r/PMS

Looking for advice.

Im a 41(f). Recently had labs and my annual, doctor says from what he sees im not perimenopausal and im not close.

My ovulation has gotten to the point where is worse than my hell week. The symptoms begin the day after my period (i have a 28 day cycle). i am desperately looking for some sort of relief or advice on what I can do here at home to treat some of the symptoms.

Symptoms are as follows:

Extreme cramping and bloating (i look pregnant and cannot suck it in)

Mood swings. Like im a total psycho.

Extreme horniness to the point where im not even being rational about it, im thinking about sex with everyone (the mailman, the guy at the gym, etc etc)

Heavy sticky discharge with frequent underwear changes.

Food aversions/nausea/constipation

headaches

Brain fog. Yesterday i forgot my kids name and where I was driving. I almost feel high.

Extreme fatigue and struggling to stay awake.

dizziness

Arm/hand numbness tingling

Body aches/feeling fluish

Higher temp/sweating

Does anyone have any suggestions? Its debilitating me. I had family in over the holiday and I had to skip a couple dinners and outings because of the symptoms. I desperately want to feel normal or at least make this manageable. I’m on 50 mg of Zoloft. I didn’t know if people had a vitamin that helps or some sort of regimen. I desperately wish that I could take birth control and skip my cycle altogether, but every single birth control I have tried has made me horribly sick.

What about creams? Or a birth control that goes into the vagina like nuvaring? im just lost and struggling i cant keep going through this. my doctor said well its just your hormones, your labs are normal and your ultrasound and internal ultrasound looked perfect.

Help 😭😭😭

Does anyone have any advice for how to manage breast soreness? I have the absolute worst breast soreness for about a week leading up to my period and it is HORRIBLE. Like no other PMS symptoms are even close. I’ve had to miss class from this. The pain is unreal 😭

Also completely unrelated but does anyone else have lower arm/wrist soreness before their cycle??? So random but I have this too but it’s not nearly as bad

I am currently 18 months ppm & I feel every months when my period comes around I feel so much more anxious & stressed about everything than I ever did. I’m just wondering if anyone else has experienced this? I’ve experienced depression before but this feels different. Thanks in advance

I get some breakouts monthly during my luteal phase. I’ve been reading all different ways to try and prevent them or at least minimize them. I’ve heard of spearmint tea, dandelion tea, DIM, zinc, etc

I’m coming up on my luteal phase here soon and might try some of those. Can you guys share what works for you or at least makes a difference? Thanks!!

I have struggled with PMS for a long time. Bad decisions, mood swings with terrible munching starting 10 days before my periods. I started taking psyllium husk exactly 10 days before my periods as recommended by my endo since I have mild constipation due to hypothyroidism and not for managing PMS.I didn't notice any drastic bowel changes during these 10 days guessing it's too early to tell as my body needs to adjust with it.But I just had the smoothest, calmest PMS I have ever had in my lifetime! Mind you the under currents of mood swings were there they just didn't get hold of me that bad.I want to know if anyone else noticed anything similar or it is just a fluke. Is this something to do with estrogen clearance?

So, 19f, I have been stressed for the past 5 months because of studies college and counselling; it has been affecting me a lot. I was stressed due to exams, and then i started have irregular periods. I normally have 28-30 days, and it almost aligns with my tracker, but this time i had periods in a 25-day gap, not this month but like March and April, and then next was 34 days, and now too they are like, okay, 27-30 days, but the cramps have become too extreme, like i feel like fainting. I take painkillers, but they harm the body too if you take them regularly, and weak painkillers don't work. My gynaecologist said you are stressing a lot. i went for a second opinion; she said the same. Now for a few months my hairfall has been stressing me more, and i got acne this week, and I accidentally burst one of my pimples because it was fucking itchy, and it caused a minor bleed. Now i feel like this has become a cycle. I started stressing due to studying, but now hair loss is stressing even more, causing me to lose my hair even more, and recently my scalp has gotten itchy. I have to see a dermatologist, and any home remedy advice you have is welcome.

PS:- I have asked in other subreddits, but i want some more advice, please any is helpful.

Does this happen to anyone else? What should I do to stop this?

I never have an acid reflux problem or nausea problem until a week before my period… i want to eat something to make it go away because i feel so blegh

i'm normally pretty on top of things. and then one week a month i'm sitting in meetings forgetting words, missing details, taking twice as long to do basic tasks. my coworkers don't know what's happening. i barely know what's happening.

i used to think i just had bad weeks sometimes. took me embarrassingly long to connect it to my cycle

does anyone else feel like they have to hide this at work or has anyone actually found something that genuinely helps

I've been seeing a lot online about "cycle syncing" and I'm wondering if it actually works and how I can do it in real life. Does it do anything for you?

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.

24F. Every PMS I become convinced I hate men. Is this hormones, burnout, or am I just incompatible with relationships?

I've been with my long-term partner (24M), and lately every time PMS hits, I have this overwhelming realization that I genuinely cannot stand him. It sounds dramatic, but it feels so real in the moment.

It also makes me wonder if I don't actually hate him—I hate how much emotional labor women seem to do in relationships.

Sometimes it feels like men get incredible character development because they're loved by women, while women slowly drain themselves being patient enough to wait for that development to happen.

Even my married or engaged friends who are genuinely happy say things like, "He's become such a better man because of our relationship." And I can't help but think... why does it feel like women are expected to be the catalyst? Like his personal growth goes from 2% a year to 10% because someone is investing emotional energy into him.

Maybe that's unfair. Maybe I'm projecting. I genuinely don't know.

