Moodiness and periods?

[Anonymous]

okay so i know hormones are everywhere when you are on your period anyways but i feel like my moods are become very extreme.

100% the day before i get my period i have an absolute melt down and it could be over anything and i will cry non stop for hours and feel so depressed and sensitive. Everyone has to tiptoe around me otherwise they know it'll set me off again.

Now when i'm on my period i can go from this to fine, to being soooo irritable and moody/angry. Again this can be from anything, and things that wouldn't normally annoy me. I mainly feel super super irritated and angry about things and i neverrr get angry or irritated by shit. Sometimes i feel so so depressed (which i do have depression but not to the extreme i feel when on my period). It's constant mood swings and i feel like a completely different person. My boyfriend even commented that he's never seen me like this before and was so shocked cause i'm the least angry/ irritable person he knows. I know people get moody etc on their periods but this is soooo extreme like i have never ever felt this kind of emotion before, it's like i don't even know myself and what's going on...

Is this normal or do i need to go to the doctors to get checked out? I know here is such thing as PMDD but i'm not sure this fits into that category?

[HighlyVolatile]

A professional is always your best bet but I used to think American women lack discipline because there are so many stereotypes and jokes coming from both men and women there about women turning psycho during their menstrual cycles. Yet we don't have this in Japan.

Then a woman on here said she went to Japan and lived there for years and she said her menstrual mood swings almost disappeared during her stay. So I'm starting to think it's more about nutrition and lifestyle. You might want to look into those on top of clinical advice.

[Asker]

Doctors certainly just fob you off over here in the UK, especially males when it comes to periods sadly :/ I personally think i live a healthy lifestyle, i eat healthy, i exercise everyday...

[HighlyVolatile]

One of the things that strikes me as most different about Japan is that, while we don't have a gym and fitness culture like in the US, we also don't have a driving culture. Most people average around 1-2 hours of walking or cycling a day to run their daily errands. So most people get a good deal of movement and sunshine throughout the day even if it's just from walking or cycling. Another is that while Japanese are big on sweets and ice cream and such for snacks, I think we ever-so-slightly favor less processed foods and more whole types of foods especially for meals, and more seafood than meat if that has any relevance.

[HighlyVolatile]

Oh damn. In that case, might I suggest some emotional discipline if the doctor finds nothing wrong? We also have a bit of Buddhist and "inner peace" culture here. We have this saying called "shouganai" which is very difficult to translate to English but it's like if you are having a bad day already, and the rain starts pouring when you don't have an umbrella, you can't do anything about that. So why be upset? There is a bit of a mindset like this and embracing this idea of inner peace might help to mellow you down in general and especially when your body is having big hormonal shifts.

[HighlyVolatile]

There is a way to think that might be different. It might seem impossible to feel different but it's possible to challenge the way we think. You look at someone who isn't as irritable or as easily upset as you and you might suspect they are just wired differently, and that might very well be true. For example, as a guy, I can't even begin to imagine what it is like to have menstrual mood swings. Yet we might overlap in terms of knowing what it's like to have our bodies stressed in very different ways, like being exhausted and surrounded by people wanting very much of us. It's the way we interpret things that often affects how we feel. A rainy day could be an ugly day to some people and to others a beautiful day that reminds us of being kids playing in puddles.

I say this because you mentioned you can feel a little bit like this even outside your menstrual cycle but it gets exaggerated by it. I would still echo the suggestion to seek professional advice but perhaps also -- if only during the time outsides your cycle -- to try to pause when you get an upset or angry thought. Pause. Try to detach yourself from your thoughts. Look at yourself like someone looking from the outside, like you are your own friend and your own friend is having these thoughts. Then see if you can challenge them and put a productive spin on them.

That can improve your whole life. It can improve your relationships with family, friends, lovers. I suggest it on top of seeking out doctors because we could all improve this way.

[SnakeBoop]

if you believe they are abnormal, see a doctor. it is that simple.