u/MiddleOk3888

How am I supposed to make this decision right now?!

My symptoms are so bad I can barely function myself, how can I possibly get pregnant / care for a child during all of this?

Has anyone with PMDD been through trying to make this decision while also in perimenopause? Has anyone raised a baby while in the thick of it?

Should I just give up and not have kids bc this happened to me? I feel so blindsided; my whole life I was told I had time & didn’t even know what Perimenopause was!

If I can’t handle the beginning at 38, how will I be pregnant and have a baby as this gets worse and lasts 10 years?!

Rly hoping for advice, opinions & personal experiences. this is so lonely because im 38, all my friends have kids and nobody I know can relate to Peri or PMDD this young.

Hi all,

I'm writing this out of extreme frustration and curious if anyone else can relate.... I have been having serious health issues the last few years that are affecting my quality of life & I'm 38 years old.

Within these past couple years, I also got diagnosed with anxiety that manifests as pure o, OCD. Now that I have this diagnosis though, I keep having my health concerns dismissed and chalked up to being OCD instead of REALITY.

I've been documenting my symptoms for the last 7 years, not because I'm a psycho, but because I've genuinely had bizarre experiences that have literally stumped numerous doctors... As they've accumulated and worsened, I'm only now seriously suspecting that I have a serious underlying issue, but nobody will take me seriously when they find out I have OCD.

Just as an example of 2 of the symptoms -- I had a seizure after the covid vaccine and ended up in the ER & a couple years later, I suddenly became allergic to birth control with an insane unidentifiable rash that covered my entire body and persisted while on the strongest dose of steroids my allergist was able to prescribe me.

Now, I've been having unlivable symptoms (chest pain, insomnia, depressive episodes, panic attacks, debilitating migraines) prior to ovulation and prior to my period (estrogen and progesterone) and the worst part is-- I'm literally seeing a psychiatrist to determine if I want to get pregnant while I'm dealing with all of this!!!!

So now my psychiatrist is basically telling me I don't need a diagnosis and it's all my OCD and I should just get pregnant (if I want to) but this advice feels insanely reckless! I mean, plenty of women without OCD get genetic testing for this exact reason, right?

Does OCD really mean I have completely lost the ability to have intuition and sense when something is wrong with my body and I'm not equipped to carry a safe / healthy pregnancy??

I feel like my concerns are valid but NOBODY in the medical field is treating me this way... I don't know how to decipher what is real and what is ocd.

Hi all,

I'm writing this out of extreme frustration and curious if anyone else can relate.... I have been having serious health issues the last few years that are affecting my quality of life & I'm 38 years old.

Within these past couple years, I also got diagnosed with anxiety that manifests as pure o, OCD. Now that I have this diagnosis though, I keep having my health concerns dismissed and chalked up to being OCD instead of REALITY.

I've been documenting my symptoms for the last 7 years, not because I'm a psycho, but because I've genuinely had bizarre experiences that have literally stumped numerous doctors... As they've accumulated and worsened, I'm only now seriously suspecting that I have a serious underlying issue, but nobody will take me seriously when they find out I have OCD.

Just as an example of 2 of the symptoms -- I had a seizure after the covid vaccine and ended up in the ER & a couple years later, I suddenly became allergic to birth control with an insane unidentifiable rash that covered my entire body and persisted while on the strongest dose of steroids my allergist was able to prescribe me.

Now, I've been having unlivable symptoms (chest pain, insomnia, depressive episodes, panic attacks, debilitating migraines) prior to ovulation and prior to my period (estrogen and progesterone) and the worst part is-- I'm literally seeing a psychiatrist to determine if I want to get pregnant while I'm dealing with all of this!!!!

So now my psychiatrist is basically telling me I don't need a diagnosis and it's all my OCD and I should just get pregnant (if I want to) but this advice feels insanely reckless! I mean, plenty of women without OCD get genetic testing for this exact reason, right?

Does OCD really mean I have completely lost the ability to have intuition and sense when something is wrong with my body and I'm not equipped to carry a safe / healthy pregnancy??

I feel like my concerns are valid but NOBODY in the medical field is treating me this way... I don't know how to decipher what is real and what is ocd.

Hi all,

I'm writing this out of extreme frustration and curious if anyone else can relate.... I have been having serious health issues the last few years that are affecting my quality of life & I'm 38 years old.

Within these past couple years, I also got diagnosed with anxiety that manifests as pure o, OCD. Now that I have this diagnosis though, I keep having my health concerns dismissed and chalked up to being OCD instead of REALITY.

I've been documenting my symptoms for the last 7 years, not because I'm a psycho, but because I've genuinely had bizarre experiences that have literally stumped numerous doctors... As they've accumulated and worsened, I'm only now seriously suspecting that I have a serious underlying issue, but nobody will take me seriously when they find out I have OCD.

Just as an example of 2 of the symptoms -- I had a seizure after the covid vaccine and ended up in the ER & a couple years later, I suddenly became allergic to birth control with an insane unidentifiable rash that covered my entire body and persisted while on the strongest dose of steroids my allergist was able to prescribe me.

