How should I deal with PMS?
I’m 16 years old and every month, about 1–2 weeks before my period, I go through a really intense mental shift. My mood gets very low, I overthink everything, and I feel emotionally unstable.
It affects my relationship the most. I love my boyfriend a lot and he’s genuinely a very calm and kind person. We’ve been together for 3 years and our relationship is otherwise really good. But during this period, I get extremely sensitive about small things, especially texting. Even if he replies a bit late, I start overthinking everything and it can spiral into thoughts of breaking up or feeling paranoid. I become very observant and overanalyze everything, and my thinking gets very exaggerated and distorted.
He is a bad texter and usually replies later, but outside of this PMS period, it doesn’t bother me at all. During PMS, though, it feels like my perception completely changes and I can’t control my thoughts. I also end up hurting him emotionally sometimes because of how I react, and I know it makes him tired too.
I’ve talked to my psychologist about this, and she said my PMS symptoms seem quite intense. When I mentioned it to my psychiatrist, I was advised to take magnesium. I also take Abilify (2.5 ml, planning to switch to tablets) as part of my treatment.
The problem is, I’m going abroad on July 1st for a 2-week educational trip I’ve really been looking forward to, and I don’t want to go through this while I’m there. I’m worried it will overlap with my PMS and I don’t want to risk ruining the experience.
I just want to know how I can make this easier to handle, especially during travel. Any advice would really help.