Does Depression Get Worse On Your Period

What Is Pms Actually

PMS, or premenstrual syndrome, isnt a punchline its a real condition that impacts up to 75% of people with periods. Its a combination of physical, emotional, and mental symptoms that happen in the 2ish weeks before your period starts .

PMS affects everyone differently, but there are some common symptoms.

• Mental symptoms: irritability, anxiety, restlessness, sadness, hypersensitivity, uncontrollable crying, shifting moods

• Behavioral symptoms: fatigue, forgetfulness, insomnia, trouble concentrating

• Physical symptoms: bloating, cramping, headaches, muscle aches, breast tenderness, food cravings, digestive issues, acne breakouts

Finding A Way Forward

For Lily, finding out that she had PMDD was a lifesaver. Before I understood what was going on it was like Id spend three weeks feeling more and more panicky, like oh, its coming, and the fourth just losing my mind. But after being diagnosed, she says, things have become brighter and easier. Lilys gynecologist put her on birth control and shes learned some techniques to help her manage her emotions. Before it was like a tsunami, she says, uncontrollable and just totally devastating. Now its more like little waves. Its not perfect, but it is a lot easier and I can deal with that.

Your Cycle & Your Mental Health: Key Takeaways

So, can depression affect your period? It depends on a number of factors.

Your period is unique to youand so are any emotional changes you experience in relation to your cycle. If the PMS-related depression or anxiety you experience feels severe or is disrupting your ability to work, go to school, or socialize, dont ignore those feelings. Talk to your healthcare providerand then take simple steps thatll help you feel better, whether thats allowing yourself more time to rest or going for an invigorating walk around the block.

The last year has been tough for many of us, with the pandemic bringing up a whole new set of mental health challenges. Now, as the world slowly opens back up, we hope this post empowers you to prioritize your wellbeing. If you have any questions or concerns about period mood swings, do reach out to your PCP or other physician. Get expert help to figure out if you might be suffering from PMDD or perimenopausal depressionand receive the support you deserve.

This article is informational only and is not offered as medical advice, nor does it substitute for a consultation with your physician. If you have any gynecological/medical concerns or conditions, please consult your physician.

References

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What To Do About It

Some people do experience symptoms of depression in waves or intermittent episodes. This means you could experience days, even weeks, of relief and then notice your symptoms suddenly come back or intensify.

In other words, worsening depression is sometimes just the nature of depression but that doesnt mean its permanent, or that treatment wont help.

Professional support is the best way to improve symptoms of depression. If your symptoms fail to ease within a few days or continue to get worse, its best to talk to your therapist or doctor as soon as possible.

If youre already taking medication or working with a therapist, they can help you get guidance on next steps.

It never hurts to schedule an appointment as soon as you start to feel worse. You can always cancel later if you begin to feel better, but that way youll have the appointment if you need it and wont have to worry about availability.

Key Points About Pmdd

PMDD is a much more severe form of t premenstrual syndrome .

The exact cause of PMDD is not known.

• The main symptoms that distinguish PMDD from other mood disorders or menstrual conditions is when symptoms start and how long they last.
• Symptoms of PMDD are so severe that it affects your ability to function at home, work and in relationships.
• Aside from a complete medical history and physical and pelvic exam, there are very few tests to diagnose the condition.
• Over the course of a year, during most menstrual cycles, 5 or more of the following symptoms must be present:
• Lack of interest in activities once enjoyed
• Insomnia or feeling very sleepy
• Feeling overwhelmed or out of control

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Can You Prevent Or Cure Pms Depression

Not every woman suffers from PMS Depression, but those that do suffer miserably. What causes this kind of depression before, during and sometimes post menstrual cycle? With so many women suffering from this what is the medical community doing and are there any home remedies that work without using drugs? Is the woman suffering from true depression or pms? How can you know if it is pms rather than freestanding depression? Lets look at these issues.

Anxiety And Depression During Periods: Causes Detection And Treatment

Depression and anxiety during periods are both common. These symptoms are often part of premenstrual syndrome . PMS is a combination of physical, emotional, and behavioral symptoms that occur during the premenstrual phase of the cycle and go away after the period begins. PMS can cause depression before and during periods, along with food cravings, headache, fatigue, and tender breasts, among other symptoms.

However, severe depression during periods may be caused by premenstrual dysphoric disorder . If you are already experiencing depression, it may be that your depression worsens before and during periods.

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Signs Of Severe Depression During Period

You may experience severe depression before and during periods due to premenstrual dysphoric disorder . PMDD is similar to PMS, but its severe and sometimes disabling. PMDD can cause extreme mood shifts, which can interfere with your daily life, relationships, and work. Symptoms usually start a week before menstruation and continue a few days after your period begins. Apart from severe depression before and during periods, other symptoms and signs of PMDD are:

• Tension or anxiety
• Feeling out of control or overwhelmed
• Extreme moodiness
• Hopelessness with extremely negative thoughts
• Trouble concentrating
• Binge eating or food cravings
• Lack of interest in relationships and daily activities
• Loss of interest in sex

You may manage depression during your period by making certain lifestyle changes and taking specific medications.

