# Pms - I Hate You!!!!!! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 19, 2004, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pms-i-hate-you/260625 "2004-08-19T23:41:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Nutty\_Bunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d07c76/32.png) [@Nutty\_Bunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nutty_Bunny)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pms-i-hate-you/260625/21 "2004-08-20T14:33:42Z")
You know how women who live together usually end up on the same cycle? Do you think it’s the same for women on message boards, too? 😉 Mine just ended. I hadn’t had it in a while and I’d forgotten how bad I get. Man, I couldn’t get enough to eat the last few days! And the mood swings were unbearable. Tuesday, I got home from work, kicked off my shoes, walked straight to the bedroom, crawled into bed and under the covers. When my husband walked in a minute later and asked me what was wrong, I said in a pouty voice “I don’t know”. He then got all drill-seargenty on me and told me to go for a walk, that it would make me feel better. I kept saying (still in my pouty voice) “I don’t want to”. After a few minutes of this, I got up and went for a long, angry walk. When I came back home, I walked in and yelled at him, “I hate when you’re right!!”. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Angua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8baadc/32.png) [@Angua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angua)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pms-i-hate-you/260625/22 "2004-08-20T14:49:59Z")
> [@Nutty Bunny](#): > > You know how women who live together usually end up on the same cycle? Do you think it’s the same for women on message boards, too? 😉 You know, you might be onto something there… 😉 What I’ve found works wonderfully for cramps and PMS is sex. But kind of hard sometimes. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pms-i-hate-you/260625/23 "2004-08-20T14:56:58Z")
I can’t go on the pill for two reasons: I had kidney failure when I was a kid, my doctor prefers non-hormonal methods. And I am trying to get pregnant. I complained to Mighty\_Boy that men didn’t get PMS and he said it is because they would all turn into serial killers if they did. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pms-i-hate-you/260625/24 "2004-08-20T15:11:46Z")
Sorry for the double post… Do you think it is possible that a woman makes it to adulthood without knowing about PMS, or at least noticing a pattern? This is why I ask. One of my husband’s friends is married to a very nice woman. She was born in a rural area and I don’t think she’s been exposed much to the ‘outside world’ until a few years ago. She still isn’t intellectually curious and her readings don’t go farther than the odd Good Housekeeping. Anyways, the other day, when her husband was on a trip, she called me crying uncontrollably. My first thoughts were of doom and gloom because I couldn’t understand what she was saying. After I beat it out of her, I found out that she was depressed for no good reason, and she said it happens ‘often’. The depression-for-no-reason made her even more depressed, her family would just tell her to pull herself together and shut up already, making her even more depressed. Since I am not a doctor or a shrink I hesitated to do anything but to ask her to go see a doctor. I started asking her questions and we both realized that her pattern of inexplicable mood swings between angry and depressed happened… you guessed it: right before and at the beginning of her period. Voila! I told her about PMS and how it works; how PMS is something that happens to most women and what she could do to ameliorate the situation. I told her to keep a diary noting how she felt every day… after a couple of months she told me she thought it was indeed PMS. Instead of a psychiatrist she went to the gynecologist… and bought tons of chocolate ice cream. At 15 I already knew about PMS. And I knew what and why it was happening to me. I imagine that if at 30 I still didn’t know about PMS, or noticed a pattern, I would have thought I was a raging lunatic. ---
**Author:** ![Indygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@Indygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indygrrl)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pms-i-hate-you/260625/25 "2004-08-20T16:35:10Z")
One word: drugs Get some Valium for the stress and Vicodin for the cramps and you’ll look forward to “that time of the month.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pms-i-hate-you/260625/26 "2004-08-20T16:48:34Z")
> [@Mighty\_Girl](#): > > Do you think it is possible that a woman makes it to adulthood without knowing about PMS, or at least noticing a pattern? Well, if the symptoms are emotional and not physical (like someone who gets depressed every month but never has cramps or other pain), then yeah, I think it’s entirely possible to not make a connection for quite a while. When you’re depressed, you’re not necessarily paying attention to the calendar date or noting any possible contributing factors. If the physical part of your period is easy, I can see not making a connection. I have a feeling that admitting my periods are a breeze will be about as well-received here as mentioning my 10-minute commute at work, but I don’t think it’s stated often enough that not every woman has PMS. When I was in my early 20s I was pretty sure I’d know by then if I had it, but I also knew there was a possibility that I just wasn’t aware of any moodiness, so I asked a handful of people who would know – including one or two ex-boyfriends, who had no reason to lie. I started keeping track of my ‘start’ dates about 6 years ago, just because I finally got tired of being surprised every month – I had no idea when I was ‘due.’ The whole ordeal only lasts about 4 days, often with no cramping at all, so sometimes I forget about it in between and I can still be caught off guard some months (even though I’m now in my 30s :rolleyes: ). Anyway, my point is that when I asked around in my 20s, I might have been having PMS for almost 10 years without knowing it. And I was/am educated, travelled, well-read, etc. ---
**Author:** ![vanilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f19dbf/32.png) [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pms-i-hate-you/260625/27 "2004-08-20T22:39:32Z")
I hve read that cutting out salt by quite lot helps. Couldn’t hurt. ---
