Reprieve: PMDD

Yaz - final thoughts for the month

Okay. I think it works. I'm going to call is a success. During the week before my period, I had about 2 1/2 horrible days that felt like classic PMDD, about two days of nothing, and then about two days of very, very light moodiness right before my body decided to have a period. I would say that instead of having about 14 days of PMDD symptoms, I had 2 1/2. That is a significant difference and I feel it - inside myself and within my relationships with my son and husband.

So, what hasn't worked. Anti-depressants (make me suicidal - can't take them), Yasmine (increased physical symptoms and didn't help as much with mood though it did help some. The physical symptoms weren't worth it though, at least for me. If you gave me no other choice, I would take Yasmine over nothing to help with mood, but quality of life would suffer because of the physical stuff). Um...therapy and only therapy? Didn't work, but did help to see a counselor with my husband while we were waiting for a diagnosis and treatment. Omega-3? This really does help with attention and ability to retain information but hasn't helped with mood. It's good for you though!

If anyone has any questions at all, please feel free to email me or post here.

Jennifer

closer and closer...

I am trying to be optimistic.

Two days of being a beast is better than 14, right?

It seems like the closer I get to my period (i.e. the very very worst days for symptoms) the less Yaz helps. In fact, if Yaz has been helping for the past two days, that's really scary. Because I am feeling the PMDD big time.

The Symptom of the Month is self bashing. I wish I could crawl right out of my head. The negative talk going on inside is just ridiculous.

It seems like each month there are one or two symptoms that are more prominent than the others. Anyone else experience this?

Sigh.

Cheerleaders welcome. I don't think I'll bite anyone's head off for trying to make me remember this is going to pass. Unless you look like my husband. Poor husband.

I'm going to answer the question from the second line.

Yes, two days of being a beast is absolutely better than 14.

I can't wait to start my freaking period.

reflections on yaz

I am on my third week of Yaz.

What I have noticed:

Like I experienced with Yasmin, I still have swollen breasts. And like with Yasmin, this happened after five-ish days into Yaz.

Unlike with Yasmin, I am not experiencing as much bloating and therefore can handle being touched by my significant other a bit more. That's a plus.

Unlike with Yasmin, I was able to adjust to Yaz much more quickly. I didn't experience as much mood fluctuation in the first week and things really evened out within one week instead of 3-4.

I am noticing that PMDD symptoms are here on schedule, but they are significantly lower in severity, and so, manageable. That is, I am feeling the fatigue, the short temper, the weepiness, the self-doubt, the bloating, cramping, and the fluctuation in insomnia and fatigue at night, but it is NOTHING compared to what it would be if I weren't taking the Yaz. I can keep most of the symptoms to myself and doing this isn't taking all of my energy. That makes an enormous difference in quality of life issues, particularly with my husband and son.

If things remain at this level, and I still get the usual two week reprieve per month, I will call Yaz a success.

*Still waiting for results on gluten sensitivity and will keep you posted if I decide to go gluten free and find this has an impact on my PMDD symptoms. I will also keep you posted if I find out I am not gluten sensitive but decide to pursue the cycle diet.