Welcome to Gaia! ::

I was putting up the newspapers when I got in to work this morning (I work in my university's library) and ran across an insert in this morning's edition of The Oklahoman.

They had a special article on PMDD (Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder) with the signs and symptoms, when to call a doctor, personal stories, and all that jazz. They also had a section on what might bring about PMDD or make it worse. Women in their 30's and 40's are more likely to have it, but giving birth can also bring about the disorder or make symptoms worse.

For those of you not in the know or who just need some help explaining, here's the lowdown on PMDD:

We're all familiar with PMS--cramps, bloating, irritability, etc. PMDD is PMS on crack with a lead pipe. Symptoms are mainly characterized by the fact that they are severe enough to keep a woman from functioning normally. Women can suffer extreme physical side-effects (migraines, cramps, muscle aches--you girls know the drill), but can also experience intense mood swings (crying one minute, elated the next, and ready to beat someone to death five minutes later), anxiety, inability to cope with day-to-day events, and depression.

There is currently some debate within the medical field as to whether or not PMDD actually exists (think back to the previous debate on PMS), but the DSM (this is the manual that professionals use to diagnose mental illness) does currently list PMDD as a mental health disorder. There's some debate as to whether or not people might be confusing PMDD with depression, but that's a separate matter.

Article links here and here. In one article, the writer mentions that she feels her PMDD helped lead to her divorce.

Omg.... I think I might have a mild case of that too. (I say mild because i know people who are crazier than me) I just read through the list of symptoms on that one site and i have almost all of them (bolded):
•Bloating, swelling.
•Headaches.
•Problems paying attention and concentrating.
•Nervousness.
•Fatigue.
•Food cravings.
•Sadness.
•Crying.
•Acne.
•Insomnia.
•Weight gain.
•Trouble sleeping.
•Joint or muscle pain.

EDIT: More links: http://pmdd.factsforhealth.org/
http://www.emedicine.com/med/topic3357.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premenstrual_dysphoric_disorder

My mother was severely manic-depressive (back before they called it being bipolar). She would go into frothing rages, run around screaming and babbling, and then be a weepy ball on the floor under a table. Every month the hormone imbalance caused by her PMS would be a big setback. Two steps forward with PMS the one step back.


As such, I do sincerely believe that the hormone swings caused by PMS in a person predisposed to mental illness (or who already has mental illness) is definately enough to cause PMDD. I don't know if PMDD can exist in someone who is not already suffering from something else... but I do see how it can exacerbate an already existing condition.


Also, keep in mind for those of you who think you have PMDD... these symptoms should last for about a week and be non-stop, and actually debilitating. I get headaches, some bloating, and on occiasion some cramps with my PMS... and the cramps can be debilitating on rare occaisions... but never more than for an hour or two. To have PMDD you'd need your cramps and headaches to be occurring for the majority of the time, where your ok time is only an hour or two... and so bad that you cannot function (no that you don't want to function, but that you actually cannot function). It is like the difference between a bad headache, and a real migraine.