PMDD sucks!

[KillerMuffin]

Okay, female thread! Guys may wanna duck and run

Oh this is wildly aggravating. I have a relatively mild case of PMDD (which is PMS with more letters). Anyway, the dysphoric part of the disorder refers to the mental health side of the PMS cycle. In other words, I get bitchy, I mean reallllllly bitchy. It's abnormally bitchy. You can tell, I post things that are less than sweet. It's worse if ya gotta live with me. The StudMuffin plans on moving out one week a month, sort of like the national guard. Yes, it's that bad.

Well, birth control makes it worse. It doesn't even me out, turns me into severe mega bitch, Queen of All BitchMuffins, lick my toes and I'll kick ya bitch. So, it's a good thing the StudMuffin is shootin blanks. If ya know what I mean.

I just found out this morning, from my shrink, something that I already freaking knew. My anti-seizure meds make things even worse. Muffin the bitch on wheels or Muffin the livable. She said to keep taking the meds and she'd powwow with the neuro. Like that'll help. My neuro is a headcase. Don't know why I should keep taking them, they do jack crap for me. I still have seizures, only I'm a HellBitch with seizures. Wouldn't it be better if I'm more nice?

Doctors. Buncha overeducated irritants.

Okay, your turn ladies. Dish! Bitch! Rant! PMS woes are always cool to gripe about.

 

[Bobtoad777]

Donning ancient metal gear for whiffle ball bat protection.

Killer Muffin, my mother and aunt suffered from what sounds to be the same thing, taking basically the same things to eliviate to no accord.

My aunt went to a naturalist homepathic[sp] trained doctor. He got her on some naturals herbs and asuppliments within a couple of montsh she was completely balanced, while my mother was still a *B* and kicked me out of the house.

Check it out, its not all quackery.

 

[Closet Desire]

Another way of looking at it...

CD-able has written a book about Invisible Women and in one chapter she talks about mood swings and PMS. She suggests, with a lot of scientific support, that many women are responding NORMALLY during their cycle. That is they are getting pissed off at things that they should be pissed off at and which they keep buried the other three weeks or so of the month. Has to do with women being socialised to be nurturing, caring, giving, sacrificing, etc. Does that make sense the way I said it?

 

[Sparky Kronkite]

Can't you just.....

light up a big'ole spliff?

 

[Silverlily]

KM sweetie, I understand. PMDD is not PMS, just like pnuemonia ain't the sniffles.

I swear on all that is holy if my husband hands me one more bottle of Midol, I will park my size 4 combat boots so far up his ass, he can lick them with out bending over.

Shut up, Bobert.
Have a nice day!

 

[Guest]

 

[Closet Desire]

Grin...

Now THAT's what I'm talkin' about!

 

[Expertise]

Sure women rule the world, but every 28 days revenge seems sweet

thhhhpppppppptttttttt

*He said while lying in a revetment, his helmet secure and snug in his multiple layers of kevlar and bulletproof ceramic*

 

[Silverlily]

Incoming!

That revetment isn't going to protect you from a little air to surface Rockeye action. Penetration before detonation.

BOOM

 

[Nobody Special's wife]

I have found from experince that I have taken stronger vit....Because of the estrogen embalance that some women have...But then Chocolate works too

 

[pandora]

KM, can't say I've ever had it that bad, but when I do, most of my family understands and stays the hell away from me. On good side of chemo for a female that the docs are telling me will happen, it effects that time of the month.......now to look forward to menapause....must have been a man who came up with that word.....MENapause.....men pause when women have it.....lol.....good luck to you.

 

[CreamyLady]

I dumped Provera because I was thinking homicidal thoughts. Well, it was more than thinking, actually. I found myself pricing good knives, and decided it would not do.

I did a lot of meditation and inner work, and the menorrhagia stopped. My periods have been normal since, and I find that raspberry leaf tea is soothing. Maybe its the fact that I find a spot where I can be alone, looking at trees, and listening to quiet music. Definitely no men allowed.

Have you tried meditation and alternative medicine? It really can work.

 

[Skibum]

Maybe its the fact that I find a spot where I can be alone, looking at trees, and listening to quiet music. Definitely no men allowed.

How about if I just sit quietly near by so I can get you anything you need? Would I be allowed then?

 

[Juliangel]

Just over two years ago I got my IUD and it was the first time I had birth control with hormones and it has made all the difference for me.

