My long journey in learning to live with my new normal.
PMDD stands for Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder. It is a condition that is worse than regular PMS. It affects your ability to function the week or two before your period. Symptoms include the following: depression, fatigue, hunger, joint pain, anxiety and irritability. These symptoms go away after your period begins.
This is my personal story.
Prior to having kids, I did not experience PMS symptoms. I just knew that my period window was 30–45 days. Other than that, there were no signs. Once it came, it also was non-eventful. My daily life was not affected, except for the fact that I was bleeding.
Things changed when I became a mother. With each pregnancy I was greatly affected. After many years of suffering and not knowing what was wrong with me, I started to do my own research.
Doctors checked my hormone levels, normal. They told me to do things that made me happy during these times of the month when I felt down. They tried to give me birth control. One doctor even told me to have another baby in order to shift my hormones one last time. None of those things seemed to help relieve my symptoms.
Eventually I brought up PMDD to my doctors and they finally saw that my problem was bigger than regular PMS.
