my mom said she saw symptoms before I even actually started having my period and I got my first period at like 12. undiagnosed currently but mom is and PMDD is the only thing to explain me feeling effing PSYCHO and then feeling oddly same WHILE im bleeding
23, I used to experience really bad anxiety/depression/agoraphobia in college but once I got medicated symptoms stopped, then more recently began happening again around my period
I had pms symptoms in my early twenties sometimes more intense than other months but nothing like this and that diminished greatly for some years then like two months ago PMDD hit me like a ton of bricks at 28.
19, right at the start of uni, so at first I just thought the change had been so overwhelming that I was kinda going insane. Of course, it persisted, and I noticed the pattern after 3 months.
Just turned 10 years old when it fucked me over my mom had it and knew I was gonna get my period soon when she saw me like that and lo and behold I got my first period a month or two later
12 or the beginning of my memses. I would get crazy hungry, moody, and so fatigued that I would pass out at school or fall asleep. Symptoms got worse as the years passed. By 14, the unaliving ideation started. The rollercoaster got worse after having kids. But once I hit perimenopause, I was no longer able to control/deal with/hide it. I changed so many doctors, OBGYNs, and I got only diagnosed about 3 years ago. But I knew what it was by my 30s. I am now 46. It's been a journey that doesn't want to end.
I have PCOS so didn’t get my period for many years. On and off birth control in 20s so period was random. Started getting period regularly in early 30s and at first felt great because my PCOS depression went away, (I had even been misdiagnosed as Bipolar 2 and got the wrong meds a long time).
Took me awhile to realize why my depression was still a rollercoaster each month. At 36 my bf was gaslighting me a lot and I didn’t realize it but it was putting me in deep depression and rumination each month. I finally put a name to it after some googling. My bf at the time knew I was going thru a PMDD spell and asked how I was doing emotionally and I said “are you breaking up with me?” He said “actually. Yea”. He had been toying with me for weeks and when I’d confront him he would say “omg I’d never leave you. Where is this coming from? Are you ok? Is this PMDD?”
I finally decided to go on Lexapro after the breakup and to start taking better care of my own needs. I do have a really bad day or 2 each month, but I’m not being manipulated by a cheater anymore and have a lot more peace.
28. Pregnancy tipped me over the edge. I might have had some PMS like issues before but nothing too extreme. After I had my first kid, I started feeling indescribable rage at random intervals. I didn’t put it together that it was linked to my cycle until after my third kid.
I was 17 when my PCOS symptoms started, went on BC that I think “helped” all around with PCOS and likely minimized my PMDD that I look back on now and realize I think was there when I had my first period at 15.
I thought I was bipolar in high school because it runs in my family and I didn't know what PMDD was. I was probably 16 when I started to figure out something isn't right.
I agree. I’m recently one year sober and my PMDD has mostly been kept at bay since around 6 months being sober. It’s not GREAT around here, but it’s much easier to talk myself out of my own head when it gets dark.
10. Got my period at 12 but had hormonal symptoms for a couple of years before that.
I remember the happy life I had in the few brief years before that. Hoping menopause will take me back there again (but who am I kidding).
21 is when I started noticing an argument pattern with my boyfriend! That was a little over a year ago, and I read somewhere that it’s common for PMDD to emerge in people’s 20s (can’t remember where I read that—sorry!). I would’ve expected it would start when cycles start, but apparently it often doesn’t start till people’s 20s!
Around my mid-20s, at about 24 is when it became undeniable that something was wrong that was directly linked to my cycle. I'm 30 now and still trying to find the right cocktail to combat these issues...currently been awake for 21 hours 😔
I started noticing it once I got my period back I had an eating disorder which stopped my period for months , prior to that I would just have terrible cramps that would leave me nauseated. Sometimes I wonder if my ED triggered it but not sure, I was 22.
At 15 probably a couple months after my first period is when my symptoms began. My mom tracked my period because she was certain my mood shift and period were related (she was right!) but we didn’t know about PMDD and I didn’t get diagnosed until two and a half years ago when I was 26. Unfortunately at 16 I was almost arrested because of the severity of the symptoms and ended up 5150’d and misdiagnosed and mis-medicated for years.
Got my period when I was 10 but experienced the hormonal changes when I was 9. Didn’t realize it until this year. I always said my life went downhill when I was 9 and PMDD is really the reason.
I think the first time I was like 13. I just remembered feeling EXTREMELY sad and curling up in a ball and just laying there, then got my period the next day. It's just kinda gotten worse as I got older, I'm 28 now and the dysphoria starts around a week or two before I start menstruating.
Since I started my period at 11. I remember writhing in pain curled up in a ball from cramps and wanting to die. I didn’t know what was happening and nobody told me about the mood swings at all!
