Everyday Randomness

PMS or PMDD

I was extremely tired last night, and I couldn’t figure out why. After sleeping 13 hours I know why now. PMS. I haven’t really been paying attention to what time of the month it is, so I wasn’t prepared for it.

I’m not one of those women who can breeze through it each month. I’ve got Endometriosis, and it plays hell on me each month. The first couple of days all I want to do is sleep, then my joints and muscles start to ache all over my body followed by cramps that last for about 10 days.

I definitely get moody and bitchy, too. I normally end up throwing something at hubby. He’s learned to recognize the signs, so those days he doesn’t even try to fight back. He just walks away.

Even before the Endo I always had pretty severe PMS. My mom took me to a ton of different doctors because she just didn’t believe them when they all told her it was just normal for some people to have such severe cramps and mood swings. She swore I was the female Jekyll and Hyde.

People don’t realize how badly PMS can affect a woman. Some people even think it’s a myth, but I’m here to tell you it’s not. It’s something that causes me hell month after month, and has even caused me to lose jobs. When I worked in a factory I was given 2 sick days each month. Yep, most months I had to take them because even with my medications and home remedies, it’s something I still have a hard time controlling.

Next time I see my doctor I’m going to ask her about PMDD. I’ve been reading a lot of information, and I’m starting to think that PMDD is exactly what I have. To be diagnosed you must have at least 5 of the 11 PMDD symptoms, and at least one of those symptoms must be depressed mood, tension, mood swings, or irritability. After completing the checklist, I suffer from 10 of the 11 symptoms each month, and I suffer from depressed mood, tension, mood swings, and irritability.