Beginnings

Hi all

So a bit of background about me first of all

I am a 29 year old woman living in England, and two months ago I was diagnosed with PMDD.

PMDD or Premenstral Dysphoric Disorder, is something I will more thoroughly explain in a later post but a very basic description is that it is similar to PMS except the symptoms are more exaggerated and interfere with the woman's daily life as well as this the woman will experience a severe depression and at times suicidal thoughts.

I think that I have suffered with this condition for around 10 years, but previously I had been diagnosed with depression and bi-polar depression. The only time I really had any relief was when I was pregnant with my son who is now 6 years old, after he was born I suffered with post-natal depression and my symptoms have gradually got worse and worse over the past six years until I reached a point of realizing it couldn't go on and that I was actually damaging my relationship with not only my friends but also my family in particular my gorgeous son,

Talking it through with my partner we realized that my moods and depression always occurred in the two weeks before my period and I described it to him as a type of extreme PMS when I typed this into Google PMDD came up and once I read the symptoms it all dropped into place and I realized then that this was what I was suffering from.

I then spoke to a lovely friend in work and she revealed that she too had been suffering from this as well, I then realized there was very little information on this condition and it was also a relatively new condition and not a lot of research had been carried out in it at present.

I have a degree in Psychology and have always had an interest in research in particular depressive disorders, my plan has always been to go back to University and do my Masters in Research Methods followed by my PhD so now I have found a topic that I can research fully and that is relatively new, just carrying out some partial research I have found there is not alot of information out there for women, nor are many doctors informed of this condition in fact my own doctor knew nothing of this condition.

I would love to provide more information for sufferers as well as medical professionals (that might be a way off!) and find a way to collect more information for myself and support others. 

There are only a handful of blogs out there already and I hope to take away the taboo of this condition and empower more women to talk about their experience with it and not feel ashamed of their condition.

I welcome all and everyone to tell me about their experience and of any information they know about.

I do not proclaim to know everything (far from it!) but I want to understand and I want to inform and support others.

I am not a medical professional and nor can I provide any diagnosis all I can provide is information i have found out if you believe that you have this condition you should visit your GP and obtain a diagnosis and treatment from them.