By Ms. Menses
It’s easy to lose hope, and it’s easy to give up – especially when you’re dealing with a beast like PMDD. Having to deal with it every single month and trying to find treatments, but failing to find solutions, is a struggle for us all.
I’m usually a very positive, upbeat person. I love challenges and often put way too much on my plate, but I always get through my struggles. PMDD, however, has been a hell of a battle for me.
I recently had an awful episode of PMDD, where my three hell days a month turned into three hellish weeks of non-stop PMDD. I tried switching medications, going to new doctors and counselors, and experimenting with different vitamins and supplements. I started to lose hope. Finally, the new medication started working, so the PMDD went away after a few weeks, but my depression stayed. I told myself, “you’re better now!” but I didn’t feel better.
After having depression for so long, I had almost trained myself to be negative and had spiraled into a different type of depression. This wasn’t hormone-related – it was me being scared that the PMDD would never go away. This was Ms. Negativity! This realization slapped me back into reality, and I accepted that this was something I could control. I couldn’t control my PMDD, but I could control how I coped with it. Not being able to control it left me feeling helpless and depressed. This is not a way to live your life. We need to pick ourselves up and slap ourselves into the reality we live in. We can control how PMDD affects us because we can control our state of mind.
I know this isn’t easy to hear, but your life is in your hands and what you do with it is in your control. PMDD is a barrier, yes, but you can get through it, like anything in life. I made myself even more sick by staying in a negative mindset. If we train ourselves to be positive and never to lose hope, we will have excellent coping skills when the hard times come.
Start researching the treatments and PMDD stories out there. There is hope and every day we come closer to new breakthroughs in treatment. There will always be hope out there, we just cannot ever lose sight of it. When I was losing hope I told my mother I wanted to give up and she told me, “Well I’m not giving up, so you sure as hell better not give up!” I want to tell you all out there that I will never give up on you either. I have faith in each and every one of you to stay strong. Staying positive will keep you going no matter what. We will never lose hope. Why not? Because we are warriors.
About the Warrior
Ms. Menses is a university student who is passionate about menstruation and women’s rights. She has done a TED Talk about menstruation and is currently working on researching the effects of menstruation on girl’s education. She loves to talk about and teach classes about menstruation. She is planning on getting a Master’s in Public Health with a focus on Women’s Reproductive Health issues. She hopes to help make menstruation something people can talk about openly so that girls do not have to suffer.