**Author:** ![Adoptamom\_II](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Adoptamom\_II](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Adoptamom_II)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2004, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pms-i-hate-you/260625/28 "2004-08-21T03:53:22Z")
> [@](#): > > Vanilla wrote : I hve read that cutting out salt by quite lot helps. Even though I am also blessed with easy periods and little (if any) PMS, I fall in with the “crave chocolate first day crowd” and “must have massive quantities of salt laden carbs second day” club. Chocolate, then carbs with salt - the only two redeeming factors of THOSE days of the month! MUST KEEP THE SALT 😛 ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2004, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pms-i-hate-you/260625/29 "2004-08-21T07:31:38Z")
I hate when my balls itch. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2004, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pms-i-hate-you/260625/30 "2004-08-21T07:50:39Z")
That’s some nerve you got walking into this thread scratching the netherlands and making fun of us womenfolk. Are you prepared to die? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2004, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pms-i-hate-you/260625/31 "2004-08-21T08:00:56Z")
> [@blowero](#): > > I hate when my balls itch. Keep pressing your luck like that, you won’t have to worry about it… ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2004, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pms-i-hate-you/260625/32 "2004-08-21T08:15:25Z")
Well, **Mighty Girl** , he’s obviously either prepared to die or too stupid to be allowed to live. I say have at him. Hormones are some wonderful things if you’re lucky enough to respond well to them. I haven’t had an honest-to-goodness period in a year, now. I still get mild mood swings and a couple days of spotting here and there, but it’s nothing like it used to be. I don’t go around wanting to kick the dogs or slap **Dr.J** for no reason, I don’t start crying because my pen is out of ink, I don’t spend half a day curled up in a miserable little ball in bed feeling like someone’s using a Garden Weasel on my insides. Yay, progestin! ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2004, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pms-i-hate-you/260625/33 "2004-08-21T08:15:50Z")
> [@Mighty\_Girl](#): > > That’s some nerve you got walking into this thread scratching the netherlands and making fun of us womenfolk. Are you prepared to die? YIKES! [Throws bottle of Midol at her and runs…] ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pms-i-hate-you/260625/34 "2004-08-23T03:10:05Z")
mrAru and I plan on throwing a huge party when I am fully menopausal and finished with the whole reproductive torture. As I am 43, it wont be too much longer=) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Asbestos_Mango)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pms-i-hate-you/260625/35 "2004-08-23T03:35:38Z")
I used to be afflicted with To make matters worse, I had gone from the normal first-day cramps to three days of pure, unadultrated writhing in Hell cramps every month with frightening amounts of blood loss, and I was spotting the entire month. Then I was diagnosed with a fibroid and put on birth control. Cramps are now manageable with normal doses of Aleve, and… I don’t have the raging, teary-eyed, angry, wanting to kill myself and everyone around me PMS, that, for a bonus, came with such neurological symptoms as inability to concentrate and feeling like by body had been stolen by aliens and replaced with an identical synthetic substitute that was completely incompatible with my nervous system and therefore I wanted to claw the flesh from my bones anymore. Artificial hormones are a wonderful thing. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Asbestos_Mango)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pms-i-hate-you/260625/36 "2004-08-23T03:39:26Z")
Uh, lemme try that again. I used to be afflicted with raging, teary-eyed, angry, wanting to kill myself and everyone around me PMS, that, for a bonus, came with such neurological symptoms as inability to concentrate and feeling like by body had been stolen by aliens and replaced with an identical synthetic substitute that was completely incompatible with my nervous system and therefore I wanted to claw the flesh from my bones. To make matters worse, I had gone from the normal first-day cramps to three days of pure, unadultrated writhing in Hell cramps every month with frightening amounts of blood loss, and I was spotting the entire month. Then I was diagnosed with a fibroid and put on birth control. Cramps are now manageable with normal doses of Aleve, and… I don’t have the raging, teary-eyed, angry, wanting to kill myself and everyone around me PMS, that, for a bonus, came with such neurological symptoms as inability to concentrate and feeling like by body had been stolen by aliens and replaced with an identical synthetic substitute that was completely incompatible with my nervous system and therefore I wanted to claw the flesh from my bones anymore. Artificial hormones are a wonderful thing. ---
**Author:** ![vanilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f19dbf/32.png) [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pms-i-hate-you/260625/37 "2004-08-23T03:44:49Z")
> [@blowero](#): > > I hate when my balls itch. Yah, us women don’t have to go through prostate exams either… ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pms-i-hate-you/260625/38 "2004-08-23T03:51:00Z")
I get stupid. I don’t mean a little ditzy, I mean PMS spells “where am I, and what am I doing here?” stupidity nearly every month. Occasionally crankiness, and definitely all the “lovely” phsyical symptoms (the headache so bad that it makes you throw up, you know the drill), but mostly, it’s the extreme, extreme 3 days of stupidity each month. Sigh. ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pms-i-hate-you/260625/39 "2004-08-23T12:44:35Z")
> [@vanilla](#): > > Yah, us women don’t have to go through prostate exams either… Yeah, but we DO have to do pelvic exams. I’d rather a prostate exam any day. I don’t know why some men whine so much about a few seconds, when we have to lie down and let them fiddle around down there for a couple of MINUTES. ---
**Author:** ![robertliguori](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/46a35a/32.png) [@robertliguori](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robertliguori)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pms-i-hate-you/260625/40 "2004-08-23T13:08:55Z")
I’ve just finished reading this and the late-period thread. I’ve never been so happy to be male. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pms-i-hate-you/260625.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pms-i-hate-you/260625.md?page=3)