Like I have mentioned before in one of my posts, I have recently embarked on a road to managing my severe PMT, which plague me and my family on a regular and lengthy basis.
Ten years ago, my PMT were bad enough that I needed to find something to help me keep, let’s say “human”, or near enough. I started on a cocktail of B6, calcium, D3 and selenium. For a while, I managed to surf the wave and kept my life more or less normal. Then things deteriorated pretty drastically after I had children. All of a sudden, I became Mrs Hyde once a month for a very long period. These tensions affected my life across the board. My relationships with my colleagues, my friends and my family even more so. But what others, on the receiving end, do not see is that it does affect the sufferer a great deal. It crushes your self-esteem, it makes you feel inadequate and a down-right nasty piece of work. This is just bad news. I realised it had become purely and simply unmanageable.
I have been hooked on those supplements for a very long while now. They keep me in check but much more on a hit-and-miss basis nowadays. So not good enough.
I visited my GP and we went through an extensive check-up which included talking about how my life had become and a comprehensive blood test. The blood test revealed nothing unusual except that I was in exceptionally good health (thank the Lord!). My hormones were good, my thyroid was good, my cholesterol was even better and my GP said she had not seen anything this good for a long time. “Damn!” I thought. How is this going to help me?? She said that whatever I was doing, I should keep doing. Well, hello!! No! I am here because things need to change. Arrghh! She just didn’t have a clue.
My GP told me I had a form of PMT called PMDD (Pre-Menstrual Dysphoric Disorder). As far as what she knows about this, which is not a lot, it seems (no offence), this is just an extremely severe form of PMT that only affects a tiny percentage of the female population. And it all happens in my head! So where do I go from here? How am I going to tackle the fact I am down in the dumps 10 days a month? How am I going to deal with the fact that every single joint in my wretched body hurts like crazy (though I do not have rheumatoid arthritis)? What am I suppose to do now? Her answer is anti-depressants. That’s when I picked up my stuff, thanked her for her time and left. I am on my own in this.
To cut this long story short, I have now started some reflexology and let me tell you, this is divine! How lovely it is to have someone fiddle with your feet. My word, please bring it on.
I have started with a session every week. My reflexologist said I had very reactive feet. Probably because as she said “there is an awful lot going on in your body”. No shit??! She started by telling me that something was going on with my shoulder, to which I said that indeed a bit of my clavicle was missing. Interesting! Anyway, for one hour and 20 minutes, this lady just pressed all over my feet and it truly felt good. For nearly 4 days after my first session, I slept like I was hibernating. I had not felt so immensely tired and sleepy for ages. The week that followed was wonderful. I felt on a natural high to the point when everyone commented on how well and energised I was. I need to mention I had not told anyone what I was doing, so it was lovely for me to realised I was in fact “back in the room”. I was my old self again. While the reflexology was going on, I stopped all my food supplements. Well, this was a bad idea. My symptoms came back early with a vengeance.
So I have re-started on the old cocktail of B6, calcium, D3, selenium and I have added a dollop of ashwangandha at night which helps regulate your hormones and thus improves the quality of sleep. I am about one week before the end of my cycle, which is the time when I am the most “dangerous”. I don’t feel great but I feel fine. I haven’t bitten anyone’s head off yet and even though I occasionally feel a bit on edge, I am able to control it and get on with my life. At least my girls have not mentioned yet that their Mummy has turned into a bear, which I supposed is a good thing.
My next session will be in 2 weeks’time now and I am planning to keep this going once to twice monthly. I have been suffering for an awfully long time and I will not “heal” overnight. I need to help my body readjust itself and do what it is supposed to do. I have decided I will not go down the medication route and that I need to find the energy to heal myself from within, and so far so good.
So keep calm and fingers crossed.
Love, Glen
glencora says... 