pms/pmdd

[kissthe-stars.livejournal.com]

For those who suffer from extreme symptoms of pms/pmdd, when do you get them? For example, week 1, 2, 3 or 4 of your cycle?

Comments

[mari-mac1109.livejournal.com]

Week 3/4. Week 3 is emotionl and 4 physical. I get REALLY emotional and my body image plummets in week 3. Week 4 (the first two days of my period, usually) involve heavy cramping and fatigue.

[smallstar.livejournal.com]

Traditionally, when people talk about their cycle, they count "Day 1" as the first day of their period. It sounds like you're talking about weeks 3 and 4 of your birth control, which is a little different because your period comes during the 4th week.

[mari-mac1109.livejournal.com]

I guess I don't talk about mine traditionally! Haha. I've been charting my own way for so long that I've just set it up for Week 4 to be my period. For me that makes the most sense, because I always ovulate in what I call Week 2.

Counting Day 1 as the start just seems a little silly to me because obviously the period is the result of the ovulation that occured as part of the same cycle.

[elettaria.livejournal.com]

True, but that's the way it is, Day 1 is always counted as the first day of red flow (spotting doesn't count). The end of a period can be harder to judge, sometimes they stop and start.

Now what is really silly is pregnancy wheels, where they count from the start of your last period instead of from the ovulation that resulted in conception. Granted, unless they're doing charting, women don't know when they ovulated (and those who do are usually ignored, I hear), but the formula assumes that a) every woman has a 28 day cycle every time; b) every woman has a 14-day luteal phase (time between ovulation and menstruation). Now the luteal phase is likely to be relatively accurate, that one is fairly constant (though again, women who have charted will know theirs), but the cycle length can vary enormously. They could at least go with the average length of that woman's cycle, minus 14 days for the luteal phase. Otherwise, women with consistent long cycles, who ovulated a week later than the doctor guesses say, are likely to be told that the foetus is too small, and even have labour induced a week early!

[smallstar.livejournal.com]

By definition, PMS/PMDD symptoms have to occur during the 2 weeks before your period.

[elettaria.livejournal.com]

Though sometimes they can then take a while to ramp down during the actual period. I get sore breasts before my period, anything up to a fortnight; depression for a few days before my period and stopping a day or so into it; and menstrual migraine the first day of medium or heavy bleeding.

[archangelbeth]

Hm. Hard to define "extreme." I certainly notice the mood swings and crankiness, and sore breasts, about a week (give or take a few days) before my period starts.

[katydidnt98.livejournal.com]

Most of it is in week 4 for me. I have symptoms in week 3, but they're not quite as bad yet.