How to get through school while navigating hormonal fluctuations with PMDD, MCAS, ADHD and Autism?
This might be too niche for this sub but I’ve been really needing advice. I just barely finished my associates at community college and it took me three years because I was working part time, and because I have been struggling to cope with the demands of school while my hormones literally make me sick every month. I am entering my junior year at university soon and chose to quit my job because the sharp hormonal changes make me physically ill every single luteal phase + period. I basically only get about 10 “normal” days where I can function, out of my ~25 day cycle. For the other 15 days, I consistently experience extremely intense symptoms that inhibit my day to day mental & physical functioning:
-SEVERE brain fog
-luteal cold/fever/migraine
-“period flu”
-severe mood swings
-total lack of motivation/energy
-hopelessness and despair
-intense and disproportionate anxiety/overwhelm/stress
Also, yes, I have talked to my PCP about this, as well as my psychiatrist. I am now looking to broaden my scope because I have implemented every suggestion from these professionals, to no avail.
I am planning to be taking full time classes for the next two years until I get my degree. And although i’ve quit my job, i’m extremely nervous because junior year is widely regarded to be the hardest year of engineering school. I am a very smart person with a 3.97 GPA and my natural intellect has been the only thing keeping my grades so high. But i know as course material becomes more dense and challenging, i won’t have any choice except to consistently put in the work, every day. I’m not against doing this, but i seem to physically be unable to. When i push myself too hard, my body seems to totally shut down. I get migraines for 2-5 days at a time, and i get them about twice a month (typically during early luteal and early menstruation). Although my cycle is predictable, i just do not have enough follicular time to “get ahead” before my hormones ruin my body and brain all over again.
I take every supplement/vitamin known to man for PMDD. To help with MCAS, I also began an antihistamine regimen leading up to and during luteal, which has noticeably improved my symptoms, but not enough; I take famotidine and loratidine, and it seems that the famotidine is close to a miracle medicine, but it has a short duration of action and tolerance to it builds quickly, so it only gives me a small fraction of normal brain time back. I take dexedrine for ADHD and due to its side effects, I taper to a very low dose during late luteal and menstruation, which has improved the worst of my PMDD symptoms (i no longer have suicidal ideation. Yippee.)
I have not had positive experiences with birth control in the past, but I am willing to try different ones. Does anyone have any recommendations or anecdotal reports regarding the efficacy of specific BC options, especially for anyone who shares any of the same conditions as me?
Also, does anyone have any advice whatsoever on how to navigate this? I’m really struggling and I just can’t understand how no other women in my life can relate to how hard it is (and i have a LOT of women friends… so i kind of feel like i’m just fundamentally broken or something lmao).
Final disclaimer: please do not suggest I change my major because engineering is “too hard” for my delicate composition or whatever. engineering is what i have chosen, and i am seeking advice on how to complete my degree as painlessly as possible. i am not seeking advice on changing my path.
Thank you in advance for any wisdom you may share 🫶🙏
