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One for the Ladies I think... PMT


Rose
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Dear ladies... please help me!  I have my share of 'women's problems' but if that weren't bad enough, recently I have noticed that I get PMT... more and more and worse and worse... any advice please... I feel so dreadful... I just want to scream or cry or both... just writing this makes me feel like crying...is there anything out there that can help me [8-)]

do pm if you don't feel like posting such delicate things on the open forum

thank you...[blink]

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Rose, my sympathy.  I have got a lot of help, information and support from www.minniepauz.com, a website that is full of information, funny cartoons and there's a forum where you can post a problem and get responses from other people with their advice and what works for them.  There's also an online doctor as well.  It's not a commercial site, I think it was just an American woman who was fed up with being fobbed off by her doctor and found that the menopause is a minefield that woman have to cross in their life.  There's an awful lot of 'little stuff' that you don't want to bother the doctor with, and I have found more practical solutions to deal with hot flushes, mood swings etc., from the forum page than anywhere else.  Anyway, Rose, feel free to pm me on this.  Best wishes.
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[quote user="Rose"]

Dear ladies... please help me!  I have my share of 'women's problems' but if that weren't bad enough, recently I have noticed that I get PMT... more and more and worse and worse... any advice please... I feel so dreadful... I just want to scream or cry or both... just writing this makes me feel like crying...is there anything out there that can help me [8-)]

do pm if you don't feel like posting such delicate things on the open forum

thank you...[blink]

[/quote]

Try Oil of Evening Primrose capsules, they may save your relationship too!

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Nectarine thanks for the website and the PM... I've just replied... it was good to hear from you!  Inkflo... I'll certainly give the Evening Primrose a go... suspect OH will be out tomorrow buying them! 

Any other advice or experiences gratefully received... for the moment I have decided that red wine is the only antidote...[:$]

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[quote user="Frenchie"]

Thank God I ve never experienced that !!

[blink]

Thanks Bugs by the way .

[/quote]

I have, been on the receiving end. Not very nice for the lady and the results are not so good for their partner either. My experience has been that HRT is a wonderful thing for 'ladies of a certain age'. All I can say is from the partners point of view it bought a lot of stability back to the 'afflicted' person. I don't know what French doctors are like on this subject but initially in the UK a pat on the hand and a condescending 'It's all in the mind you know and part of getting old' from the local (UK) GP shows the ignorance of somebody who has no clue as to the debilitating effect it has on the sufferer and their close family. Sorry but it is a subject that I get quite annoyed about (the lack of diagnosis, treatment and support) and can say that I am firmly in the girls court batting on their side on this subject.

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I avoided HRT myself, as I'm still a little wary of any possible long-term side effects.  However, two ladies of my acquaintance here in France have had no problems having this prescribed and have had nothing but sympathy from their female gp's here.  My advice - see a woman doc' if you can who gets it!

Happily, all that is behind me now but Frenchie - be careful you don't speak too soon - your turn may be yet to come....

A very good "self help" and practical book on this subject is "Is it me or is it hot in here" by Jenni Murray.

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I think we are talking about two different things here - although both governed by hormones:  PMT (pre-menstrual syndrome) and the menopause (or really peri-menopause when you get symptoms before going into true menopause - which actually means cessation of periods). 

Some of the symptoms can be the same but I don't think you'd get anyone prescribing HRT for PMT - maybe for the menopause though.

In my experience re: PMT, avoidance of alcohol, sugar and saturated fat definitely make it better for a week or two prior to your period.  I know if I drink too much then I suffer many of the symptoms of PMT - including irritability and painful breasts.  Oil of evening primrose is meant to help (and maybe fish oils too) but you would need to take these all the time - not just before the onset of your period.

Pix

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I must admit I was getting a bit confused between PMT and menopause..

 Not experienced either .. I guess I'm lucky!!

Anyway, my time will come for menopause, that s a sure thing !!  LOL

How do you know when it s time for menopause and you got an hormonal coil ?  The main effect of it being of course contraception, but also  no more periods.. ( a great relief in my case ..)

 

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Is it something in the water here in the Dordogne?  As you beat me to writing on here ( I was a bit shy!) I think I am technicaly too young for the menopause but if it is PMT and afterwards (Post MT?) I think I am going mad but I have got sore eyes from the amount of crying and I am in a no tolerance zone for my family of men.Yesterday I lost an hour sittng in the cafe in Leclerc fiddling with the foam on my cafe au lait where I was alone and feeling very sorry for myself and I never go for coffee alone but I didn't want to go home so there we are, may be I'm not alone anymore.

 

XXX

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My pennorth for what its worth - I tried everything for PMT, evening primrose, magnesium OK, etc but only really solved when I got to perimenopause ( which they can determine with a blood test as a previous poster says), which means you are approaching the menopause but the range of ages at which this can happen is as varied as the symptons different women suffer.  I think I sort of moved from PMT into the perimenopause, when a different set of problems arise (hot flushes etc).  My difficulty was getting my (UK) GP to accept that I was perimenopausal in spite of my relatively early age.  It was quite a relief when I finally got onto HRT, and life got back to normal.  I stayed on HRT for 12 years, with few problems (I am afraid I looked at the risk probablity and decided that my quality of life was what mattered then).  When I took the decision to come off (the doctor having confirmed that at my age I was well past the menopause) I did it VERY slowly (over about 10 months, and I am very pleased to say that I am now off the HRT, no periods (yippee!!!) and only small amounts of hot flush still remaining, getting less and less all the time.  (Though, guess what I've just had one whilst typing this!!!).

