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Do You Experience a Monthly Slump?
I experience a slump every month. You know what I’m talking about: a flood of tears, extreme exhaustion no matter how much coffee is consumed, annoyance, anxiety, and depression. Around this time, my body also gets sore, breasts heavy, and stomach distended, which I attribute to PMS (premenstrual syndrome).
Because I’m healing from childhood abuse and processing grief, I’ve assumed these monthly crises are trauma and stress-related, not hormonal. Though that may very well be true, I’m trying a new hypothesis on for size: I may have PMDD (premenstrual dysphoric disorder).
“During the reproductive years, up to 80–90% of menstruating women will experience symptoms [breast pain, bloating, acne, constipation] that forewarn them of impending menstruation,” Robert L Reid, M.D. of Queens University writes.
Those of us who experience psychological and behavioral symptoms and physical premenstrual alarms call for further study.
The scoop
Presently, there’s no clear reason why PMDD affects some women more than others. It’s likely if our very male-centered medical field invested time and money on this phenomenon, we’d have more certainty. For now, let’s pretend it’s all a mystery, though we have an inkling that it has to do with estrogen drops, which inhibits serotonin (the feel-good…
