04/05/2023
PMDD is...
..feeling like two completely different people.
PMDD (Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder) is actually pretty difficult to explain to others. Before we knew I had it, my Dad would say that I had an alter ego, her name was Constance.
And while PMDD does not actually include "alters", like in other mental health conditions, the symptoms can cause such emotional, mental, and physical changes that it can feel like and *seem* to others that you are a different person.
When I am feeling well, I am happy, energetic, social, active, and engaging. When I am not well, I am anxious, irritable self-depricating, stiff, sedentary, and anti-social.
This is because my brain is highly sensitive to changes in my hormone levels, particularly in the latter half of my cycle. This also means that I am sensitive to changes in hormonal medications and may be more likely to suffer from post partum conditions and struggle through perimenopause & menopause.
It's important to clarify what PMDD is not, because there is a lot of misinformation out there.
PMDD is *NOT* a hormone imbalance. You can have PMDD *and* a hormone imbalance, but they are not the same thing. You can have PMDD *and* progesterone intolerance or estrogen dominance, but they are not the same thing.
PMDD is caused by an acute sensitive to the relative *changes* in hormone levels, not the hormones themselves or the level of hormones at any one given time.
I will post more about the symptoms in the coming days, but please know that PMDD is severe and can affect every single aspect of a person's life, and that there is no "cure" for PMDD - only management of symptoms.
It can feel like living a "half-life".
You can learn more about PMDD from by following their page, visiting their website (www.iapmd.org) and/or following along as I post here in April.