Quillan is quite right, PMT and problems of the menopause affect the whole family (I was not liveable with at times, so many arguements etc!!!), all went once onto HRT.  Unless the doctor says you cannot use HRT (and some women can't) it is certainly worth the try.  PMT is also caused by the monthly changes in hormonal imbalance, so HRT is appropriate for that, be it PMT or menopause.  I see no reason why women should suffer just because the (majority) of (male) doctors think it is something you have to put up with - if they had to put up with it, they'd soon find a solution.

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You can actually get a menopause kit from the chemist in the UK which is very similar to a pregnancy kit in that you have to pee on a stick in the kit and within minutes you know if you have started the menopause - good eh! or maybe not.  I found that I had started the menopause without having to visit my doctor and that I was not a raving lunatic but had very good reasons for feeling as I did.  My memory went, but that could be the wine, terrible hot flushes, and really nasty temper tantrums.  I am slowly, after about 5 years, beginning to feel normal again but as with Judith I still get hot flushes.
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I too have felt the PMT symptoms much more severely over the  last few months and last month the hot flushes started about a week before my period.  I'm only 42 for Gods sake and my mind still thinks I'm 25!!!!  I feel like an extra-terrestriel  and my poor husband and daughter are getting the brunt of my irritable moods and I'm losing the plot for the smallest thing.  It's awful!!! 

I am even planning my familys visits and invitations around the PMT time so people don't have to witness my head spinning around at 360°[:-))] Don't worry Pads, Jonz and Chateau Miaow - it'll be over by the 13th[;-)]

I went back on the evening primrose yesterday in the hope that it will do some good.  I think I'm going to sit down with my family and just explain what it is and that they should just ignore me or go and stay in a hotel for a week once a month[:D]

As for an antidote instead of chocolate and wine which apparently makes the syndrome even worse[:(] I went to see a silly film in the village last night called "Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis" and it made me laugh which was great relief and calorie free.

The most natural thing for it (if you don't want the HRT) is laughter and MFS (Mutual Female Sympathy)

[kiss]

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[quote user="Frenchie"]

Do ALL women experience this ??

Reading what you write ............................... I'm not in a hurry !!!!!  [blink][blink]

[/quote]

No -  I wasn't aware of anything much,  my GP said I was peri menopausal at 43,  a few years ago I was tested and it was all over.....the worst bit was wondering (due to irregular periods) what I would do if I was pregnant when I was about 44 - 45.

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I'm peri-menopausal too (I'm 46) and can wake up absolutely fine one day and the next have no energy at all and feel grumpy with everyone. My worst problem is not being able to sleep  as that makes me irritable.  I'm avoiding HRT and going for supplements that contain SOY and plenty of B vitamins as that works for me.  I also take KALMS for a couple of weeks throughout the month... I find that mid cycle is my worst time when I seem to have terrible PMT!

The best way I get through all the horrible symptoms is to accept that if I'm feeling bad it is because of my hormones - not the other half, the kids, animals, house renovations, decorating, writers block etc etc!

 

My best advice would be to explain to everyone close to you how you feel and just let them know when you're having an off day so they leave you alone.  Accept that the way you feel is just your hormones going on the rampage and if you feel like having a day off then do... the work will still be there tomorrow!

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[quote user="writersblock"]

My best advice would be to explain to everyone close to you how you feel and just let them know when you're having an off day so they leave you alone.  Accept that the way you feel is just your hormones going on the rampage and if you feel like having a day off then do... the work will still be there tomorrow!

[/quote]

Which is fine if you don't have to hold down a senior managerial role, which is where I was at when it all started.  The day I nearly passed out in the office (only not doing so because I lay down until the faintness had gone away) I knew it was time to get my life back.  Fortunately, that morning (early) only the two mature female members of my staff were in, and they'd been there too, so no disastrous consequences, but just think what it would be like having to keep your head etc etc whilst in the middle of PMT.  Not funny.  So, no regrets on taking, as I said earlier, one of the better decisions I made at that time!

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I hope the situation has changed with male doctors in the UK to that expressed by my sister's GP some 15 years ago.

She visited him and said that she felt generally unwell. "What do you expect for a menopausal woman" was his reply.

Two days later she had a near fatal heart attack. Fortunately and with no thanks to him she is still alive today.

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Dear all... both Ladies and Gents... thank you so much for your comments and replies and for the pm's that I've also just downloaded.  I've been off line for a few days so these messages are a very nice surprise!  I will reply to all the pm's over the weekend, but just wanted to say thank you all very much!

xx

p.s. feeling much happier over the last few days too! [:D]

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I found Evening Primrose helped a lot with PMT. The worst thing for me was that for the last 6-7 years I got a migraine every month about a week before my period was due. Luckily an understanding GP gave me an Immigran injection pen so I could treat myself as soon as the migraine struck. Thankfully they have disappeared since the menopause, although the hot flushes still occassionaly occur, how long do they take to disappear?

By the way, I think the PMT symptoms have transferred to OH - anyone heard whether this is possible?[Www]

 

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