OCD and PMS/PMDD

[GoldNeck]

I have OCD and PMDD (pre-menstrual dysphoric disorder). Does anyone else find that their OCD symptoms really flare up the week before their period, and then they feel SO much better once their period comes? You would think I would get used to it very month but I don't!

[avoidingthebadthings]

Yes indeedy, I deal with the same thing. You are definitely not alone. I found that going on birth control and not getting a period at all (I use Nuvaring and don't take it out for the last week), keeps the depression, anxiety, OCD, and migraines considerably at bay. Every year I have to go off the Nuvaring for a month per doctor's orders, and that month is when I remember how incredibly mentally debilitating it is not to have the hormones properly balanced.

Right now I'm dealing with doctors insisting I am in menopause and then I have to switch to other forms of hormone therapy and show them that #1: I am not yet in menopause and #2: putting me on a lower dose hormone therapy brings back what it was like as a teenager to deal with all this mental anguish. Basically very few doctors seem to know anything about menopause and mental health, except for the ones who have done the extra coursework offered by the North American Menopause Society. It's really pathetic.

[GoldNeck in reply to avoidingthebadthings]

Thank you so much! I am trying to get pregnant right now, but after I plan to use on of these options that you recommended.

[Lesliehome]

I completely understand! I am now in menopause, during which time I have had the worst flare up of symptoms ever. I just started hormone replacement therapy about a week and a half ago, and it seems like it is already helping. I had PMDD for all of my reproductive years, as well as postpartum OCD with the birth of my second child, so I know exactly how our hormones can completely destroy our balance. Thankfully, there are options that can help. For example, when I was in perimenopause, I took continuous-use birth control like the commenter above, and it also helped me a great deal. Good luck finding what works for you!

[Songsofgrace]

YES!! The ocd gets way worse from ovulation until I get my period. I’ve never taken anything anything to balance my hormones, no doctor has ever been able to lead me in the right direction.

[avoidingthebadthings in reply to Songsofgrace]

Yes! it's the second two weeks of one's cycle that are hell on earth. Any birth control pill taken continuously will alleviate some of those symptoms. If it doesn't, look into progesterone hypersensitivity, which is much more common than doctors know. In fact, most don't know anything about that.

[MoonMove]

yep ! heading towards menopause now and I feel like ocd is just like it was when I was a teen! Working on it now, may start HRT. My symptoms are completely linked to my cycle to the day! Grrrr

[Sarah858]

I get this I need to wash my hands all the time and my brain gets stuck in a loop..

I did 15 hours of high intense trauma cognitive behavioural therapy and it doesn't happen now.

Try it good luck xx