Community post

I have PMDD. It hasn't affected me yet as I have horridly long cycles (avg 45 days), but I'm assuming the days before AF will be horrific. However I am on meds for it - an antidepressant, which helps. Have you gone to your OBGYN and asked his/her advice? You might want to try a psychiatrist if she agrees you have PMDD.

Good luck to you!

I had pretty server depression that I noticed was worse for the 2 weeks before my period (well, my partner noticed). I was on my way to collecting enough mood data to get an official diagnosis (although the doctor said it was almost certain I had it). Luckily in this time I had some blood tests done that showed that I had high TSH.

A month after starting thyroid treatment I stopped getting depressed except for the 2 weeks before my new cycle. The month after that all depression symptoms were gone.

My mum was not so lucky, she has PMDD with no treatable underlying cause (probably why I was susceptible to it). She is on a relatively high does of antidepressants. She never had long or painful cycles, where as I always have, and even the thyroxine didn't fully fix (B6 and vitex helped a lot though), but we both had (I continue to have) heavy cycles, to the point where she got some of her uterine lining cauterized (not appropriate for those of us with reproduction in mind).

I know my story wont have helped give you answers, as mine was a symptom of another issue, but hopefully it's helped you see that you're not alone. Many women have this, and many never seek help. A diagnosis is the first step to management.