Is this PMS?

You’re not crazy, and I don’t have an answer for you, but I just wanted to say that I love you. That is all.

I think you should take your anti depressants regularly and not just when you are having a bad day.

@Shae i dont take anti depressants. they were my boyfriends…he doesnt take them either regularly, he just has a few from….something? i dont know what.

@Shae I agree. I have to take mine daily or I start having side effects. When taking medicine like anti depressants you should take it regularly to get its full effects.

@deni – I’m confused by something. You said after flailing around in bed (been there – ugh!) that you took an anti-depressant and felt better. I’m about to sound ignorant: what anti-depressant works in a short time like that? Again, not criticizing, just confused.

As for this being PMS or PMDD, it’s certainly possible. My emotional cycles have changed over the years I’m 45 now and have also varied based on my form of birth control. Are you taking birth control, and if so, have you changed it recently? That’s something to consider. I would also suggest that you talk to your gynecologist about this. As this is a recent change, there may be things to consider that we here don’t know. As an aside, if you’re not on birth control and having sex, might you be pregnant? That could do it.

Whatever it is, I do hope you work it out. {{hugs}}

@tedibear39 honestly i dont know what it was. im calling it an antidepressant, but it might have been something else. it was dark, i didnt even look at it. my boyfriend just said “it’ll calm you down” so i trusted him and took it, and thats what it did. like i said i have no idea what it was. i didnt even see it because i didnt turn the light on. i am on birth control, i just started this one in january, so yeah maybe its that. AHHGHHH :(

First of all, how old are you? Things start to fall apart as you get older, and I’m pretty sure I’ve heard that PMS tends to get worse as you age. I never used to get PMS when I was younger, hardly any cramping, my periods were a breeze. Now like once a year or so, I get a PMS spell like yours that lasts about 2 weeks. I feel out-of-control emotionally, I start to feel a bit crazy, and the worst part is there’s usually no reason at all, so it feels extra nuts. I’ve learned to recognize it when it starts to come on and I just have to tell myself it’ll be over and that I’ll get myself back soon.

As for the antidepressant, I don’t think that comes into play here, as others have said. Unless it’s something like Xanax, which would immediately help ease your anxiety and relax you, but antidepressants take a while to kick in. It sounds like maybe he gave you a Xanax. :)

Anyway, hormones are super powerful, more so than most of us realize. They control a lot of things in our bodies, from organ function to brain chemistry. It’s definitely possible your mood swings can be attributed to a hormone change. The only way to know for sure is to pay attention to how you feel once your period starts.. usually, I find my mood stabilizes soon after I start.

I empathize.. hope you feel better soon. :)

@deni – I wonder if it was an antihistamine – like Benadryl. That always relaxes me and then knocks me out. It was, and may still be, an ingredient in Midol. aka: happy pills for girls.

Ooh! I hadn’t thought of that @MissAnthrope! A Xanax or valium could have done it too.

@MissAnthrope oh my god i just started crying while reading your response. I’m a lunatic. Anyhow though I’m only 20!!!!!! i think youre correct about it being something like a xanax. you are smart and wise and wonderful.

Sounds to me like your just going through a stressful period. Want you need is someone to talk to. You can talk to me if you would like.

As others have suggested, it sounds like a Xanax, or another benzo of some sort. It does sound like you’re stressed out. PMS can be absolutely awful, throwing your emotions out of whack, etc. Anyway, it might be helpful to talk to someone to put your mind at ease. You certainly aren’t going crazy. :)

It certasinly sounds like ti could be a bad PMS episode. Find out from your boyfriend what he gave you. See if it eases when you get your period. If it doesn’t, go see your doctor.

I highly highly recommend The Mood Cure by Julia Ross. From reading it, I finally learned the first in a long series of things that ended up uncovering a nutritional/autoimmune problem underlying a lo-o-ong history of depression, mood swings, and subtle health problems that I thought were all unrelated. Read it to see if you find anything helpful there. I wish I had read it ten years ago.

Hormones are annoying little buggers, aren’t they. Like @MissAnthrope, I used to just get hit with a zinger of a PMS spell once or twice a year. I always had mild PMS before my periods, but I don’t know. My hormones would just go haywire and wooooo! I was a mess. Food – all the things they tell you not to eat before and during your period, crying, mood swings…you name it – I was there. I was just shy of being Sybil and her many personalities. I’ve since had a hysterectomy, so this isn’t an issue anymore…just a complete hormone imbalance, but that’s another story!

