I have not been offically diagnosed ,but I notice my symptoms getting much worse the week before my period starts.

Usually a day or two before I start, I have a hard time sleeping because when I close my eyes, it's like a fast forwarding movie. Everything is zipping thru my mind so fast, I have to sit up and turn the light on. It almost makes me physically sick.

Does this happen to anyone?

Denise

hi Denise!

I don't really notice any changes (abnormal) before my cycle starts. Sometimes I become feaverish (that is my "warning sign" that its about to start) the day before.

But that's just me. I'm sure you will get a lot of feedback here :)

-Anty

I have been diagnosed with ADHD. ADHD symptoms are much worse for me about 4-5 days before. I am taking Wellbutrin for the PMS and it takes the edge off.

What you describe about the fast forward movie happens to me too, but is due to my bipolar disorder, not my ADD.

I find that right before my period, my attention seems to drag somewhat. I know women always talk about being emotional during PMS, but mine seems to be so extreme... do you think this maybe ADD related?

This term around I am so weak I want to do nothing but sleep and can't focus....DTTW (Dead to the World)

The week before my period, I am much more easily overwhelmed. And I am easily frustrated and impossibly impatient! Standing in line at the grocery store is agony :mad: . And pity the poor clerk who turns that stinkin' blinking light on and makes me wait :eek: I am also more distractible. Susan

ADD definately exacerbates PMS symptoms! Mine is so severe that the first day of my period is actually a relief. For up to two weeks before, I can tell things are changing. My mood swings are constant and worsen as the day gets closer. I crave chocolate so bad that I raid the kids stashes. :rolleyes: Concentration is nonexistant (worse than normal). Energy is low, should I go on? :D

YES!!!!!! I used to be a wreck the week BEFORE my period. My doctor & gyno agreed that it's because that's when your hormone levels start to fluctuate. Once I got on the right meds the PMS was much better.

Thanks everyone! I am currently in the throws of all that right now! I should be starting my period in the next day or two and I expect the racing fast forward thing to start any time.

I always get a severe migraine the day before I start or the day of. Only sleep will make it go away.

I heard that calcium helps with PMS symptoms and they say to up your calcium intake the week before you are to start. I've been doing that so we'll see.

Denise

So how do you know if it's the ADD or a bipolar thing or a "just you" thing?

Thanks to meds I'm not impossible to live with (the emotional extremes are not too extreme and I save my antagonism for my posts here), but I want lots of chocolate and pastries, I want lots of hugs but my sex drive is actually lowered (that's hard to imagine with me, but yes, once in a while it happens), I don't sleep well, I'm so tired all day I don't accomplish hardly anything, my mind races like a mouse on his wheel and....don't let me scare you here...but I start talking to myself...a lot. And that is especially during PMS and the beginning of my period.

Maybe I do it because my mind is racing and I find it especially difficult to focus during this time. But I'd like to have a reason for it. A frontal lobe thing, a bipolar thing, a "it's not my own warped personality" thing. Anyone here a neurologist? Tell me it's hormones. Just tell me I'm not going crazy and don't tell me I already am, too late.

Me, too!

Due to taking Prozac for my depression (in addition to Adderall XR), I think the emotional side of my PMS-beast is much better (but not gone).

But I find that once a month, I will pull an "all-nighter" and (usually) sit at the computer all night. Just can't sleep - too much going on in brain, too little time to myself. I can really accomplish things once everyone in my house is asleep - I know where they all are, they're presumably safe, I can dive into anything (taxes, emails, excessive self-soothing Spider Solitaire)...!

happy to be here!

I just get all sleepy like a snake. Not nasty, just sleepy. But I crave foods I might not care about other times. PMS=me being very quiet. I AM more forgetful :)

I get really tired and tense right before my period, yes. But I seem to get a weird POST menstrual syndrome where I also get tense, but in a wound up way. I get amxious and am more vulnerable to panickiness at that time. I can't relax or concentrate well either. I, too, have a mild form of bipolar and so I don't know if its the ADD or bpd. I think its the bpd just being effected by hormonal changes.

I don't recall having PMS symptoms until after I got married and had kids. Every year it gets worse and worse. I am so moody my PMS week that I am surprised by husband and kids have not gotten a hideaway cottage to escape to until I give them the OK to come home.

I feel that my ADHD definitely contributes to my PMS.

At work, I had the office roommate from you know where. He was a big mouth bass, who coughed all day long, talked loud on the phone, cracked his knuckles, talked about baseball 24x7. During my PMS week, I am surprised he survived. (I am surprised I survived.) Everything MAJORLY got under my skin. I would wear big headphones to block him out. The position of his desk ticked me off because he put it right in the middle of alot of open space, which made the office look smaller than it was. I hated the picture he put on the wall. I hated the way he hung it on the wall. PMS mama. Luckily we changed offices and I now have a new wonderful roommate. He checks my calendar when he thinks I am PMSing so that he is forewarned. Too funny.

