Hi dnmarie,
Thanks for the reply. It seems like this forum is not very active! Lamictal has kept me pretty level, but my pms has always brought on depression. My symptoms of pmdd are low energy, sleeping a lot, depressive thinking (like thinking that my life is terrible, when I like my life the rest of the month), and isolating. The isolating was difficult for me, as I just got married, and I didn't feel like I had feelings for my husband during pms. I also didn't want to be touched. That was really disturbing for me, and not good for a new marriage. I can still function, but I experience these symptoms for 10-14 days before my period. So that's a lot of my life!
I was apprehensive to add an antidepressant, but my new pdoc thought I should definitely treat it. It worked great for about a month, but then I had an adverse reaction to the citalopram when I got my period. I started having weird violent thoughts and suicidal ideations out of nowhere. I had to go off citalopram. I am in my "good" part of the month right now, but will have to wait the rest of my cycle to see how it goes.
If your depression happens regularly and corresponds with your period each month, it sounds like it is definitely pmdd. I found that my first pdoc, who was a man, didn't perceive pmdd as something that needed to be treated. My current pdoc, a female, seemed to understand the difference between pms and pmdd, and she wanted to help.
I hope you continue talking to your doctor and are able to treat those symptoms. Keep me updated on what you find out.
Current medications as of 09-13-2012
05-01-2012 - Present: |
Clonazepam, 0.5 mg. as needed |
08-31-2012 - Present: |
Lamictal, 100 mg. twice per day |
Joined: 08-06-2012