u/shycaprisun

I was feeling so good about my art this month. Then yesterday I just started crying in the middle of painting because I could feel the creativity draining out of me in real time. I started the painting very positive and clear-headed, then my brain was mush within an hour. I don't even know what colors I like anymore. 😭 Sure enough, luteal is here, and she's here to fuck up the best art streak I've had in years. I've accepted the fact that I'll never make it as a professional artist, and this will probably be a hobby forever, despite me going to art school and all that stuff lol. I can barely hold down any kind of job at all, and art jobs are no exception. I hate this.

Sometimes I force myself to do my usual art during luteal anyway, but it leads to unnecessary stress and full-on mental breakdowns. I started to supplement my creative itch during luteal with other hobbies like making friendship bracelets and sewing. I started learning guitar just cause I need to do something creative and use my hands.

Any other artists relate? What do you all do instead of your usual art when luteal happens?

I hope everyone is having a good day, and if it's luteal for you, at the very least, you're hanging in there.❤️

Hi all! I started Junel Fe/Aurovela Fe (estrogen/progesterone combo pill) 4 months ago. I do 3 weeks of active pills, 1 week of placebo. My PMDD usually starts 1-2 weeks before my period, and ends as my period starts.

Luteal week has been great so far! But I started noticing that I've been having episodes of severe depression, anhedonia, uncontrollable crying spells, and all that fun stuff. Non-functional, basically. I just chalked up to stress and my normal depression (I've had depression and other mental issues since I was young. I also started taking 100mg Lamictal 6 months ago and just went up to 150mg a few weeks ago if that's relevant. I started the Lamictal before the bc pill, and it slightly improved the PMDD but not enough to feel functional during luteal), because it was not happening during luteal like I've been used to. But suddenly I get that familiar "clouds parting, sun is shining again" feeling after these episodes, despite this being after my period, and in that moment I realized the past week felt EXACTLY like PMDD. The most recent episode was during my placebo week. It feels like my PMDD week simply shifted over to during/after my period.

Has anyone had a similar experience? I am considering asking my gyno if I could try to skip the placebo week. Even though I feel like in the past (years ago) this has been an enormous pain in the ass for me with pharmacies when they won't fill the bc because it's "too early" to refill. Maybe I'm wrong and it's different now, and maybe there's an option for a 4 week pack that is all active pills? I'll ask my gyno but I figured I'll ask here first for advice.

I appreciate any help or advice. Thank you for reading. Hope everyone is doing well. ❤️