What are the symptoms. I have bipolar but every month when TOM comes around I get brain fog, emotional meltdowns, dark thoughts, depressed, etc. AND the worst of it all is I stop bathing, caring about my health, getting dressed, doing my homework (Because I just can't concentrate)! I hate this I am so sick of it i can't live like this anymore I am about to have a meltdown! What is PMDD like for those of you with it? Does it sound like-in your non diagnostic non doctoral opinion-that I might I have it? Should I talk to my psyche about it?

Edit: Also I lash out at people. :/

Sounds like you should talk to your Dr.
PMDD is treatable so don't suffer if you don't have to!
Good luck.

Thank you!

I know I am on antidepressants. And I've already talked to my psyche-every month in fact-about having depression symptoms similar to my bipolar depression ones that time of the month and having meltdowns and she said it couldn't be the bipolar and that it sounded hormonal. I'm gonna bring it up again. But what I don't get is. Why is it the antidepressants work all month and then my TOM comes around and they fail. I mean it's not as bad as it is without my meds I'll give it that much but its still bad enough to be affecting my life and driving me bonkers. I don't get it.

Now that I remember this was all the reason my psychiatrist put me on birth control a year ago. Did it work? Honestly it was tough. I was still experimenting with medications for bipolar and I was having severe episodes and yea... So Idk if it work I honestly was an episodic wreck back then.

Anti-depressants don't really address hormones, and hormone levels are a big part of PMDD, so you might need hormone medications in addition to the anti-depressant. Also, it's extremely common for antidepressants to work only partially on depression, so that patients need a combination of meds to get maximum relief (whether or not they have PMDD in addition to depression). To make matters even more confusing, antidepressants are also used to treat disorders besides depression.

I'm on two antidepressants - one to improve sleep and one for pain. The doses are lower than usually used for depression. I'm also on birth control, primarily to regulate my periods and control my PMDD. Before the birth contril, hubby used to call me "werewolf" because of my meat cravings and nasty mood during TOM which hubby called "meat week" because of my meat cravings. He would say it wasn't safe for him to enter the apartment during meat week unless he threw burgers and chocolate through the doorway and waited to hear munching. He was exagerating of course (but sadly not by much).

Birth control helps considerably, dialing my symptoms down to a manageable level, closer to normal pms in severity. Simple and processed carbs magnify symptoms, so I have to be creative in finding low-carb ways to indulge my chocolate cravings (such as sugar free hot cocoa).

Also, I wanted to add that just like antidepressants, you may have to experiment with various birth control meds, as one may work better than another. The bc I'm on now doesn't work quite as well as my previous prescription, but my insurance won't cover that one anymore.