Depression: What You Need To Know As You Age

If youre one of the more than 14.8 million American adults who experiences major depression, you may feel so bad that you cant get out of bed, be around the people you love or participate in activities that you usually enjoy. Actually, there are more than 50 different symptoms of major depression, ranging from the well-knowncrying and sadnessto those you might never associate with depression, such as anger, workaholism and back pain.

Depression is a disease that affects every aspect of a persons life, not just mood, says Johns Hopkins expert Andrew Angelino, M.D., Chair of Psychiatry at Howard County General Hospital. The World Health Organization predicts that by 2020, depression will be the second-leading cause of disability in the world, just behind cardiovascular disease.

People who are depressed are far more likely to have other chronic medical conditions, including cardiovascular disease, back problems, arthritis, diabetes, and high blood pressure, and to have worse outcomes. Untreated depression can even affect your immune response to some vaccines.

Depression is not just debilitating it can be deadly. An estimated one out of five people with depression will attempt suicide at some point.

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Depression During Period: Everything You Need To Know

Feeling depressed before and during a menstrual period is common. Experts believe that these emotional changes occur as a result of fluctuating hormone levels.

Most people who menstruate will experience some symptoms of premenstrual syndrome , including moodiness and headaches.

However, some individuals can develop more severe symptoms, such as depression and anger. Hormones can also cause people to feel nauseated during their period.

Severe PMS symptoms may indicate another condition, which is called premenstrual dysphoric disorder . Additionally, existing mental health conditions may temporarily worsen during a menstrual period.

In this article, we explore why some people feel depressed during a period. We also list home remedies and treatment options.

Hormonal changes during the second half of the menstrual cycle, called the luteal phase, may cause a low mood and irritability in some people.

After ovulation, which occurs midcycle, the levels of the female sex hormones estrogen and progesterone begin to fall.

Rising and falling levels of these hormones can affect brain chemicals called neurotransmitters.

Examples of these neurotransmitters are serotonin and dopamine, which are both chemicals that influence mood, sleep, and motivation.

Low levels of serotonin and dopamine can cause:

All of these are common symptoms of PMS and PMDD.

How Is Pmdd Managed Or Treated

Your healthcare provider may recommend one or more of these treatments to help manage PMDD:

• Antidepressants to help manage your brains serotonin levels.
• Dietary changes, such as cutting back on salty, fatty or sugary foods and caffeine.
• Over-the-counter pain medicines to ease cramps , headaches, breast tenderness and other physical symptoms.
• Regular exercise to improve mood.
• Stress management tools, such as deep breathing exercises and meditation.

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Staying Sane & Kicking The Period Blues: A Few Tips

Now that you know why your cycle can make your moods take a dip, lets talk about what you can do to feel better.

1. Take your experiences seriously and ask for help. Silly memes about PMS pop up online all the time, and while we love a good meme as much as the next person, they can sometimes have the effect of making you dismiss your pain or suffering as unserious and unimportant. But the way you feel matters.

If you suspect your cycle is severely affecting your mood and quality of life, talk to your healthcare provider sooner rather than later. Get screened for PMDD or perimenopausal depression and find out about treatment options, ranging from hormonal meds to antidepressants to cognitive behavioral therapy.

2. Treat yourself well. Self-care does make us feel better. Exercise, eating healthy foods, and getting enough sleep are essential to improving our moods, whatever part of the menstrual cycle were in.

Just make sure youre not too hard on yourself as you work on incorporating these good habitsespecially in the days right before or during your period. A particularly intense PMS day may not be the best time to take an extra-challenging HIIT class . Oftentimes, treating yourself well might mean simply letting yourself take a nap.

What Are The Symptoms Of Pmdd

PMDD is a mix of severe physical, emotional and behavioral symptoms that can make daily life very difficult for those who suffer from it.

Typically, PMDD symptoms show up in the second half of the menstrual cycle – around 7 to 10 days before the period, and continue up till menstruation. PMDD has been included as a depressive disorder not otherwise specified by the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, or DSM.

According to DSM-V manual, a person suffering from PMDD will show at least five of the following key symptoms:

• frequent and extreme mood swings feeling suddenly sad or tearful or increased sensitivity to rejection
• increased irritability, anger or relationship conflicts
• severe anxiety, tension, feelings of being constantly on edge
• difficulty in concentration
• lethargy, feeling often and easily tired
• excessive sleepiness or insomnia
• feeling overwhelmed or out of control
• other physical symptoms such as breast tenderness or swelling, joint or muscle pain, a sensation of bloating, weight gain.

Since PMDD is tied to fluctuations in reproductive hormone levels, the above symptoms should be absent for at least a week after periods for PMDD to be diagnosed. If the above symptoms are not cyclical and do not seem to clear up at any time, it may point to another form of underlying depressive disorder.

