Feeling a bit better but completely gone off pharmaceuticals!!

I've had more success lately by being pro-active in finding ways to help myself, GP's have never been any use at all. Apart from to direct me to the AllergyUK website which was helpful for my ailments. I've pretty much had enough of Western 'medicines'. Except for HRT, well the oestrogen part of it, the progesterone never did me any good. And the specialists know that progesterone is bad for women with PMDD :(

Insomnia: sleep much better on magnesium citrate - had it for over 8 years. Cured for the last 2 years on magnesium citrate 400mg. Although lately, i still struggle to sleep during follicular phase of cycle, esp if work stress.

Migraine: I haven't had a migraine at all this month! These got better when i stopped taking nurofen. I think it was giving me migraines!! I also came off HRT, however it was when i stopped taking nurofen that the migraines gradually disappeared. I'm on day 18 and still haven't had one this month! Although may get one during my period.

PMDD: moods are a lot better, I'm happier since moving into my own place. The fatigue is a massive problem - i can't motivate myself to do any of the hobbies i used to do on HRT. And the insomnia when progesterone is low often drives me insane as i feel like shit for a couple of weeks if i dont sleep. Have to remember to take 600mg magnesium at this time but I am forgetful when i'm tired!

IBS: FOODMAP diet - apparently cures 80% of IBS sufferers who try the diet. Discovered on allergyUK website. Fairly complicated/restrictive though and giving me headache trying to find foods i can actually eat on a vegetarian diet. Would be much easier if i was a meat eater. I do eat a little meat now but i don't want to eat it more than twice a week.

Allergies - dustmite allergy seems a little better. I've been adding tea tree oil on cotton pads to my clothes drawers. And washing sheets every fortnight. And also windows open all the time in my flat. And damp dust once a week. Does seem to help.

Day 37 and no sign of period

But this month is going well. My migraines are a lot better, reduced in frequency anyway. I only get 4-5 a month now. And take 25mg sumatriptan which works better than Nurofen ever did. I seem to have reduced stress in my life effectively - no stressful friends anymore, and have put my manager back in his box and he appears to be being consistently nice to me now :D Havent been exercising enough lately though, and have developed joint stiffness&pain in my knees and occasionally feet and arms. Doc is testing me for ANA (autoimmune diseases :( ).

PMDD also seems easier this month but perhaps thats coz not near period yet... coming off HRT/progesterone has made them irregular.

Told my gp that I had had a mineral test and he looked at the results at least but didn´t think magnesium was important because NHS/gp surgery doesnt test for it. But he did seem interested when i told him about the supplements. He was nice but wasnt that helpful overall tho on why i would be deficient in magnesium.

I did find this though:

Magnesium deficiency is frequently observed in conditions causing steatorrhoea or severe chronic diarrhoea such as Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, coeliac disease, Whipple's disease and short bowel syndrome.³⁶ In general, the degree of magnesium depletion correlates with the severity of diarrhoea, stool fat content and faecal magnesium concentration. The malabsorption of magnesium is secondary to the formation of insoluble magnesium soaps, and a low-fat diet improves magnesium balance in these patients.

I also spent some time googling as i keep almost vomiting at times. This could be gastroperasis - caused by hormones, migraines or Gilberts syndrome. So ive ordered SAMe and Milk Thistle to see if this helps and also going to reduce meal size and eat 6 meals a day.

Better month so far...

Worked late a bit this month. Then had 5 days off to decorate livingroom. Had parents staying for ten days just before i was due on. Actually went ok. Made some more Power Maca balls and started taking Vit D, B6 and B complex again. Must have helped because haven't many mood symptoms. Still tired tho... Not sure period has started properly tho.. so perhaps it's just delayed again :(

Magnesium deficiency

So after finding out my iron levels were still low, i asked GP if they could check my other nutrient levels, since i'm on a restricted diet - gluten free and mostly meat-free. My GP refused, of course, telling me i was worrying for nothing and  a lot of women are iron-deficient. I told them i would have the tests done privately, and did. My GP actually suggested having the tests done privately but when i agreed, he replied 'Well what will you do if you are low on something?'. This made me furious, since it's fairly obvious that if you have a deficiency in something, you should take supplements. Der Makes me wonder where he got his medical degree!! Anyway i had the test done, for 6 minerals: calcium, selenium, chromium, copper, magnesium and manganese. All were fine except magnesium which is very important for the nervous system. It didn't suprised me, although i have been taking magnesium citrate 400mg for 2 years for insomnia which has helped, so i wonder how low it would have dropped without the supplement. Not looking forward to seeing my GP again as i know he will question the tests, since he didn't do them himself. I think i will probably make a complaint against the surgery if this happens.

