Hell week is a well-known phrase with all PMDD warriors, although technically PMDD hell week can last longer than a week if you are really unlucky. It can be two weeks which means you could be losing half of your life to PMDD and as all PMDD sufferers will know, it is like living a half-life.
PMDD hell week normally occurs around 7-10 days before your period and then is gone when your period arrives.
Whilst PMDD is directly connected to our menstrual cycle, it can hang around until menopause and for many women, it gets worse during perimenopause.
I was one of those women, I was in perimenopause early and my PMDD went through the roof, my PMDD hell week became a two-week PMD hell week. But that isn’t the case for everyone, some women have found that their PMDD eases once they hit perimenopause and then menopause.
Impact of PMDD
PMDD hell week is a term used to describe how you are feeling during the late luteal phase which is the week before our periods start. PMDD is a severe reaction to the natural fall of oestrogen and progesterone.
We can make life-changing decisions during this time and most of them are not good. Many women have fallen out with family and friends and struggled at work and with family life.
If the people closest to you do not realise what you are suffering from, it makes it harder, you can see why so many PMDD women were misdiagnosed with being bipolar. Lots of us with PMDD have self-diagnosed ourselves over the years with being bipolar because it was the only choice, we had without seeming mad.
Research
For years it wasn’t spoken about, imagine all the poor women back in the early 1900s who really did they were mad. It would be an interesting exercise to carry out, wouldn’t it? Researching how many women have been locked away in institutions because of their hormones.
Thankfully now, PMDD is openly discussed, we are not quite there yet, but it’s better. We have professionals now researching PMDD, two well-known names are Professor John Studd and Professor Nick Panay.
The knowledge and understanding that these have are outstanding and if you would like to learn more about PMDD, I urge you to look them up online and on YouTube.
Support
There are also some great communities online you can look at, one being IAPMD.
There are also some great hormone supplements available like the hapihormones patch.
It’s also important to consider other natural vitamins such as Vitamin 12 and Vitamin D. Collagen is also helpful as is magnesium.