Before diagnosis, it is also important to make sure that these symptoms are not the result of taking medication or oral contraceptives.

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How Can I Mitigate The Effects Of Depression On My Period

If depression or antidepressants are disrupting your menstrual cycle, talk with your doctor. There’s no one-size-fits-all solution, but lifestyle changes may help you lessen the stress-induced effects. As much as possible, try to make sure that you’re eating enough to fuel your body, sleeping enough to rest, and exercising moderately. Gentle movement, such as walking and yoga, can help ease stress, as can breathing or mindfulness exercises and journaling.

If antidepressant medication seems to make your symptoms worse, speak to your doctor about non-pharmaceutical treatments for depression. These could include talking therapies, such as counseling or cognitive behavioral therapy, ortranscranial magnetic stimulationtherapy.

Is It Really Just Pms

Certainly, for some people PMS involves nothing more than mild symptoms, like light cramping, bloating, or increased tiredness.

Keep in mind, though, that this isnt the case for everyone. Many people who experience PMS have more intense symptoms, including:

• major changes in mood

These symptoms can easily affect your daily life. In other words, theres no just about it.

Yet PMS, as uncomfortable as it can feel, isnt the only explanation for depression during your period. Here are some other potential causes.

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You Experience Insomnia Or Oversleeping

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Just like constantly feeling exhausted, not being able to sleep and/or sleeping too much can also be a sign that your mental health is taking a turn for the worst. It can be difficult to fall asleep when your emotions are all over the place or if you’re also anxious. If this appears to be a problem for you, try taking melatonin, listening to classical music or nature sounds, or setting up a before bed routine to allow your body to settle down. Oversleeping can be harder to combat, however, I find it helpful to find one small thing that will help get me up in the morning, like treating myself to Starbucks, or looking forward to something that is going to happen that day, no matter how small!

Does Hormonal Birth Control Help Or Make It Worse

This works very much on a person-by-person basis. Some hormonal birth control pills help reduce bloating, breast sensitivity and other physical symptoms, as well as minimising emotional symptoms like depression and anxiety. Others, however, have been known to make symptoms even worse. It often takes a few tries to find a method of contraception that works for you and doesnt negatively affect your cycle and PMS symptoms. Always speak to your doctor about the options you have.

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What Helps Calm Period Anxiety

Magnesium has been shown in numerous studies to help ease anxiety, including anxiety before periods. Foods that are rich in magnesium include chocolate, avocado, leafy greens, nuts and seeds. Studies have shown that most people do not get enough magnesium from their diet and therefore, supplementation may be necessary.

You Don’t Take As Many Showers

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A lack of personal hygiene is a huge clue in understanding your mental health. When you feel emotionally heavy, it’s hard to take care of ourselves. This includes taking less showers, not wanting to brush your hair, and finding it difficult to do laundry. Personally, I love to do my makeup, so once I stop caring about my appearance, I’m often found in a messy bun and my favorite sweatpants. To help keep yourself clean, try taking a relaxing bath instead! If that isn’t your style, try something new in your personal care routine. I like to put on a face mask or pore strip , use a new scented body wash, and shaving my legs. I promise that once you’re all clean you’ll feel much better than before!

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Studying How Depression Affects Dna

Han and colleagues examined the DNA of 811 people with depression and 319 people without. The participants were enrolled in the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety.

Using blood samples, the researchers examined how the participants DNA changed with age. The study revealed that epigenetic changes took place more quickly in people with depression.

Epigenetics is the study of the changes in gene expression that do not affect the DNA sequence. Such changes can occur as a result of many factors, including environment and lifestyle.

One of the mechanisms through which epigenetic change occurs is called DNA methylation that is, when a methyl group is transferred and added to the DNA.

Overall, the scientists saw that people with major depressive disorder had a degree of methylation and epigenetic change that was indicative of an older age. More specifically, this means that those with depression were biologically older, by 8 months, than people without depression.

In some severe depression cases, this biological age was 1015 years older than the chronological age.

The study also found that those who had had childhood trauma were biologically 1.06 years older, on average, than people who had not experienced trauma.

The researchers replicated their findings by examining brain tissue samples.

How Does Your Period Affect Your Mental Health

There are all sorts of hormonal fluctuations happening over the course of your menstrual cycle. Although theres still a lot we dont understand about it, researchers point to the role of estrogen in regulating mood and producing serotonin and feel-good endorphins. Your estrogen shifts pretty drastically at different times of your cycle, which can impact the way you feel. On top of that, you might also be experiencing physical symptoms like cramps, bloating, and headaches which can take their own toll on your mood.

The reverse is also true: your mental health can affect your period. Too much stress can shorten or stop your period altogether. People who are under a lot of stress or have a personal or family history of depression are also more likely to experience PMS symptoms.

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