r/PMDD • u/stickinahurricane • 2d ago
General Pregnant and y’all would not believe… also an AMA?
I’m CLINICALLY undiagnosed for PMDD because I’m already treated for most of the things you can treat in the way of PMDD- my psychiatrist is aware and we up my dose around my cycle, etc.
But. Of course I’ve always wondered what portion of my struggles are “normal” struggles vs “hormonal” ones. Obviously it’s not easy to tell when you’re constantly also cycling on and off different birth controls for the same reason.
So first off. We can all thank the PMDD for the conception of my son! Lmao. I was on Nikki, the generic of Yaz, for about 7 months before I messed up taking it enough to mess my cycle up at all. I thought— typical, I forgot to take it. It triggered a period. I’ve gotta be better about this.
After 3 months of having TWO periods, though, I’m sure yall can imagine I was a wreck. It was like 2/3 of my normal PMDD symptoms, every two weeks hormonally. It was wrecking my physical abilities to work as well as my emotional stability. On top of what “normal” folks would complain about- I mean, I was bleeding somewhat randomly for months?!
Either way. I had to get behind this somehow. So after 3 months of my body not readjusting and still giving me a bonus period, I decided I’d go off my birth control until my body adjusted and then maybe try a different one (unfortunately yaz wasn’t helping as much as I’d hoped).
Surprise!!!! I conceived within 2 weeks of going off of my birth control. Don’t get me wrong- it was no “miracle” conception, but it surprised me how fast I conceived. Basically before I thought far enough into other forms of conception. That’s not what I’m here for though….
I’m (mostly) here to say: as I predicted, being pregnant and NOT having a menstrual cycle is WAY LESS EMOTIONALLY TUMULTUOUS. I REPEAT. I AM SO MUCH LESS HORMONAL AND EMOTIONAL WHILE PREGNANT THAN ANY OTHER TIME.
like. I keep catching myself being WAY more logical and rational in reference to things that “should” make me an emotional mess because IM USED TO MUCH MORE WRECKED HORMONE LEVELS I GUESS YALL.
Anyway. Idk. I was always curious so AMA, y’all!
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u/libbyrae1987 1d ago
My first pregnancy was the absolute best time in my , down. If I could bottle up where I was hormonally, I'd pay whatever for it.
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u/Numerous-Hope-3944 15h ago
This is exactly my experience. Being pregnant has rid me of virtually all my anxiety and panic attacks which lead me to the conclusion I was experiencing PMDD bc of how cyclical my symptoms were prior!
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u/rainbow_on_wheels 1d ago
How early in your pregnancy did you notice being more emotionally stable or feeling different? I’m a few days out from my period but am not having ANY emotional instability and actually woke up feeling happy yesterday!! It’s so different this cycle and I’m starting to wonder if I’m pregnant
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u/libbyrae1987 1d ago
I knew after I had the initial implantation surge. I didn't know it was that, but in hindsight. I spotted slightly and then got super nauseas for two days. About 6 days later, i took a test and was shocked. We had just started ttc, so it caught me off guard. Felt great after that!
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u/stickinahurricane 15h ago
Yup I’d say that timing wise, it was similar for me. Basically after conception & implantation, in hindsight, I had virtually no symptoms between that & my next expected period.
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u/stickinahurricane 23h ago
Hmmmm… I suppose to an extent, right away. Like I said, I had been getting two periods a month so when I stopped my birth control it was in an attempt to get that second, extra one to go away, as it was affecting me with PMDD symptoms as well, just not as strong. So, after two weeks and no “extra” period right away, the first month, I was a bit suspicious. I didn’t have any premenstrual symptoms indicating that it was arriving either, which I did notice!
By week 3 I was a bit suspicious since I had zero indication that any cycle was coming soon. I tested just about as soon as I physically would’ve been able to get a positive result.
So, essentially-
1st of the month: I get my “regular” period, but it’s much much shorter than usual because of the weird extra ones- like 1-2 days only. I get the usual PMDD symptoms for about 4 days beforehand or so, and they were pretty bad. Emotional, depressed, the usual abysmal overwhelming feelings followed by “ugh another period, duh.” And relief. This is when I decided I’d discontinue my birth control for the month, in an attempt to let my body “recycle”.
9th of the month/second week of the month: pretty sure this is when I conceived lol whoops! The rest of the week I was looking out for premenstrual symptoms indicating that my pesky “extra” period would be arriving, but I was pretty much all clear…. Slightly suspicious, but also this was the goal of me stopping my birth control, so I took it as “well that worked fast I guess”.
3rd week of the month: the halfway point in my cycle came and went and I was all clear for the time where I WAS having that extra period and the extra PMDD symptoms. Good news, as I wanted that, but I was definitely anticipating these symptoms to come back in full swing for my next, normal period again at the end of the month. Nothing, though…..
4th week, final week before I should DEFINITELY bleed again: I have entirely noticed that I have had zero premenstrual symptoms at all whatsoever at this point for the whole month. Again, suspicious how quickly my extra period & symptoms went away, but until this week, I was hoping that my plan to recycle had simply worked. This week, however, things seemed too good to be true, as I also was not in shambles PMDD wise when I usually definitely would’ve been. I didn’t have my usual emotional breakdowns & increased anxiety, I also hadn’t experienced my usual days of extreme fatigue and not wanting to get out of bed either. That usually lasts at least 2-3 days for a normal cycle for me, but nothing yet.
31st of the month: I usually get my regular period between the 29th and the 2nd. With the rest of the situation being suspicious, I tested this day as my period still didn’t arrive. The world’s faintest positive line showed up at this point. I think even one day earlier and it would’ve been too soon to get a positive result. Checked out! I didn’t deny the possibility at all. In fact, by that point, it made sense!
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u/categoricallyhinged 1d ago
Currently pregnant with my third kiddo and can 100% confirm. My mood is amazing while pregnant. I’m calm, collected, far less irritable and overstimulated, able to multitask, sharper/funnier. I feel limitless, mentally at least. I’ve only got maybe 2-4 wks left in this pregnancy (likely our last) and trying to enjoy my brain working well and bottling this feeling for forever.
For others asking, I usually can tell a difference in mood by the time I’ve missed a period and have a positive pregnancy test. In fact my spouse usually guesses I’m pregnant very early on because my mood is so good!
One of the Psych NPs I’ve worked with says this makes sense. Estrogen is “seratnogenic” and usually folks who feel great during pregnancy, a high estrogen state are good responders to a higher estrogen birth control option or SSRIs for their PMDD symptoms. Since I’ve literally been pregnant, breastfeeding or both since August of 2019, it’s back to the drawing board in the future for symptom management. (Cough cough can you tell having these closely spaced kids may have been strategic)
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u/unijoeycorn 2d ago
Are you using AMA as “against medical advice”?
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u/allisonw0ndrlnd92 1d ago
Omg; this describes my first pregnancy to a T. Calm, cool and collected. It’s wild that being pregnant completely shifts the hormones in a good way for some women!