Don't get me wrong I still have PMS but now I do not bitch and chew your head off for no reason, now I at least find a reason for doing it.

Biggest bonus for my IUD is, while most women's cramps get worse with them, I have not had a single cramp since Sept. 98 when I got it put in.

The worst part and I bitch about it every month now is, without the hormones to control things, the damn thing lasts 8 to 10 days.

 

[KillerMuffin]

My problem is the whole generalized seizure disorder thing. There are now things that I simply cannot take because it aggravates the condition. Such as ginseng and particularly big ol spliffs.

The anti-epileptic medications that I'm taking (which, incidentally, don't work) are generally prescribed for manic depression. I have to take them, due the whole Navy/VA horsecrap they're handing down like Moses on the mountain. It makes me mad and effects my behavior. The neuro aboslutely refuses to take me off of them and the shrink won't change them without the neuro. So now I'm a bitch on wheels for about two weeks a month. Basically, anything that can't be prescribed is a "junk medicine" according to the neuro. She won't tell me what sorts of things I can or cannot take with my medications and oh my gawd trying to find a pharmacist in the VA hospital is lie trying to find a philanthropist in Central Park.

I'ma kick someone's ass, that'll make me feel better, for at least 30 seconds. I need a volunteer.

 

[*Eve*]

Thank goodness I just got over mine. I get pretty catty around that time too but not so bad really. The funny thing is I get a little emotional and weepy around that time too. Do any of you ladies get that way?

 

[Guest]

 

[Patryn]

Damn, girl, do I hear you there. My symptoms took on more a physical bend though, so that I felt like I had a bad case of the flu once a month. I'd get migraines, crippling backaches, nausea and lightheadedness right before my period. Couple that with insomnia, and you can imagine how I felt. Then when my monthly visitor finally showed up, I'd be home from work for 2 days with cramps. Yes, they were that bad.

Ortho Tri-cyclen has helped me a lot. My cramps are much milder now and most of the other symptoms are minor or gone.

KM, I'm curious, have you tried more than one birth control pill or contraceptive? I had to try 2 before Ortho worked for me.

If that's just not an option for you, ask if you can try antidepressants (with your seizure meds I'm not sure if you can). My personal jury is still out on using them for PMDD, but it may very well be worth a try if nothing else is working for you.

Best of luck, I'm sure you'll find something that helps you. Just hang in there.

 

[Golden]

KM I hate to be prescriptive and dogmatic, it is not my style ... but you GOTTA get a new doctor; yours is a classic case of various experts trying to treat various syndromes in isolation; whereas you actually need someone to sit down with you and in partnership with you treat you as a whole and integrated person.
No drugs should be prescribed without consideration for the effect on the whole person. This is what so fucks me off about alipathic medicine. The suggestion you go to a homeopath ... don't dismiss it less you've tried it.

Right, gotta duck ....[jeez, that was a close one]

 

[Cheyenne]

The funny thing is I get a little emotional and weepy around that time too. Do any of you ladies get that way?

YES!

 

[Earthmuffin]

Hey Evil Twin!

Ok, I've had some dealings with your syndrome AND the VA from more than one side of the fence.

Two things pop to my brain that bear investigation AFTER this cycle:

1) Are you having a side effect of the anti-seizure meds? I know it sounds rediculous, but it's possible your body is reacting "paradoxically". It takes some seizure patients a full year to find the correct combination of meds that are not toxic in their bodies. *I disremember how long you've been dealing with this*

2) Have you contacted the Patient Advocate's office? I know it's a pain, BUT they need to review your case. Occasionally the paper-pushers can help get you what you need.

E-mail me if I can help in any way.

 

[KillerMuffin]

I'm in that "you are soooo fucked" stage at VA. I'm not rated by them yet, somewhere in the middle. I keep getting those "we're still reviewing your case, this might take time, be patient" letters. At least they're spelling my name right.

The VA has one neuro available at this juncture. In August 2001 she retires and I get a new one. Sometime between now and then I'll get to go to the VA Epilepsy Center in Madison Wisconsin.

Until I can get a definitive answer from someone who knows about what I can and can't take with my valproic and my gabapentin, then I'm not taking anything but tylenol. Except right now, I had the flu so I stopped taking the seizure stuff in lieu of some heavy duty Vicks and Robitussin kinda things. They have alcohol which doesn't mix.

Anyway, I'm just bitchin cause it makes me feel better. Thank you guys.