Life with PMDD is… annoying. I was diagnosed with PMDD in May ’24. Looking back on the last decade of my life, I realize PMDD had been present, unnoticed, for a long time. It was much easier to hide or ignore my symptoms when I was living alone. But starting a relationship and moving in with my partner forced me to take a look at what was really going on in my head during my cycle. I started to notice a pattern in my behaviors in January ’24, and closely monitored this pattern over the coming months. I’d feel great for 2 weeks every month–a ton of social energy, feeling strong and active, productive and in a generally good mood with high self esteem. Then all of a sudden my mood would take a sharp turn. I’d become extremely depressed, seemingly out of nowhere. My anxiety would spike. I’d become irritable, have a sour attitude, everything coming out of my mouth was negative. My self esteem would plummet, I’d nit-pick everything about myself, I just felt SAD AS F*CK. It affected my relationship, my friendships, my work and productivity, and how I felt about myself. Once I saw a naturopathic doctor and got a proper diagnosis, everything in my life started to make sense. The mood swings throughout my 20s, how I would ruin friendships because of my depression and anxiety, and as soon as I felt better, I’d have so much regret and so many broken pieces to pick up and try to put back together. I was sick of myself. I was annoyed with myself. While I still haven’t found the perfect solution to manage PMDD symptoms, sometimes the most I can do is get out of bed, put down my phone, and do something with my hands. For me, that’s cooking. Making something from scratch, putting in some headphones with soothing music, and keeping myself busy helps to give me some confidence and take my mind off of the negative thoughts.
#pmdd #menstrualcycle #pms #cooking #Recipe