It’s definitely real for me. I get very easily annoyed and burst into tears for no reason. Being on the pill has alleviated some of the worst testiness/teariness. As I’ve aged it also seems to have diminished somewhat or perhaps I’ve just learned how to control it better. Why, now that I think about it, I haven’t killed anyone in at least 3 or 4 months now… 
Is that part of PMS? Okay, I guess I do get it then. 
Yes, I find my tolerance level decreases - why is everyong being so difficult I wonder? Then I realise IT"S ME!!! Doesn’t happen every month - possibly affected by what I eat. I now take some iron pills prior to that time. It’s always a relief to get the period, I feel healthy, whole, a sense of relief/release and yup horny too!
"WhyNot
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You guys (gals) want to hear something horrifying? Those PMS days are when our bodies are (hormonally speaking) most like men’s bodies! That’s right, they have PMS All. The. Time. Can you imagine? It does make me a little more patient with the poor creatures. "
Poor devils! Men have their ups and downs too and we’ll say - don’t ask Mr. X to do that today - he’s got his period - meaning he’s “on one” or in a bad mood.
Poor devils! Men have their ups and downs too and we’ll say - don’t ask Mr. X to do that today - he’s got his period - meaning he’s “on one” or in a bad mood.
Which of course misses the point - we should say - he’s ABOUT to get his period!
I get intensely irritable the day before, and then it kind of eases off. It’s hard to say if it’s entirely hormonal, as I often feel quite unwell around that time of the month between the cramps, the nausea, the tenderness of various strategic sites of my body, etc. 30+ cycles of trying (and failing) to have a baby haven’t improved my disposition.
Nausea, bloating, lethargy and sluggishness, fits of sobbing, fits of murderous rage…
Oh, it’s real for me. :smack:
I never used to have mood swings with my period until I lost a lot of weight. One day I was wanting to kill my co-workers and I couldn’t figure out why, until I realized “oh, THIS is pms!!”
I’m with monstro. It’s never all the same symptoms for me. This week it’s sleepy and a tad bit irritable. Other times it’s weepy and depressed, or irritable and depressed, or spacey and weepy. However my body feels like reacting
I do, however, get horny right before and right up to the middle of it. Then I get frustrated because I don’t ever physically feel like having sex during my period, just mentally.
I’ve always experienced dismenorrhea, with cramps so bad I take codeine for them, but not PMS, until recently. Just this past year, I’m starting to notice that a week to a few days prior to my period I am definitely more irritable. Nothing too major, at least not yet, but noticeable to me. I wonder if sleep deprivation has anything to do with it …
I’m so relieved that it’s not just me who experiences this. I think it’s the birth control prescription that I’m on, because it’s only been the last few years that this has happened. It took me quite a while to correlate the mood swings with PMS, since I never had it before, and now, I think I’m going to try to switch 'scrips to prevent this.
If your Pill helps your mood swings, can you tell me what you’re taking?
Real. But I don’t get weepy. For a day or two, my sense of humor takes a really dark turn, almost to the point of Schadenfreude (is that how it’s spelled?). My husband will get up to take a shower, and I’ll hide in the closet, so when he’s naked and vulnerable, he’ll open the closet door and I’ll jump out & scare him. He hates that. The next day, I’m really annoyed. At everything and everyone. I try to go to sleep or see a movie alone on those days, because I can’t even stand to be with myself. My husband & the kid get their quality time together, and I try to hide from my own brain as best I can. So, yes. Real.
This is one of the most consistent symptoms for me, and I rarely hear other women mention it! Total klutz, I’m bumping into things and dropping things and spilling things right and left. I don’t know how hormones could affect this, but I really notice it almost every period.
While I don’t have identical symptons every month, I agree that general moodiness – both increased irritability and also the inclination to cry at Hallmark commercials – increases. So I think PMS is real, but at the same time, PMS is not an excuse for anything. If I am more irritable than usual, that means I have to work harder to be a pleasant person and not let my moodiness take over my interactions with friends, family and coworkers. Rude is still rude, whether it is because of PMS or general Being A Jerk.
Alesse was great for me - helped control mood swings and physical symptoms, not to mention getting a wacky, irregular cycle to a nice, predictable, easy to plan around cycle.
I get moody and more weepy prior to my period, even on the Pill, but it’s not as bad as it was before. I also totally lose my appetite. I’ll know that physically, I’m hungry and must eat, but nothing appeals to me at all. Not eating gives me headaches, so I associate that with my period too, but it’s a secondary effect. Usually, the one thing I know I’ll be able to stomach is nachos. So I eat a lot of nachos once a month - sometimes for lunch, snack and dinner!
This is an excellent point, and brings up another one I’ve been thinking about-- how do you know if you’re just freaking out from PMS, and how do you know if your reactions are valid? I hate to just write off my feelings entirely for a week a month, but I’m not quite sure where to draw the line, you know? It bothers me.
Disregarding purely quantifiable physical symptoms (which for me, are way worse than the emotional ones), I still have to give a definite yes.
About three days before, I get uncontrollably horny. I used to also get weepy, but ever since I’ve been back on the pill, the weepiness has been replaced with white-hot, get-the-hell-out-of-my-way, you-don’t-want-to-talk-to-me rage. I’ll be occasionally weepy, but I’m way more likely to get mad.
Since I am so weepy, and unhappy, I tend to withdraw. I’d much rather be unusually quiet than snap at someone or start crying, Og forbid.
I did not know about the clumsiness thing. Might explain some things. Or perhaps not.
I take Ortho Tri-Cyclen and it seems to help the pms. Why, I have no idea. But my family, friends and co-workers are all very grateful.
Oh, hell yeah it’s real.
I agree with most in the three day prior thing. Usually I get angry and every little things bothers me. I have learned to avoid any major decisions during this time simply because they are always based on emotion.
In my case it occurs to me (after I’m done yelling at people :smack: ) “I wouldn’t normally react this way”. As I mentioned earlier, I would probably feel the same any other time of the month, but I react stronger than normal. Unfortunately it’s hard to control, because by the time I’ve realised that I’ve flown off the handle, well, I’ve already flown off the handle.
I never had emotional PMS symptoms, just physical ones. Very bad physical ones. Bless Depo-Provera.
Who the hell says it’s not real, anyway? Men? What do they know? Always sticking their noses in and asserting that they know how we feel. I once had a male doctor tell me “It shouldn’t hurt there.” I said, “I think I know what hurts and what doesn’t!”
Of course it exists…just not in everyone, and everyone reacts different ways.
But I’m not so sure about men feeling this all the time. Are you saying it’s because our hormones are at the lowest ebb? I wonder if it isn’t more the actual fact of having them dip so low then the mere state of being so low.
And nothing makes me grrr more than someone attributing genuine anger or sadness in me to PMS. I understand that for a few days out of my month I am controlled by feelings that aren’t fully real. Most of the time I am in command of my feelings, though, so take me seriously.