My ob-gyn started me on Tranxene (Clorazepate) a few years ago when I told him I was majorly stressed having an adhd son (medicated) and an add husband (self medicated). The Tranxene helped alot. I would only take half of one if at work otherwise I felt like I was a zombie drooling. At home, one was definitely a PMS helper.

Anyway, I started taking Adderal XR 20 mg in the morning on March 18. Believe it or not, the first week I was taking it ended up being my PMS week and I didn't even realize it until afterwards. The Adderal made a major difference.

When I started on Adderal, the doctor called the Tranxene a horse tranquilizar and said it was way too strong to take for PMS and that she could prescribe something else if needed. Hopefully I won't need anything. (I'm afraid to take the Tranxene now, but it definitely did the trick for PMS.)

Now this is scary. My 14 year old ADHD non-medicated daughter is pulling the "I'm PMSing" with me when I ask her why she is so moody and crabby. She even has taken my quote of "Leave me alone. I'm bleeding to death". (I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree....)

I just went through another week of PMS while on Adderall and it was much smoother than before I started Adderall. I had the usual body aches but the moodiest was by far better.

When I was at my doctors last month, I mentioned that I wanted to get something for PMS. She mentioned several types of medications but told me to see how it goes and let her know. I think I will hold off on asking for a medication for PMS.

With the way that my family behaves sometimes (add and adhd), they deserve atleast one week of "semi" PMS psycho mom.

I think if I went from horrible to perfect, it would be too tramatic for them. Like withdrawal. I think I will just wean them slowly of my PMS crabiness.

I never thought I had PMS but my h might say differently!


Lately though, now that i am in my 40's my PMS is a monster. I just started yesterday and last week was one of the worst weeks for me emotionally. I was in the pits. I cried myself to sleep twice. I sat up in bed with my eyes wide open a night or two. I came close to making an 'emergency' phone call into my therapist. I am glad I didn't though since it was just PMS. I didn't know that at the time. I thought my depression was coming back full force. I hate being on these emotional rollercoasters.

Does anyone get treated with hormones? My antidepressant and adderall used to keep me pretty level. I am not sure what to do.

Oh, my goodness yes!!! I'm a total basketcase a week before & all during my cycle. My concentration goes into the trash along with my patience with myself & everything that's going on around me. I turn into an angry zombie :eek:

i consider being a ***** during PMS to be an honest time of the month. we say it like it is. also it seems to me that as women get older, into their 40s, they become more self confident in expressing themselves and not taking crap from other people anymore. maybe it's all a transition phase. the body is ready for the truth but the mind keeps struggling to maintain the old not very good status quo. eventually something's gotta give.

I'm 51,. but I remember PMS very well. There is a connection between the hormones & the ADD + my dr told me that around that time of the month it is like you're not taking your ADD meds....well that applied to me.

The calcium is Great ! It's 2,000 mgs daily, everyday ( I think I'll check it out & post what I find) A study was done in 1999 or around there. I heard the report on tv but didn't get the mg amount + I had a few other questions so I called the hospital where the dr was that was an author of the study....I just wanted to talk to her secretary to find out exactly where the study was published, well the dr answered the phone & we talked for about 20 mins. She said that her hubby could tell the difference & that it didn't matter if you got the calcium in supplement or milk, yogurt, ice cream, ect or both as long as you got a certain amount everyday. I tried it & it worked wonders !

The fatigue & sleeping I use to have a problem with but a number of yrs agoI was put on iron supplements 2 tabs a day & my dr told me to increade it to 3 about 4-5 days before I started. As long as I did that the fatigue & sleepiness weren't a problem.

I did begin to notice after I hit 40 that loud sounds that normally I wouldn't notice....were like finger nails on a chalk board...I literally couldn't stand it. And I also noticed the headaches, they were almost like migraines but I learned that they were my "you're gonna start" headaches.

I will get back with the info on the calcium today.
BlessedLady

The week before I'm more easily distracted and get frustrated by that.
I run out of patients for myself.
And I also get a day or two of being tired and low motivated.
I'm starting to see now how it does effect my AD/HD.

I read somewhere that ADD can cause increased trouble with PMS. And it's been my experience that my ADD symptoms increase when I am PMSing - around two to three days before my period. I get much more forgetful and the carousel in my head zips around much faster than normally.

My apologies for this being 5 days late Ladies.

The results of this study were published in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology- Aug. 1998. The study showed that 1,200 mg daily of Calcium relieved the severity of PMS symptoms. You need to take Vit D with the Calcium but I can't think of anything that has Calcium in it that doesn't have Vit D also.....sure there are some things..but just can't think of them right now. The Lady dr I made reference to was Susan Thys-Jacobs, M.D.

One of the things that took me so long was trying to find a website that lay persons could use..........I totally forgot about www.WebMD.com (http://www.webmd.com/). I did notice that alot of research has been done since these results were first published in reference to "natural" things that do help with the symptoms of PMS, and the good thing about them is that the concern for possible side effects isn't there because it things like Vit B6.
The calcium is the only thing that I have tried & it was after I was diagnoised & on meds for ADD.

