Posted by Joe J on January 28, 2002, at 1:09:43
Sorry to reply to such an old post, but I just discovered this site today, and had never heard of PMDD, and I am wondering if someone can help me figure out if this is a close diagnosis for my wife. This particular post was very close to my own situation with my wife. This is going to be a rather long post, sorry.
The previous poster said this:
> My wife and I have only been married 2 years. She is in her early 40's. It seems that nearly every month she becomes extremely irritable, moody, and angry for the week before her period (PMS?) as well as the week during, and sometimes even the week after her periods, so that she is maybe civil for only about one week a month.
me:
My wife has this same problem. Angry, and easily irritated 2 1/2 weeks per month every month. I have been tracking it for the last 20 months, she is normally fine between the 1st and the 10th of the month, then angry from the 10th to the end of the month. This behavior has been going on for 10 years or more, probably 20.
The previous poster wrote:
> My wife is an FNP (Family Nurse Practitioner) and has apparently had this going on for years. When it happens, it is definitely a Dr. Jenny/Mrs. Hyde type situation. She claims it has nothing to do with her period, and because she is an FNP, I cannot even suggest to her to possibly see a doctor about it. She has been on Prozac for quite a while, but it doesn't really seem to help much, especially around her period - it almost seems to me to make things worse. I have been told by several people that she might be bipolar, but I do not really know enough about any of this to even try to attempt to diagnose her myself - I do not understand all of this, but not only that, she would not listen to me if I did make any suggestions. I am hoping that she will somehow recognize it on her own or have her hear it from a doctor or other medical expert that she trusts and will listen to.
I wrote:
I could have written this myself, my wife is also a nurse, and is in denial also. I told her 2 years ago that her symptoms are monthly, and I thought she had PMS, but she said she charted herself, and her DR. had rulled out PMS.
Also, none of the PMS symptoms I had read seemed to fit well, because PMS didn't seem to last as long as her symptoms. My wife was on Prozac, but I wasn't told about it, I saw the bottle. I don't think she is on it now. It must not have helped.This is were we differ, the other poster wrote:
> Some of her symptoms include:
Severe mood swings
Depression, hopelessness, sadness, crying
Extreme irritability, anxiety, anger, fear
Fatigue, lethargy, lack of energy
Decreased self-esteem
Severe migraine headaches
Severe cramping
Breast pain, muscle aches
Sleep difficulties and
Insomnia followed by long periods of deep sleepme:
My wife only seems to have the Extreme rritability, and anger problems. I am the brunt f most of her anger. She is like two different people, and it is hard for me to explain this to others. I dread when she starts into one of her "moods" because I know it will last for at least a week, then settle for a day or two, then go back full throttle for another week, then it will be over, just like that. But she is only "nice" for the first 10 days of every month. Part of the time she will mood swing between nice and angry withing seconds.I wrote:
She is able to control this behavior if we are in public or when her friends call her, but the second we are in the car, or alone, wham, she will let me have it with both barrels
I know that many nights she will take a sleeping pill, so that must mean that she has trouble sleeping. She has always needed 9 hours of sleep as long as I can remember.
Her sex drive is about nill.
She doesn't have crying spells that I know of. I don't think she has the physical ailments that others have. Basically, it is the anger that I notice the most. I have seen her go into a rage over the way our dishwasher has been packed, then the same scenario a few days later, and she won't even care, and might even laugh about it. I walk on pins and needles, not knowing which way she will take things.
She did complain about an excessive heavy period last month.
Previous poster wrote:
> She drinks lots of coffee (which might contribute to her difficulty in sleeping which might contribute to her irritability). Whenever she has an episode, I always notice that it happens to coincide with her period (which she denies), and after it subsides, she swings the other way into being in a great mood as if nothing is wrong. It is an incredibly difficult roller coaster ride for both of us.
my post:
Same for me. She drinks coffee every day, and I get the same roller-coaster ride every month.Previous post:
> The irritability often causes great stress in our relationship. She is a very sweet, sensitive and intelligent woman, and I love her very much and want to stand by her and support her, but it is so difficult when this "THING" seems to get between us. I am struggling with how to help her and I am hoping that someone might please have some insight or suggestions to help us. Does any of this sound like PMS, PMDD or Bipolar to any of you? Any ideas or suggestions for what I or she can do?
my post:
I struggle also. She tells me over and over that she hates me and is going to divorce me, but she never does. I can't very well leaver her if she really is sick, that wouldn't be ethical. I asked her today if she would see a mental health professional, she instead told me that I am the problem, and she is going to see a lawyer. I know that in 4 days she will be fine and forget about the lawyer.So ... do you think this is PMDD, PMS, Bi-polar, or is there something I am missing?
poster:Joe J
thread:17355
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20020125/msgs/17355.html