Grrrrrrrr

After 1 week of migraines, followed by 1 week of bad IBS. My PMDD has finally kicked in, so i have two weeks of that to look forward to before my bleed. If i even bleed on time this month.I'm slightly annoyed my GP surgery keep trying to put me onto Beconase, still. I will not destroy my health to save the NHS 25 pounds. They can change the system so that i can make a donation to cover the costs. Private health care in this country sucks and they charge twenty times the price the NHS would charge. Privatising health care is pretty much the worst mistake any country could every make. In America, they charge you 40 quid for one aspirin at the hospital!

Apart from that, everything is going well tho. My manager has stopped bullying me for the time being and i love my new flat. It's just a shame that myself and thousands of other women will carry on struggling with this disorder, their entire lives, most of them barely holding down jobs because of it. But PMDD will continue to be ignored by pharmaceutical companies, because they are run by men! And lets face it, we still live in an extremely sexist society, despite great leaps.

I've had 1 symptom free day this month from physical symptoms. I'm fairly sure that my migraines are oestrogen-withdrawal migraines now, i didn't make the connection before because menstrual migraine is supposed to occur on two days before your period. But oestrogen is low for first ten days of cycle which coincides with when i get the migraines and also mid-cycle. And I think i'm intolerant to all grains now, mostly during the last part of my cycle. I'm going to keep charting using OvuView App which is brilliant and helped me spot the pattern very easily.

I've been taking red clover extract and Maca powder this month. The Maca may be helping as my mood has been ok for the last week since i started it. Will see.

I'm getting slightly sick of health 'professionals' suggesting that this condition is stress related as i'm not stressed right now, work is very easy, and my IBS and migraines are at their worst. Explain that please?? Doctors just make people angry which makes their problems worse. I'm avoiding my surgery now (even tho i need to discuss my symptoms) to avoid feeling upset.

Allopregnanolone

This article suggest a low dose of Prozac, only 2mg, can treat PMDD by increasing allopregnanolone levels. 
http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/3251902.htm

I did notice the biggest increase in mood swings/snappiness/aggression when i stopped taking the progesterone pessaries, a year after i stopped the oestrogen implant. So i think both oestrogen and progesterone, together, helped my PMDD. Oestrogen increases serotonin, leading to less depression. And progesterone is calming (it gets converted to allopregnanolone), leading to less violent mood swings. Progesterone is a tricky hormone for women to take tho, as it often has side-effects. Even tho it was natural progesterone i was taking, the delivery to the body is unnatural, as it's a big dose at once, in one area of the body (pessaries in my case). I did get irritable when i started taking progesterone but the sedating effect also calmed me and the irritability usually went away after a few days. I think it helped dampen my migraines too.

Another shitty month!

Can really notice the difference now, being off the oestrogen implant :( Finding it so hard to concentrate for the entire 3 weeks of luteal phase, both on personal life and work. End up surfing the net instead of watching&relaxing tv in evenings, then realise it's ten pm and i've been faffing all evening and still feel wired. Feel angry that i'm going out, if have plans during the week because it feels so exhausting. Feel angry at wk colleagues all the time and cant really contain it when it gets to a week before period onwards :( Had massive fight with my manager and was anxious and tearful for a week afterwards. And my migraines have been horrendous. Had one every day for 3 weeks... then a 2 week gap, then yesterday (day 2) and today had a really awful one that made me almost throw up and hot and cold and weak and sick throughout body at times :( Have also gone home coz of migraines 3x in the last month or two and am a bit worried as my manager is probably monitoring everything i do since he keeps asking me what i'm doing everyday. So it's come at the worst time... I have had the extra stress of buying a flat to contend with but i think this is probably not the whole story :( The fight with manager didn't help either. So now i'm probably going to lose my job, as i find it hard to get focussed on anything.

I'm not sure if the testosterone implant caused the migraines, as they started the same month. They seem to be worst during period and in the luteal phase tho, but not in luteal phase which is weird. My cycle is messed up too, i used to have a 5 week cycle but now it's gone to 6.5 weeks and 6 weeks. That might be because oestrogen is still in my system and affecting the lining of my womb, i need to have a scan in January.