Do yourself a favor. Track these changes, write down what happens. If you start to notice a pattern, then talk to a doctor. There are things they can give you to help you with this – some of it may be as simple as dietary changes, or medicine may be the answer.

Xanax was the first thing I thought of when you mentioned that pill. It’s fast acting and not an anti-depressant.

I want you to feel better and to be happy but I also can’t get past this whole free distribution of nameless prescription drugs. In my world, that’s kind of a big deal. Don’t ever take anything that you don’t know what is, even if it is your boyfriend. Seriously.

When you don’t feel good, try finding things in nature to appreciate by yourself where you can think clearly and defog your brain with all these overwhelming negativities. Might not solve your problem but might help you see some type of bigger picture, and besides, fresh air can never hurt.

@Bronny excellent point about taking unknown prescription drugs!

It’s probably PMS. I really hope you feel better! You’re so happy and enthusiastic here on Fluther; it seems strange and foreign trying to imagine you a different way!

Moody irritable, picking fights with your boyfriend for no reason, excessive emotion, crying at the drop of a hat, grumpy, grouchy high maintenance…yup all the signs are there. Of course there’s only one explanation.
You’re a woman. There’s no cure.
Except a strong pimp hand and a good schtupping.:)

Do your boobs hurt? That’s a physical sign that your body is producing more estrogen, which would also cause you to be overly emotional.

@SeventhSense hey. put a sock in it before i put my foot….

@Bronny a few weeks back, like right in the middle of my cycle, they hurt REALLY BAD. worse than ever before. i was concerned. now they are better though thank god.

@SeventhSense hey…at least we have hormones to explain our moods!

Looks like it wasn’t just me who noticed SeventhSense’s sexist overtone in that answer. And most answers, shall I say.

@cak exactly- male mood swing periods are the most irrational experiences to be forced to share with them.

@deni
just trying to be helpful. where’s simone when you need her…she’d back me up. :)~

These are all good answers. Thanks guys. Or…ladies, I guess. @Bronny thank you, i agree and i wouldnt take a pill i didn’t know anything about 99.999% of the time either. but theres exceptions to everything, and i trust him enough to know he wasn’t trying to kill me, so i made one. and thank god i did or i’d probably still be bouncing off the walls and crying over nothing. lol

@SeventhSense you are always helpful and i love you and you want my mustache

@deni
I love your cucumber mask…so sexy…

@SeventhSense youre so funny

Well thank you darlin’.

@deni I’m so sorry you’re going through this. You need to talk to a doctor about it. It could be PMS, it could be stress… it could even be your birth control. Personally, I had to go off of birth control pills because I felt completely crazy, unpredictable and out of control… plus I was miserable. Hormones can do that.

Take a deep breath. You’re OK. You’re not going crazy. Please talk to a doctor.

@deni
Now you tempt me with dark frames and a neon face? You she devil

I agree with @Cupcake. I feel like I’m in a similar boat and I’m blaming it on birth control. I’m trying a new kind next week so I’m crossing my fingers! But I’ll probably end up just going off it.

@deni and everyon: I just re-read a short story last night that made me think of all of you. It’s called “The Twenty-Eighth Day” by Catherine Barry. This should take you to the story on Google books. It’s pages 35–49. If anyone is interested in the book that the story is in, the title is “Irish Girls About Town.”

And @deni, I hope this finds you feeling better.

My standard warning: please do not ask people, especially strangers, to diagnose you over the Internet. They cannot reliably do it, and deciding you have or don’t have this or that based on their guesses can do you a lot of harm. If you suspect you have a disease or a mental problem of some sort, please see someone qualified or at least talk to a friend, relative, or other trustworthy person locally.

That said: take a deep breath and relax. Temporarily feeling out of sorts and having mood swings is unlikely to be anything very serious or untreatable. Bad moods come and go for all of us.

You need to go to the doctor. He will figure out if you need anti depressant of your own! You should not take some elses pills. He might see that it is PMS and give you or recommend you something for that. I got severe PMS when I got older. It is somewhat like you described. Very moody.