If there is anything that I can do to help any of you with this or anything else that you hear about, please PM me. Now that I remembered WebMD, I can use sites I'm familiar with & then go to WebMD & cross reference it. Again, my apologies for it taking so long.
BlessedLady

well for the longest time i was going on and off of the birth control pill (i had been trying tricyclen and it felt like PMS all month long) so I never really paid attention to the when my PMS was. But now that I'm taking tricyclen-lo, I've felt "normal" till the last week of pills, the week before the period is supposed to come...and ugh YES it has made things worse. I've been feeling so overwhelmed, the moodiness and irritability is the PMS but that just makes the day even more overwhelming. I think it's also that I'm still on only my first package of the pills and my body isn't totally used to the hormones (this week is the week with the highest amount of hormones). Bad food cravings, and they're harder to control. Dexedrine helps though, I find it even helps with the moodiness a bit too.

My apologies for this being 5 days late Ladies.

The results of this study were published in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology- Aug. 1998. The study showed that 1,200 mg daily of Calcium relieved the severity of PMS symptoms. You need to take Vit D with the Calcium but I can't think of anything that has Calcium in it that doesn't have Vit D also.....sure there are some things..but just can't think of them right now. The Lady dr I made reference to was Susan Thys-Jacobs, M.D.

One of the things that took me so long was trying to find a website that lay persons could use..........I totally forgot about www.WebMD.com (http://www.webmd.com/). I did notice that alot of research has been done since these results were first published in reference to "natural" things that do help with the symptoms of PMS, and the good thing about them is that the concern for possible side effects isn't there because it things like Vit B6.
The calcium is the only thing that I have tried & it was after I was diagnoised & on meds for ADD.

If there is anything that I can do to help any of you with this or anything else that you hear about, please PM me. Now that I remembered WebMD, I can use sites I'm familiar with & then go to WebMD & cross reference it. Again, my apologies for it taking so long.
BlessedLady
I've heard that dairy products can make ADD worse. Does anyone know if it has something to do with calcium? Or if that's true at all?

Odd...I was just coming to start a thread on this very topic

I'm 51,. but I remember PMS very well. There is a connection between the hormones & the ADD + my dr told me that around that time of the month it is like you're not taking your ADD meds....well that applied to me.



Interesting...I have not ever really had bad pms...I always got mood swings but it was not severe and wasn't always just around pms time. The last 3 months have been hell. I am on ritalin and wellbutrin and during pms time the past 3 months it's like I am in the throws of depression again and not even being medicated at all! I was considering upping my dose the week before...I don't know if that would help at all?:confused: Of course...it's taken me 3 months to figure out what is wrong but I am sure I've narrowed it down to PMS:mad: I feel like the biggest psycho chick ever!

I was considering upping my dose the week before...I don't know if that would help at all?:confused:
There are some drs that increase their female pts dosage app 1 week before they are due to start...you might want to mention it to your dr & see what their thoughts are.
BlessedLady

I've heard that dairy products can make ADD worse. Does anyone know if it has something to do with calcium? Or if that's true at all?
I've never heard about Dairy Products making ADD worse. The Calcium helps with PMS symptoms, there is no connection to ADD. The connection that I mentioned & I may not have made this clear, is that with Calcium there was no concern of possible side effects in combination with ADD meds like there might be with other meds or some herbal remedies.
BlessedLady

There are some drs that increase their female pts dosage app 1 week before they are due to start...you might want to mention it to your dr & see what their thoughts are.
BlessedLady
That's good to know. I am already supposed to double my dose...just in general, like all the time now...but I never ever can remember to take my afternoon pills:o

Usually a night or two before my period starts, I get headaches, but I don't feel like I'm NOT on meds...I mean I still feel them in my system, and they work. I may be more moody than usual, but that's just ME. I've always had moodswings.

I went to my doctor earlier this week for my checkup since I started Adderall XR and Adderall IR. I mentioned that everything was going great except for my PMS week.

As mentioned earlier, at my initial visit, she had called the Tranxene (Clorazepate) I had been taking for PMS a "horse tranquilizer" and said it was too strong for PMS. I had told her that besides regular PMS symptoms, I had also been dealing for years with my off the chart adhd son along with my nonmedicated add husband in addition to myself, who was adhd and nonmedicated at the time. My last refill of Tranxene was in January. Usually I cut them in half and only took them when PMSing.

Now that my husband, son and I are all now medicated, my PMS has not been nearly as bad as it was but it still is a challenge.

My doctor went ahead and gave me a prescription for Fluoxetine 20 mg (I think it's the generic for Prozac). I took one last night at about 1100pm and slept like a log until 800am this morning.

Usually when I am PMSing, I wake up several times at night, go to the bathroom, grab a hunk of cookie dough mix (yummy and I only do that when PMSing), and I toss and turn all night. Last night was great.

It was comparable to my taking the Tranxene. The only thing is that the Fluoxetine are capsules so I won't be able to cut them in half like I did with the Tranxene. There is no way I could take one at work. I will give the Fluoxetine a try and see how it goes. I am also going to check into whether they have it is capsules.

Has anyone else ever tried it? I know alot of people at my work take Prozac for stress so I am guessing it works.