Now, I've been having unlivable symptoms (chest pain, insomnia, depressive episodes, panic attacks, debilitating migraines) prior to ovulation and prior to my period (estrogen and progesterone) and the worst part is-- I'm literally seeing a psychiatrist to determine if I want to get pregnant while I'm dealing with all of this!!!!

So now my psychiatrist is basically telling me I don't need a diagnosis and it's all my OCD and I should just get pregnant (if I want to) but this advice feels insanely reckless! I mean, plenty of women without OCD get genetic testing for this exact reason, right?

Does OCD really mean I have completely lost the ability to have intuition and sense when something is wrong with my body and I'm not equipped to carry a safe / healthy pregnancy??

I feel like my concerns are valid but NOBODY in the medical field is treating me this way... I don't know how to decipher what is real and what is ocd.

Hi,

I've been suffering invisible symptoms for nearly 6 years now. It's been one thing after another and I've been dismissed by doctors, gynnos, endos, GI dr, dermatologists, cardiologists, etc. Can someone pls read this history and offer insight? I am so beyond desperate. All of my blood tests are completely normal but I am NOT OK!

First, I became allergic to gluten seemingly out of nowhere in 2021. Before being diagnosed with non-celiac gluten intolerance, I had newfound symptoms that I never experienced in my life: fainting, weak, severe depression, severe anxiety, suddenly allergic to all my makeup, undiagnosable flakey skin all over my eyes, hair falling out, fatigue, brain fog & crazy unexplainable scalp buildup. I was also told my body wasn't retaining any vitamins (likely due to the severity of my gluten allergy) so I was prescribed a bunch.

This same year I had a seizure right after the covid vaccine & ended up in the ER. Again, no answers / told it was all a coincidence.

After cutting out gluten, I felt better, and my depression / anxiety went away, but my unusual symptoms persisted.

In 2023, my anxiety eventually came back & I was forced to go off birth control cold turkey (thanks to a fuck head dr.). I was off for 3 months and when I started my prescription again, I was suddenly allergic to the pills (I was on birth control for 15 yrs prior so... wtf)

I broke out in undiagnosable rash all over my body / so bad I couldn't leave the house. I went to primary dr., endocrinologist, gynecologist & nobody had a clue what was going on & they said I was nuts when I asked if it was possibly my birth control. After trying 2 different pills and having the rash persist, I finally stopped cold turkey again and the rash COMPLETELY went away within 24 hrs of stopping the pills. Nobody has been able to explain any of this to me.

In 2024, I started missing my periods, gaining weight, having wildly painful PMS symptoms like debilitating migraines, throwing up, fainting, unable to get out of bed, painful cramps, depression, anxiety, etc. I also lost my ability to tan??? My skin would either stay pale or instantly burn. (I used to get very dark very quickly / rarely ever burned)

In 2025, insomnia entered the chat. I was waking up at 2 am, 3 am, 4 am, 6 am, and each time, it wasn't just opening my eyes: I would wake up to severe chest pains/pressure, anxiety attacks, panic attacks, in the middle of uncontrollable racing thoughts, sometimes I'd be sweating, sometimes not, and I genuinely felt like I was going to have a heart attack. Again, nobody had a clue what was going on. I was told perimenopause was impossible (I was only 37) and I tried every all natural sleeping aid imaginable, NOTHING worked.

I also had severe brain fog (I was literally googling how young Alzheimer's could begin) and didn't even recognize my personality. I could not handle even a sip of alcohol or caffeine and if I ate gluten free pasta for dinner that wasn't made from a complex carb, I would sleep even less, get cramps, migraines & fatigue. I couldn't handle ANYTHING even remotely "unhealthy"!

I became completely unable to get over simple illness -- I was sick for 4 months straight multiple times between 2024 and 2026. I even had one doctor tell me to stop coming back because he already gave me every drug he could think of, INCLUDING STEROIDS that still... DID NOT WORK.

In early 2026, I developed what looks like vitiligo on my face, but again, nobody knows what it is.

All of this persisted on and off into March of 2026 until I finally found a functional medicine doctor (technically only a chiropractor tho). After 3 months of working with her (April - June) I felt like I was myself again. I even had my periods back (albeit, I still had some symptoms: 1 week before my period and newly 1 week before ovulation... it seemed like my symptoms split in half which was weird? but I was happy bc they weren't debilitating).

Now, month 4- I AM REGRESSING. Same symptoms, but far worse: 1 week before ovulation: unbearable migraines, insomnia, anxiety, chest pains. 1 week before menstruation: insomnia, panic attacks, depression, chest pain.

I CANNOT HANDLE THIS ANYMORE!!! I am writing this out of absolute desperation. Can someone PLEASE make some sense of this or tell me what to do??? Is this normal for functional medicine to regress? Should I give up this functional stuff? Try an immunologist? What do I do? I'm ready to throw all 34 supplements in the trash because I am so frustrated but I don't even know where to start. I have thrown so much money in the trash since 2021, I just need to know what will actually work!!!

PLEASE GIVE ME ADVICE OR HELP

Caucasian; height: 5'7"; weight: 125; no drugs/smoking/alcohol