home sooooo hard...

For 2 weeks before my period, my mind just changes. Its as if im a functional person for half of my cycle and then totally non functional for the other half. I want to end my life when im like this, and its the only time i have such dark feelings and thoughts. I go from being a positive person, full of energy and creativity, always laughing to a person who cannot see anything positive in life. I cant socialise, i cant watch tv, nothing brings me joy or fulfillment during these times. All i can do is at best go for a solo walk and at worst lie in bed in the dark with earplugs in. I feel like a failure, everything feels 'wrong' like you said, the world twists and warps and sometimes disappears to the point where you cant..see it at all. It feels like you are totally alone, no matter what anyone says or does or how much you rationally 'know' that youre loved. It just makes you want to hide, but when you hide you feel worse because then youre actually alone. The self hate...is horrific. I grew up with undiagnosed Autism, and as a result struggled massively w mental health including EDs+SH. Now, even though i dont engage in the behaviours or even want to, when im in the two weeks before my period, those are the first things that flare up. Then comes all of the shame because you really dont want to do those things! Mine can and does manifest in full scale OCD, the obsessions and the horrific thoughts that are SO far from you as a person easily consume you when youre already in that pmdd headspace. I searched for this video because i wasnt sure if thats what id been experiencing, but as i listen to you speak im positive. Itd been suggested to me by my keyworker (shes great) as pmdd often comes along with being an Autistic person. Isnt it insane how much of a mental change pmdd makes you go through? Then the day of your period, bam. Right back to normal, you forget how bad you felt, til next time. Youre not crazy, i suspect that a lot more women are experiencing this but just dont know how to explain or what to call it. Plus all of the generations of women just being told to get on with it. All that helps for me is to exercise just a little bit for a boost of happy chemicals. To have naps. To tell myself that im allowed to feel this way and give myself time. Remind myself that there are thousands of us out here suffering ❤

“PMDD is to PMS what a migraine is to a headache” that is such a good way to describe it! If someone has never had a migraine they would likely think it’s just like a headache, but it’s completely different, and the same goes with someone who’s never experienced pmdd. Thank you so much for speaking out about this. It’s shocking how few people have even heard of it, never mind take it seriously! ❤️

It’s so funny aswell how with pmdd we can tell what a normal level of anxiety or downness, as we obviously may feel it in our everyday lives, but when it gets to pmdd time we know that the levels of symptoms we experience are so extremely far from normal. So when people tell that “everyone experiences a bit of anxiety/depression/irritability” WE KNOW, but we can tell the difference between that and the extremes of pmdd

I was misdiagnosed with bipolar disorder and put on anti psychotics, my GP also put me on birth control at the same time....this led to me being hospilitzed for psychosis and suicidal ideation. It was the scariest thing of my life and took months for me to stabalize. I lost my job, housing, and had to rehome my dog. All because PMDD is so understudied. I still suffer through my symptoms but things have gotten a lot better. I have gotten more help on the internet than in any doctors office. Thank you for sharing your story and tips, it really helps. I'm going to try all of these supplements <3

PMDD is the reason I started taking medication to manage my mood. I couldn’t bare the thought of being miserable half of my cycle - it was so awful because I just wasn’t myself at all. Good luck Sophie ❤

Hi Sophie- thank you so much for sharing this- I have had PMDD for 10 years and it feels so alone when I’m going through it- no one seems to understand as much as people try to help. Being married and having kids has been really challenging because half the time I want to give up being a mom and a wife- thank God I haven’t but it definitely triggers it really bad:(

Praying we can all find a cure to PMDD 🙏 This really ruins our life’s and we hurt the people we care about and damage ourselves.

I'm 37 and just finally figured out that I have this. All this time I thought I had severe mood issues and was just a shitty, angry, irritable person. But of course I would only feel like that half the time, the other half I would feel fine. I would have tons of motivation and excitement to start projects but would lose all interest a week or so later and never finish anything. It always makes me sweaty, hot, angry, irritable, confused, floaty feeling, hungry, and sometimes like I'm losing my mind the week or two leading up to it. Some months I get the doomed, depressed feeling but mostly for me its anger and confusion. Then I feel embarrassed and ashamed for lasing out and being so angry, it's such a shitty cycle!

Thank you for sharing. I’ve ruined so many relationships due to this and never understood why I couldn’t control my emotions 1/2 the month. It has been life changing putting a name to it.

I lost my boyfriend because of PMDD. The lack of compassion and support I got from him was extremely hurtful.

I’ve been doing a lot research bc I have PMDD as well and a lot of different women have said that Ashwagandha Pills, Vitex Chasteberry Pills, Moon Juice Súper You Pills and Taurine Pills has helped them. If you don’t want to take birthcontrol or antidepressant’s like myself, you guys should try these different options & maybe one of them will help you. good luck everyone, we got this!!!! 🧡

Thanks for making this video, as a partner of a girl that has PMDD, it has been so important and informative for me, to understand her mentality, and what may or may not help in how I try and help her out. It has been a real boundary in our relationship, and she hates talking about it, so thank you.

thank you so so much for sharing this, i learned about PMDD literally 24 hours ago and learning of this has changed my life. i've already reached out to specialists for consultations. THANK YOU!!

Everything you’re saying is what I’ve been saying to people, it’s so comforting to hear someone else say these same thoughts. I’m 25 and as a grown adult woman it makes you feel like a little kid throwing a fit but every emotion is intense and you know this isn’t really how you really feel and that’s the most frustrating part. Thank you so much for sharing ❤️❤️❤️

I cannot express highly enough how grateful I am to you for sharing this. I relate to every single aspect of your description of PMDD and discovering you had this, versus regular PMS. I hope from the bottom of my heart that we all figure out what works for us and get to live fulfilling lives. So much love to everyone going through this. Take care of yourselves, be kind to yourselves, and stick around <3

The obsessive thoughts and catastrophic scenarios in your head feels like you’re possessed with this evil thing. I relate with you so much during this whole video. Thanks for speaking out.

The hallucination and the parts where you felt obsessive thoughts is exactly what I've been going through. I've been off BC for six months because I was tired of the side effects and when I go through these stages I feel desperate for any solution to the point of trying it again. but I keep reminding myself that I quit it for a reason and learning my body is helping. I recently started taking a DIM supplement that helps much. but yes the days before the period are so rough mentally. The physical pain is worse for me during ovulation

Sophie, you just told my story! Thank you so much for sharing yours! You truly made me feel not alone, along with a lot of good advice. God bless.

I have also found that education is much more important than the doctors gender. (I’ve had many female doctors blow me off completely saying it’s just stress). Also their specialty seems to be irrelevant. I saw a pharmacist & ophthalmologist who knew way more about birth control side effects & PMDD than my OBGYN. I’m sure this will improve over time, however it’s important to bear in mind.