Anybody feel doom and gloom before period and then after feel hope?

Posted , 6 users are following.

Since becoming perimenoupausal I get very down before my period. Like there is no hope for the future. Every little thing sets me off. Sadness, irritation and absolutely no patience. After my period begins I feel relief and like the future is bright. The problem is I pms two weeks before I start and this is such a long time to feel this way. Sometimes longer because my periods are so messed up. What can I do to help with my mood?

0 likes, 12 replies

12 Replies

  • Posted

    That's normal...quite normal. If you're in to herbals Vitex is good and can help regulate hormones and therefore moods, and Ashwagandha. Also taking a good multivitamins and minerals supplement helps.  If you're not in to herbals....let's see... for homeopathy there's Folliculinum ... otherwise you'll have to go to the dr and ask for some natural progesterone (Utrogestan). 
  • Posted

    Oh, yes, weird isn't it.
    • Posted

      Should have added, I just lived with it, it was great when my mood lifted.
  • Posted

    Hi kimberly 

    you should ask your doctor if you can be put on an antidepressant Zoloft, celxa i do not recomend 

    Neurontin is doing good for me but its what agrees with you.

    Please things will get better and just think of happy stuff 

    • Posted

      Thank you. I sure try to think happy thoughts. I did try celexa when I first started peri but the good mood was outweighed by the headaches and sleeplessness so I had to stop. Right now I have had pms for three weeks and my monthly is late again. I just feel so tired and down in the dumps. When we are young we hate being on our monthly...now its my only relief.
    • Posted

      Hi Kimberly

      I was once in your shoes when i look forward to having my period but this month it reversed on me. My period started on yesterday and boy oh boy i feel extra horrible. Ive been in bed all day.. this sick feeling of being nausea, stomach issue increased, shaking uncontrollable, aches, lightheadness, heart palpitations. Something is so off balance in my body!! oh forgot to mention the chills , arms, legs, and feet cold and moods are tripping. I am already on the BHRT oral progesterone although i had stop taking it for a while it seem to.worsen my acid reflux.

  • Posted

    Kimberly,

    What you have described fits perfectly with the concept that your estradiol is declining.  In the second half of the month you are ovualating and producing progesterone, which is an anti estrogen.  Lowered estrogen levels, overtaken by the progesterone, are giving you the PMS mood.  Once you start your period, the progesterone level goes way down to about .08, and your estrogen begins to rise.  

    I bet you notice that by a week after your period you are feeling really good.  This is the result of your estradiol rising.  

    One way to follow this is to get a blood test on day three of yur cycle and find out how low your estradiol is going.  Then, do another blood test around day 20 -24 for both estradiol and progesterone.    You will mostlikely find that your estradiol at the beginning of the cycle is very low and that during the lutual phase (last two weeks of the cycle when you are ovualating) your estradiol is lower than would be considered normal.  

    I know this stinks, many of us have experienced it.  But getting tested might be a good thing.  Sometimes, just a low dose patch can help.  But in perimenopause, most physicians just go for the easy answer of a birth control pill.  

    • Posted

      Thank you so much. I absolutely hate going to the doctor but I know you are right and it is time for me to go. My doctor did suggest the pill but I wanted to see if I could handle things on my own with diet and excercise. I do believe it is beating me and I must throw in the towel now.
    • Posted

      hi Gailannie

      You seem to be so knowledgeable with this peri stuff. Like Kimberly, my periods gave me relief but not anymore. This month the symptons have increase. If you can please read response above to Kimberly explaining them i will gratefully appreciate it. This has been a everyday thing for me ....What is your input on this? I went to two naturopaths this past week and they definately said that my body is totally out of balance. Either thyroid, iron, etc. This shakiness if my hands is driving me nuts! One of the naturopath said that you should never take just one Biodentical hormone, it is best to supplement another such as estrogen to help balance both. Whats your take on this?

    • Posted

      Hi Mary,

          Ok, so with this limited information, it sounds like perimeopause is throwing you under the bus.  The first thing you need to wrap your mind around is that peri is, in many ways, similar to the things your body experienced in puberty.  (only in reverse)  Some of these symptoms are related to your body trying to adjust to lowered hormone levels.  The normally consistent system becomes erratic.  This is why it is often very difficult to control things in perimenopause with hormone replacement.  What feels right one day is way too much the next, or some days not enough.    It is very normal in peri, to feel pretty lousy when you get your period as this is when your estrogen and progesterone hit a low.  

         I noticed you said you had been doing some oral progesterone, and I assume you were doing this for the last 14 days of the month.  Did that make you feel better? (except for acid reflux)   

      I also used some progesterone in peri, but did it vaginally.  Each route of administration feels a little different.  If the progesterone made you feel better, you might consider doing it vaginally.  

         As far as your naturopath suggesting that you must supplement with estrogen as well, well that works if you find the right combination, however, it could make you feel worse.  It's really hard to throw something extra into the mix in peri, because your ovaries are doing a real dance.  I had some very aggressive symptoms related to supplementation in perimenopause.  I finally went off everything and back to  my own system.  But this is why many physicians recommend doing a birth control pill.  Because it shuts off your ovaries and supplements a very consistent level of synthetic hormones. I tried those too!  However never found one that felt right.  Loestrin had me shaking like a leaf and crying all afternoon, and the placebo week of pills was absolutely horrid.  A pill with higher estrogen content made me bloat badly and I was very uncomfortable.  So no pills for me.     

            I'm assuming you are doing some labs to check your thyroid, iron and everything else.  At least that will give you a starting point of things to consider.  But labs for hormone level are often not a lot of help in perimenopause.  

         What does seem to help many women is really watching everything you are doing.  Take a good multivitamin, drink plenty of water, get in bed by 10:00pm, do what you can to reduce stress, eat really well, a little exercise (don't over do it), anything and everything you can to be kind to your body.  This helps all your hormone systems, and will generally make you feel better.

       

         I'm so sorry I can't be of more help, and I know first hand just how awful this can be. The bright note is that throughout this 10 year period we call perimenopause, it isn't always this bad.  Once your body adjusts to some lowered levels, things seem to smooth out some.  Periods can become erratic, shorter or longer cycles, sometimes with prolonged bleeding, but generally do able.     

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