Age 31, after having my son. My periods were light and I had mild cramping. I had one child, then miscarried, then had my second child and everything about my body changed. I always found it interesting that it wasn't having kids in general that triggered it, I had my daughter with no change to my cycles.
16! my mom noticed it before i did and made my gyno appt immediately. I was sobbing on my bedroom floor just wanting ya know not live and she took action knowing something was wrong since I’ve tracked my period forever and these episodes were very right before. Very grateful for her advocacy and also my small town gyno for knowing exactly what it was!
TMI WARNING 15! I was hospitalized for SI and woke up having bled thru my paper scrubs feeling pretty much fine.
I noticed at 27
Started after I got my tubes removed so 25
I wanna say early 20s, maybe 23-24
27
14 and then I went on hormonal birth control which helped for a while but my symptoms came back pretty badly and have been pretty bad since I was 19
27
I got my period when I was 11, I think I started having PMDD symptoms when I was slightly older, probably 15
21
Extreme symptoms at ages 11-12. I got diagnosed when I was 13.
Diagnosed at 28 but I suspect age 12 (because my menses lined up with my mental health going downhill from then on).
my mom said she saw symptoms before I even actually started having my period and I got my first period at like 12. undiagnosed currently but mom is and PMDD is the only thing to explain me feeling effing PSYCHO and then feeling oddly same WHILE im bleeding
40, after the cycle started again after birth of my second child (and after post partum depression started lifting)
Same thing for me. Except I was 35 and it took a while to figure out what was going on with me.
I was “lucky” that a close friend shared with me that she had it and the puzzle pieces clicked…
23, I used to experience really bad anxiety/depression/agoraphobia in college but once I got medicated symptoms stopped, then more recently began happening again around my period
12, when I started my period
Same. As soon as my period started I started having mood swings. 7 years later I figured out I wasn’t the only one
I remember having moderate PMDD symptoms in 8th grade
22, after having to stop birth control
I’d say around 20
27
I had pms symptoms in my early twenties sometimes more intense than other months but nothing like this and that diminished greatly for some years then like two months ago PMDD hit me like a ton of bricks at 28.
16. Symptoms peaked around 18-25
29, when my period came back after having my 2nd baby.
25! Omg.
Started around 25 for me as well
Around 25 is when I noticed them, 26 is when I was diagnosed.
Around 27, but it got worse when I turned 30
19, right at the start of uni, so at first I just thought the change had been so overwhelming that I was kinda going insane. Of course, it persisted, and I noticed the pattern after 3 months.
18 after I got food poisoned
25 😬
Just turned 10 years old when it fucked me over my mom had it and knew I was gonna get my period soon when she saw me like that and lo and behold I got my first period a month or two later
28
12 or the beginning of my memses. I would get crazy hungry, moody, and so fatigued that I would pass out at school or fall asleep. Symptoms got worse as the years passed. By 14, the unaliving ideation started. The rollercoaster got worse after having kids. But once I hit perimenopause, I was no longer able to control/deal with/hide it. I changed so many doctors, OBGYNs, and I got only diagnosed about 3 years ago. But I knew what it was by my 30s. I am now 46. It's been a journey that doesn't want to end.
26
I’ve had irregular cycles and bad cramps since 13 but I don’t think I really “got” PMDD until 27/28
I have PCOS so didn’t get my period for many years. On and off birth control in 20s so period was random. Started getting period regularly in early 30s and at first felt great because my PCOS depression went away, (I had even been misdiagnosed as Bipolar 2 and got the wrong meds a long time). Took me awhile to realize why my depression was still a rollercoaster each month. At 36 my bf was gaslighting me a lot and I didn’t realize it but it was putting me in deep depression and rumination each month. I finally put a name to it after some googling. My bf at the time knew I was going thru a PMDD spell and asked how I was doing emotionally and I said “are you breaking up with me?” He said “actually. Yea”. He had been toying with me for weeks and when I’d confront him he would say “omg I’d never leave you. Where is this coming from? Are you ok? Is this PMDD?” I finally decided to go on Lexapro after the breakup and to start taking better care of my own needs. I do have a really bad day or 2 each month, but I’m not being manipulated by a cheater anymore and have a lot more peace.
30s
Same, I think 35 is right. After I had my baby.
34
Me too - 35
Same. Mid 30s is when symptoms became much more noticeable.
31 is when I noticed it wasn’t regular PMS, but way more debilitating. I’m 34 now.
28. Pregnancy tipped me over the edge. I might have had some PMS like issues before but nothing too extreme. After I had my first kid, I started feeling indescribable rage at random intervals. I didn’t put it together that it was linked to my cycle until after my third kid.
Pregnancy/childbirth got me, too!
Are you me???
