[Mini] Understanding PMDD | Ep. 67

Ever felt like your world spirals out of control just before your period hits? Join me on this mini episode of I'm Hormonal as I unravel the truth behind premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) and how it might be affecting your life. Discover the critical differences between PMDD and PMS and why understanding these could be the key to reclaiming your life from mood swings, irritability, food cravings, and more. Hear about actionable steps you can take for hormone balance, from stress management to nutrition, and how small changes can significantly improve your well-being. 

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:04

Hey gang, welcome to today's episode of I'm Hormonal. I'm your host, bridget Walton, and today, for this mini episode, I'm going to be talking to you about PMDD, which is premenstrual dysphoric disorder. If you listened to this week's earlier episode, then you would have heard the longer form conversation that I had with Ashley, who's the founder of Lady Well, about her experience with PMDD, what she did to support her hormone balance, support her mood, and we also talked a bit about her company, lady Well, and the products and supplements that she provides so that you can have happier, more balanced hormones. I have to say I've been using her hormone balancing powder. I've been mixing it with my coffee probably over a week now, maybe almost two weeks, and it's tasty. It's a delightful ritual that I've added to my day. I really like it, so check that out. You can also look at the show notes for a code it's Bridget20, where you can get 20% off your Ladywell purchase.

Speaker 1: 1:07

Now let's refocus, because again we're going to be just going through real quick. Pmdd what are the main highlights of what you want to know? And this is especially relevant for you, or could be relevant for you if you're somebody who's listening to the podcast, because maybe you're like dang, my mood is wild before my period, like right in that luteal phase, which is the seven to 10 days, more or less, before you start your period. So why don't we start off by talking about what's the difference between PMDD and PMS? Like what actually is PMDD? So it's a condition that's similar to PMS, that happens in the week or two before your period starts, and the symptoms can be the same as PMS. I'll list off a couple in just a moment. But they are more severe and have much greater impact on your life, on your work, on your relationships.

Speaker 1: 2:04

So some of these symptoms could be irritability or anger, feelings of sadness or depression, anxiety, if you're having big mood swings, or really like the tears are really come into you during that phase of your cycle. It also can be associated with trouble thinking or focus, low energy, feeling tired, maybe food cravings, binge eating. The last couple I'll mention here would be trouble sleeping, potentially feeling like you're out of control, and then all of the or some of the physical symptoms like bloating, breast tenderness, headaches, joint or muscle pain. So now that I've said all of those things right, that's a lot headaches, joint or muscle pain. So now that I've said all of those things. Right, that's a lot we're just, and what you want to keep in mind is that if this sort of PMS or maybe you're thinking that you have PMS now then if it's really impacting your life, then this maybe is a conversation you want to have with your primary care provider, with your OBGYN, to see if PMDD is a part of the constellation for your health picture, right, of course, oh, I didn't even give you guys my disclaimer today that the information I'm sharing with you here is for educational purposes only, of course, and this shouldn't be used as a replacement for medical diagnosis. If anything I say resonates with you today, then get in touch with your medical provider and have a deeper conversation about how this applies to you and your life and what are going to be the right steps for you specifically to take. There's so many. Health is nuanced people health is nuanced.

Speaker 1: 3:41

So in talking with Ashley, we talked a lot about what do you do to support hormone balance, and if you've listened to the podcast here before, then you probably are familiar with some of these things. It can come back to the foundations of what are you doing to mitigate stress. What are you doing to support your sleep? How are you making sure that your nutrition is on point? A lot of these foundations that we know are good for us, but until you actually put them into place and you have these good habits, then you might really say oh my gosh, wow, I feel so much better. I didn't know that supporting my blood sugar regulation, or rather supporting stable blood sugar levels, could have such a big impact on my energy levels throughout the day. So if you're familiar with cycle syncing, then maybe that's a tool that can help you to get more in tune with, well, where you're at in your cycle and therefore you're able to kind of predict how you're going to feel at a certain time.

Speaker 1: 4:46

So, for example, maybe your experience with your cycle is that in that week before your period, you are picking fights with your partner and you're like I don't even want to be doing this. I don't know why I'm doing this, but this happens every month. Well, this can be a good tool for you to say okay, I know to expect that my mood will be a little bit different than normal during that part of the month. Maybe on this one specific date you're like okay, next Friday. I know that I always stir up some trouble on a certain day of my cycle and it's next Friday, then you can have that conversation with your partner in advance, or you can plan to have time for yourself, or you can otherwise just have a conversation with your partner or with your mother, or with your best friend, or whoever it is, to say, okay, how can I prevent myself from being in some of these unsavory situations that you don't want to be in anyway?

Speaker 1: 5:46

Now, a lot of hormone health comes back to gut health, and so if you are somebody who is experiencing some of these symptoms and you're feeling like, wow, this, yeah, a lot of what you said, bridget, really resonates with me then considering okay, what is my digestive health like? Because our bodies are eliminating hormones through our digestive system. So once our body uses up, for example, the estrogen in our tissues and cells are using the estrogen, our liver goes to metabolize them and then those metabolites are excreted, either through our bowel movements or through our urinary tract. So if our digestive system isn't quite balanced maybe you're not having bowel movements every day, maybe there's something else going on then that can certainly keep those hormones circulating instead of exiting and that may exacerbate some of these experiences as well, it is worth mentioning that some people, yes, have these experiences because maybe estrogen levels are relatively high compared to progesterone, but there also are some folks out there with PMDD who have a sensitivity to progesterone's metabolite, allopregnanolone.

Speaker 1: 7:10

So for most of us, when we have higher levels of progesterone which is after ovulation, before your period starts our brain loves that. Our GABA receptors in our brain are like oh okay, this is cozy, I'm feeling good, I'm calm, I'm getting good sleep. But for other people, for some people with PMDD, their brain has increased sensitivity to those metabolites and that can bring on these unsavory moods or other symptoms. So that is something that maybe just you want to keep in the back of your mind as you're focusing on balancing your hormones and understanding okay, well, I'm doing all of the things that I think I should be doing to keep estrogen low and to keep progesterone relatively high and support a good, strong ovulation. But if that's not really doing the trick, then keep this in mind for the next time that you chat with your provider and as you're trying to make a game plan on what to do next.

Speaker 1: 8:18

So we'll wrap it up there for the day. That's just your little mini intro to PMDD. Check out my conversation with Ashley, the episode that came out earlier this week, episode 66,. If you want more on this topic, and don't forget, you can check out Ladywell and use code BRIDGET20 for 20% off your purchase. Thanks so much and we'll talk to you soon.