Dear Soul-searcher:

Good to read from you again. Premenstrual dysphoric disorder, I read in Wikipedia, is a new Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders diagnosis, added in 2013 (DMS-5). It reads that a hormonal imbalance was not detected in women experiencing these symptoms. Therefore, a hormonal treatment is not offered for the disorder. What is offered is antidepressants, SSRI mostly, but not for daily intake. Instead only for the (in your case) two weeks before menstruation, correct?

It also reads that environmental stress can be a large contributor to what triggers PMDD. Which brings me to the question: do you experience the symptoms every single month and for about the same number of days each month? Or do you have a month here and there when you experience no symptoms or greatly reduced symptoms?

anita

Dear Soul-searcher:

It will probably be a good idea for you to keep some kind of journal daily to record your symptoms and the environmental stresses of the day, and then reading back, after a month or two, see the connection between the two, if there is one.

anita