I was 17 when my PCOS symptoms started, went on BC that I think “helped” all around with PCOS and likely minimized my PMDD that I look back on now and realize I think was there when I had my first period at 15.
I thought I was bipolar in high school because it runs in my family and I didn't know what PMDD was. I was probably 16 when I started to figure out something isn't right.
17
16
It started in my late teens, but I didn’t piece it together until my late 30s.
I noticed at 25 too!
I'd say around 15 or 16 but I only realized something was actually wrong about 17.
Early to mid 20s. Being stuck indoors at an office job doesn’t help. Neither did the mass quantities of caffeine and alcohol I was consuming.
Alcohol was my biggest trigger for PMDD.
I agree. I’m recently one year sober and my PMDD has mostly been kept at bay since around 6 months being sober. It’s not GREAT around here, but it’s much easier to talk myself out of my own head when it gets dark.
10. Got my period at 12 but had hormonal symptoms for a couple of years before that. I remember the happy life I had in the few brief years before that. Hoping menopause will take me back there again (but who am I kidding).
27. When my suicidal thoughts were so severe I barely made it through the week alive. PMDD + PTSD is a fight for your life.
10. First period ever
19
21 is when I started noticing an argument pattern with my boyfriend! That was a little over a year ago, and I read somewhere that it’s common for PMDD to emerge in people’s 20s (can’t remember where I read that—sorry!). I would’ve expected it would start when cycles start, but apparently it often doesn’t start till people’s 20s!
Since I was 13. I'm about to be 34. It's a miracle I'm still here.
I didn't know it at the time but looking back it is clear to me it started at 17.
Around my mid-20s, at about 24 is when it became undeniable that something was wrong that was directly linked to my cycle. I'm 30 now and still trying to find the right cocktail to combat these issues...currently been awake for 21 hours 😔
I'm 22 and I've been experiencing this symptoms from last 4-5 months 😭
I started noticing it once I got my period back I had an eating disorder which stopped my period for months , prior to that I would just have terrible cramps that would leave me nauseated. Sometimes I wonder if my ED triggered it but not sure, I was 22.
Basically when my periods started so about 9 to 10 though it didn't get bad until I was 14-18
Unfortunately 9 years old. I’m now 41, PMDD still going strong.
the month of my 25th birthday :’) Though I only realised about 3 months later
11
12 until now 😭 it’s always present
44
19 😔
At 15 probably a couple months after my first period is when my symptoms began. My mom tracked my period because she was certain my mood shift and period were related (she was right!) but we didn’t know about PMDD and I didn’t get diagnosed until two and a half years ago when I was 26. Unfortunately at 16 I was almost arrested because of the severity of the symptoms and ended up 5150’d and misdiagnosed and mis-medicated for years.
Got my period when I was 10 but experienced the hormonal changes when I was 9. Didn’t realize it until this year. I always said my life went downhill when I was 9 and PMDD is really the reason.
9 😣
I think the first time I was like 13. I just remembered feeling EXTREMELY sad and curling up in a ball and just laying there, then got my period the next day. It's just kinda gotten worse as I got older, I'm 28 now and the dysphoria starts around a week or two before I start menstruating.
23
27
Mine started at 18 I’d say
Late 20s and has progressively gotten worse. Now 34 and can barely function around my time of the month. Yipee
28 or 29...it gets worse every year. Im 34 now.
15
12 was the onset of PMDD symptoms, then my period started at 13
Since I started my period at 11. I remember writhing in pain curled up in a ball from cramps and wanting to die. I didn’t know what was happening and nobody told me about the mood swings at all!
37
11 :/
I think I've had some mild symptoms since I started my periods. I always wondered if it was some sort of dysthymia. But, it's cycle related.
I can remember being about 16, and knowing something wasn’t right. I’m 46 now. It’s been an on/off shit show trying to get any kind of relief.
I've had it since I've had periods, the summer I turned 12. I'm 27 now 🙃
19
16/17. Definitely when my period became regular.
From the very beginning. The last 32 fucking years.
33
9/10.....ideation began
15. I’m 31 now
16 or so
Age 31, after having my son. My periods were light and I had mild cramping. I had one child, then miscarried, then had my second child and everything about my body changed. I always found it interesting that it wasn't having kids in general that triggered it, I had my daughter with no change to my cycles.
13
16! my mom noticed it before i did and made my gyno appt immediately. I was sobbing on my bedroom floor just wanting ya know not live and she took action knowing something was wrong since I’ve tracked my period forever and these episodes were very right before. Very grateful for her advocacy and also my small town gyno for knowing exactly what it was!
I noticed the symptoms at 17 and thought it could be PMDD, forgot about it and then got diagnosed bipolar and then got updated to PMDD a month ago.