is there a connection between severe depression and a woman's menstral cycle?

[Roma]

Do you think it's kind of an 'unspoken problem'?

.

I think it's ignorance on the part of the doctors.
And I am including both male and female doctors, they just don't want to take PMDD or PMS seriously, there's a long history of jokes regarding that condition that seems to be an obstacle to treatment for it.

I spent thirty-five years telling every kind of doctor, counsellor, nurse and psychiatrist that I had severe PMS and I was ignored completely. I even pointed out to a psychiatrist that every time I was admitted to the hosp. psych ward I was suffering from PMS, he didn't even hear me. The only saving grace for me was that I was getting older, PMS and PMDD get worse during perimenopause (usually age 35 to 50) but once I got closer to menopause my symptoms significantly decreased. This is a problem caused by hormones and only hormomnes can solve the problem, that's why I fought with the family doctor for several months to make him put my teenaged daughter on Yazmin, a birth control pill specifically recommended for PMS and PMDD. It has made a significant and wonderful difference in her life and I hope she will never have to suffer the way my mother and I had to.

 

[mrcharles]

Rx sources for the financially challenged

i have already tried proffesional help. i tried therapy, psychiatry and medication. Amazingly the medication worked great until my insurance stopped covering it and it was a $60 monthly expense i couldnt afford.
Also the doctor said i may have to be on it my entire life, and that really kind of made me feel weak and insignificant. The fact that i had to be on medication for to the rest of my life to be "normal", i felt like i failed somehow. It was mostly the money thing that made me stop though. So now i am on the selp help part where i am trying to figure it out for my self.

Stephanie, If it is a matter of having to take medicine or having to struggle against thoughts of suicide please take the medicine. It does not mean you are weak, or anything is wrong with you. It may just be some chemistry within is not quite in balance. It may not be necessary that you take it the rest of your days. Perhaps look on it as a temporary stop gap until you can find an alternative or alternatives that are effective and you are comfortable with.

All the advice about sleep, diet etc. is right on.

A friend just gave me these two sources a few days ago. I have not had a chance to check them out. Hope they are helpful. They are supposed to be either free sources or greatly reduced prices for various prescription drugs.
Rx Outreach at www.rxoutreach.com at 1(800)769-3880 or
AZ&Me Prescription Savings Program at www.azandme.com or at 1(800)424-3727
Call them, talk to them, they are there to help.
Good luck!

 

[Dancing David]

i have already tried proffesional help. i tried therapy, psychiatry and medication. Amazingly the medication worked great until my insurance stopped covering it and it was a $60 monthly expense i couldnt afford.
Also the doctor said i may have to be on it my entire life, and that really kind of made me feel weak and insignificant. The fact that i had to be on medication for to the rest of my life to be "normal", i felt like i failed somehow. It was mostly the money thing that made me stop though. So now i am on the selp help part where i am trying to figure it out for my self.

My own journey led me to Cognitive behavioral therapy^WP in 1977 when I went to college. The problem was that those techniques kept me in place but not making progress, which I am glad for because they allowed me to function somewhat.

Yet as someone with long term depression, I did not really become healthy until I started taking the medicne, then the techniques became much more effective.

I had a time where I too was unable to take the medication for a year and a half due to low pay and lack of insurance, again I managed but was miserable. (Especially as Claratin was not OTC)

I also challened myself last year and tapered my dose to see if I could go off of it, the week before I was going to go off of it to zero (25mg setraline/zoloft for seven weeks) I had a major emergence of my symptoms, it was terrible. So I am now back at 50mg and very content.

Now if I lost insurance I would ask my MD for something that has been generic a long time and very affordable, like prozac. But then sertraline is an ssri.

All I know is I am healthier with than without.

 

[steph]

Stephanie, If it is a matter of having to take medicine or having to struggle against thoughts of suicide please take the medicine. It does not mean you are weak, or anything is wrong with you. It may just be some chemistry within is not quite in balance. It may not be necessary that you take it the rest of your days. Perhaps look on it as a temporary stop gap until you can find an alternative or alternatives that are effective and you are comfortable with.

All the advice about sleep, diet etc. is right on.

A friend just gave me these two sources a few days ago. I have not had a chance to check them out. Hope they are helpful. They are supposed to be either free sources or greatly reduced prices for various prescription drugs.
Rx Outreach at www.rxoutreach.com at 1(800)769-3880 or
AZ&Me Prescription Savings Program at www.azandme.com or at 1(800)424-3727
Call them, talk to them, they are there to help.
Good luck!

thank you for the link, I found out that if I am qualified I can get a 90 day supply of my medicine for $45 when a 30 day usually costs me 60.

I am now looking into local therapy/psyciatry offices to see if i can get back on it

 

[Dorian Gray]

If you're experiencing this already, get help wayyyyy before you have children. Postpartum is worse than this, and involves more than just you.

 

[steph]

If you're experiencing this already, get help wayyyyy before you have children. Postpartum is worse than this, and involves more than just you.

I have already had 2 kids. I had my first child when I was 15 going on 16 and postpartum hit me hard. When I had my second child my doctor put my on anti-depressants but my insurance got cut off shortly after. The hard part is dealing with while you have 2 kids.

 

[edona7]

The condition is PMDD - Pre-Menstrual Dysphoric Disorder. Mild to severe depressive symptoms occurring only during the premenstrual and menstrual phases. There are various ways to treat. Most commonly, taking an SSRI antidepressant (such as Prozac, Zoloft) during the premenstrual phase can prevent the symptoms. Another way is to suppress menstruation completely, usually with continuous oral contraceptives or depo-provera. Have quite a few patients respond well to either treatment.

On the flip side, women with mental illness (depression, bipolar disorder) often have an exacerbation of symptoms during their premenstrual phase, even if their symptoms are well-controlled otherwise. Doesn't sound like that second part is what you're having. If your family doctor isn't comfortable with evaluating and treating it, get to a psychiatrist or psychiatric nurse practitioner. No need to suffer.