Signs and Symptoms of PMDD

If you have, or suspect you have PMDD, you must be aware of the signs and symptoms of PMDD. Knowing what to expect, when it occurs and other essential information is vital to really understand the outward effects of this disorder. It is also important to know them to understand the root hormonal causes of PMDD as well which is less well understood but equally important.

Now, not all women suffer from all of these problems. There is in fact a very strict guideline on how to classify PMDD as a clinical condition that can be treated psychiatrically. You must for instance suffer from at least one of the psychological conditions such as depression or anxiety and others. You must also only get these problems during the last week (or thereabouts) of the menstrual cycle. These symptoms must also disappear after the onset of bleeding as well, if it does not do this - you might have another underlying condition.

The psychological and physical symptoms of PMDD are:

• Depression ranging from simply feeling low and sad, to extreme cases of clinical depression where you cannot even get out of bed.


• A feeling of loss of control. You may feel overwhelmed and unable to deal with anything without a sense of not being in control.


• Mood swings that can range from sudden crying fits to outrageous outbursts of anger and rage.


• Anxiety, nervousness and worry that can go as far as full blow panic.


• A loss of interest in the things you usually get inspired by, or enthuse you such as work, hobbies, school and other things.


• Irritability and anger that lasts for a long period of time.


• Appetite changes of eating binges, or lack of food intake. This can last those whole time or change at a moments notice.


• Lack of concentration and focus.


• Fatigue, tiredness, loss of energy.


• Insomnia or hypersomnia (sleeping too little, or too much)


• Weight gain and Bloating


• Breast tenderness or swelling


• Headaches and migraines


• Muscle or joint aches and pains.

As you can see this can be a nightmare to deal with. As mentioned though, not everyone suffers from all of these things, and some women suffer from many of them but with different levels of severity. Some women might only suffer one or two of these things but to a very bad level which has caused some problems. In any case, if you have PMDD, or even if you are very close and have very bad PMS the root causes are all the same and can all be dealt with in the same way.