Some examples that drive me insane:

He rage-baits instead of communicating. I can calmly explain something three times, and somehow I only get taken seriously after I block him or completely shut down.

He's extremely career-focused (which I respect), but he barely takes care of himself physically. I'm a huge gym person, so watching someone constantly work while neglecting their health genuinely frustrates me.

I'm already settled into my career, while he's still figuring life out. I know everyone grows at different speeds, but I constantly feel like I'm adjusting for where he is instead of meeting each other halfway.

And why do so many men become weirdly childish with their girlfriends? Everyone tells me it's "cute." I genuinely don't find it cute.

So now I'm questioning myself.

Am I just fundamentally unfit for relationships? I used to joke that my dream life was becoming the rich single wine aunt, and lately that sounds... peaceful.

Or are these unmet needs? Unrealistic expectations? PMS amplifying frustrations that already exist?

Also...

Men. Please stop rage-baiting your girlfriends. You're not debating strangers on the internet.

TL;DR: Every PMS I become convinced I hate men and question whether I'm even built for relationships. It feels like women spend years being patient while men do most of their growing because they're loved. I'm frustrated by emotional immaturity, poor communication, and constantly feeling like I'm waiting for my partner to "catch up." Is this PMS amplifying real issues, unrealistic expectations, or am I simply incompatible with relationships?

I’m going crazy literally half of the month. I’m either super irritated, angry, emotional, or randomly sad. Every little thing annoys me.

Then once my period starts, I get hit with cramps, headaches, body aches, low energy, and sometimes I just want to lie in bed and cry for no reason.

Afterwards I realize I was overreacting and feel bad about it 😭

Girls how do I keep myself calm. Any tips for the mood swings, irritation, or period pain? Because at this point my cycle is running my life.

Help! My period is due in 8 days, but even when it was 12 days away, I started feeling absolutely ravenous. I’ve never experienced this before. I can eat a full meal and still feel hungry shortly afterward.
I did have a mild case of food poisoning about a week ago, so I’m not sure if that could be related. I just hate feeling this hungry all the time because I’ve never eaten this much and still felt so unsatisfied.
Is this normal? Has anyone else experienced this before their period?

My PMS is insanely awful. It’s so bad, sometimes I think I might have PMDD. I’ve never been formally diagnosed but something is very wrong and I’m finally trying to get to the bottom of it because I can’t go on like this anymore. I feel like I’m not living because 1/3 of my month is lost to this. I’m 36 and I can’t form strong relationships- very few friends, I can’t date, my bosses are confused about my performance and how drastically it swings.

I have an appointment with an OBGYN that specializes in this coming up in August, I made the appointment back in January and that was the first available :( But then I got a message from my hospital that my PCP could see me this week, as opposed to in October at my regular check up, so I jumped on it and took the appointment, so ready for her to see me in this state and to just explain everything and see if she can get me started with anything.

One of the issues during PMS and even the ~35 hours of my period (which is right now) is just this unreal brain fog. I feel almost drunk for about 5 straight days. I swear my IQ drops and my brain just doesn’t work. For example, a couple months ago I subbed in an orchestra. I’m a semi-professional musician that has been playing since I was a toddler, in orchestras for 25 years since elementary school. I have my degree in this. I learned to read music before I learned to read English. I KNOW what I am doing. My first sit in with this orchestra came about the day before my period started. The practice journal where I jot down my notes to take home are insane. It’s all frantic scribbles, ex. “figure out what’s happening at rehearsal 5, is it suddenly in 4????” or “review measures 150-160, why doesn’t it fit in with the second violins???????”, etc. A few days later I go to practice at home and it’s like, I just wasn’t reading the music? Just missing time and key signature changes? I wish I knew how to make this example make more sense. But it’s so eye opening for me to see HOW fried my brain gets at the height of PMS.

Anyway, back to the doctor appointment that I was so ready for. I MISSED IT. I missed it. It was scheduled for June 23rd at 1:45, and they send me an automated text saying “your appointment has been rescheduled for June 23rd at 2:00.” Somehow, my brain twisted that into the following day at 2:00. I don’t know why… I genuinely just cannot explain how bad my reading comprehension gets, I’m not this dumb! I was SO upset when I thought it was moved a day later. But it’s the first day of my period so I’m in a ton of pain and I had the day off work so I took the day to just relax and I figured that was at least the positive. Right now I’m nearing the end of that first 36 hour window after my period starts, and it just occurred to me. The appointment was still today. Just moved 15 minutes. I’m so upset. I’m so embarrassed. I don’t even know how to call my doctor’s office and explain this??? This is directly related to why I wanted to talk to her. I told my mom all about this appointment and she so strict and wants me to get to the bottom of this and I don’t know what to tell her, I’m considering coming up with a lie about how the appointment went. I can’t deal with the shame of telling her I missed it. I feel like such a failure of an adult when these dumb oversights happen, they make me such a pain to deal with and I’m trying so hard. I have no excuse other than my I just couldn’t see through the brain fog. I’m so embarrassed. I wish they didn’t send that stupid automated message. My brain was weak and it confused me, if I still thought the appointment was today at 1:45 I still would’ve been on time for 2:00. I don’t know how to reach out to my doctor or what to do. And now who knows if I can even keep my original appointment slow in October. I don’t know what to do.

I don’t know why I’m her venting. I know no one will read this. I just am screaming into the void.

do you ladies ever have a period that is randomly late? so far its only two days late.. im on average a 28/29 day period. but this one is at day 31 now.

always freaks me out when I have anything different. (also no I can't be pregnant)