PMDD Treatment Advice

If it is the week before your menstrual cycle and you see your family cringe when they are around you, it is evident there is a problem. Nearly 5% of women have Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder or PMDD, and experience this scenario monthly. Less than 3% seek PMDD treatment advice.

If you are one of the 5% with this condition, there is help available. At one time, the medical establishment did not recognize this illness as real, believing the symptoms was in a woman's head. That theory has changed over the years and it is now a recognized illness.

The cause of the disorder is unknown, but many sufferers have risk factors in common. The onset of the disease is usually between the teenage years and the twenties. The most common risk factors is a personal history of depression or anxiety, a family history of the illness, and women who suffered from postnatal depression.

Symptoms range from feelings of worthlessness to uncontrollable anger and emotions. Physical symptoms include breast tenderness or swelling, headaches, joint pain, and bloating. The symptoms start the week before your menstrual cycle. The week of your cycle, symptoms decrease and by the week after, your symptoms are gone. If this sounds familiar, and happens every month, you should seek PMDD treatment advice.

If you look back on your behavior wondering what happened, you are not alone. While you realize your behavior is irrational, you are helpless to change it. The stigma attached to this disorder still contributes to a woman feeling that it is all in her head, leading her to avoid seeking medical help. After an episode, a woman may feel ashamed of her uncontrollable behavior, promising it will not happen again, only to repeat it the following month.

You no longer have to feel like a leper watching your family and friends avoid you. The illness is real, but you do not have to continue the emotional upheaval. There is no diagnostic test so symptoms lead to a PMDD diagnosis. Existing treatments are drugs, diet, exercise, behavioral therapy, herbal remedies, and holistic therapy.

Treatment may include one option or mixture of several. No woman has to continue to suffer the monthly agony. Only a woman that endures the debilitating illness knows how miserable the condition is. Research your options, so when you seek PMDD treatment advice you are aware of the successful treatments available.