#pmdd awareness

[living-with-pmd]

Comic from the Washington Post

[hanuli12]

Pmdd with sevika

She’s your gf and she love you .

Fluff ,comfort,Sevika x reader

Butchfemme relationship,established relationship

You’re having your period soon,the next week probably,it’s not unusual,it’s normal,most uterus owners get periods

What’s not normal is going through the five stage of grief in span of seven days ,yes ,it’s pmdd/pms,pre menstrual dysphoric disorder.

You have it every month ,you know when you have it and get a bad idea like ending everything is “just a phase “,but knowing doesn’t actually make you feel better and it definitely doesn’t lift the big rock of sorrow and gloom on your heart,the feeling of suffocating,wanting to be hit ,or hit someone,it’s very confusing really,you have a hard time understanding yourself let alone describe it to someone else

That’s where conflict rises with sevika , your girlfriend, not that she’s impatient with you or anything,she just doesn’t understand where her sweet loving and gentle spirited girl goes every month and getting swapped by an evil hater ill mannered and short tempered witch -your words,not sevika,she’d scold you if she heard you talk about yourself like that-

So,despite your fears of her not accepting you ,you sat her down one day ,and told her you have pmdd,how your hormone levels completely control your brain chemistry and your brain function,and then you describe how you felt ,empty,numb,depressed,extremely enraged and heated, having self identity crisis ,dysphoria,extremely sensitive and all that without and actual real life event reason so you feel like you’re going insane

Sevika sat down quietly and listened intently ,asked a ton of questions- understandable,and she told you she understand now.

“So you go through hell once a month regularly”

She tried to lighten the mood a bit after you teared up talking and explaining,then reached out and raised your hand and kissed it dearly before interlocking your hands

“I’m so sorry you endure this shit,you totally don’t deserve to be in this mess,you don’t deserve the pain,is there anything I could do to help? Is there any medication that helps?treatments?”

You smiled warmly through your swelled up eyes and tightened your hands in hers

“Having you with me and understanding me eases my pain and worries by a lot ,love. And no,there are no direct treatments,I can take mood stabilizer like SSRIs,but I don’t wanna go that route unless I actually have to “

Sevika nodded in understanding and then grabbing into her lap ,telling you she’d take good care of you now that she’s aware and that it doesn’t make you any less of complicated in her eyes at all ,of course all that while her hands warmed up your body in admiration and her drowning you in kisses and laughter in a way that made you feel like you never experienced any sadness or pain in your life,she had this kinda effect on you

Now ,you can say she didn’t disappoint at all,she’d actually mark when you will have your period so she knows when you’re pmsing,and treat you extra specially and carefully in that time,she cares for you sleep schedule a lot ,making sure to tire in fun activities like going for a walk saying she simply wanna walk with you or turning the music on and asking you for a dance -sevika hated to dance,that’s kinda like last resort for her- or ask you simply to go with her to the gym,or spice things up between you and wreck you completely,you always get sleepy after spicy scenes,this way you’d be in bed before 10pm begging for sleep

Next,your diet,she’d start taking over the kitchen at those times,you would be too tired anyway to cook or function,she makes sure you’re having high nutritional value foods-especially protien and magnesium rich food,it was tiring everyday coming up with new recipes with good nutritional values that you actually like,but sitting down and watching you get happy and giggly when you taste the delicious food literally makes her day and makes her want to cook more just to see you all giddy

Of course,even with all this structure,you still could all the complex emotions that makes you irrational and confused,that unintentionally you take out on sevika,not that you mean to hurt her,you always feel hella awful when you act bad with sevika - mostly ignoring her,snapping at her,accusing her of made up scenarios,trying to light arguments with her-and you hate yourself for it ,but sevika is patient,she’d ignore you ignoring her in a gentle non-punishing way,giving you space , not talking back when you’re snapping-or simply saying that you’re right and she sorry,whatever she thinks will put you at ease, assuring her completely that she loves you in any and every scenario and that even in “if” situation she won’t do you dirty,and she keeps sheepishly silent when you try to argue ,listening to you actually and hearing you ,reminding you that these are not your thoughts and she’s not against you

Truly,9 out of 10 times you get your pms it goes on a lot more peaceful and less stressing that sometimes you just think you don’t have it anymore,all that thanks to sevika .

———————————————

Okay yeah im pmsing so bad i have to imagine Sevika comforting me ,and yall it helps,in Sevika magic i trust .

This for all my pmsing girlies out there

[potstism]

❤️‍🩹 my take on a PMDD (premenstrual dysphoric disorder) flag 🧠

clipart .png credit

i had been waiting from months to a year to see someone design a flag for PMDD since i'm not very confident in my own ability, so i decided to go ahead and bite the bullet with an attempt. this is currently planned to just be a draft and may be subject to change with new updated versions in the future.

TW FOR MEDICAL TRAUMA/ABUSE: although this topic is not very widely discussed, or at least doesn't seem to be commonly present, online among the disabled community, my personal experiences with PMDD have made acknowledging its existence as well as its consequences quite necessary to me. as of the time of writing this, i am 19 years old, and when i was 15 exactly this time of year (as well as the first similar incident a couple months prior), i had an intense hyper-emotional episode the week before my period that was so bad i ended up getting institutionalized at a psych ward against my will and have never been the same since. for years now, i've been on a birth control pill that suppresses my cyclical hormones and prevents my period from occurring most of the time.

before getting into the stripes' meanings, there are two factors to explain behind my thought process:

dark teal is considered to be the awareness color for this disorder, although i went with a light aqua color because i think it looks better with the pink, and it's in the same family so i believe it still works.

pink is meant not to represent femininity necessarily since uterus-owners can come in many different gender expressions, but rather fit with the vibe of internal organs, especially since pink is closely related to red which is how warm blood appears (and is a key element of uterine cycles).

as for the stripe meanings, here is my proposal for each single word:

awareness ─ suffering from premenstrual dysphoric disorder is a very real thing that happens to müllerian individuals everywhere. according to the cleaveland clinic, which i am an active visiting patient of, about 10% of people with our reproductive body types who are at least of minimum pubescent age may be affected by it. although it does not tend to be a risk toward physical health, it is often a deadly threat to our mental state and well-being, which can lead to suicidal ideation.

strength ─ i consider this to be an invisible disability, with most of the symptoms taking place within our internal worlds and fighting a constant battle with negative thoughts + emotions. in addition to this, physical symptoms also arise and can cause severe discomfort before menstruation even begins. all of this happens within the confines of our own homes, and we tend to suffer through it alone. people who do not have PMDD probably fail to realize how strong we have to be in order to get through this difficult time repeatedly & endlessly, despite their well-intended efforts.

diversity ─ this is intended to have multiple meanings, and to include anything i may not have come up with so far. for one thing, there are plenty of different experiences to be had with this disorder, such as varying levels of cramping + sickness or depression + anxiety. on another note, not only do our bodies each work differently (some may also have endometriosis and/or PCOS, which are also intersex conditions, as a double-whammy), but many of us do not conform to societal ideas of gender despite all having these parts in common. there are infinite possibilities to mix & match with presentation & identity, which is not limited by biology.

flesh ─ although many factors are involved in this process, including hormones, PMDD centers around the uterus, which is an internal organ. the flesh represents the physical aspects of this experience, and how we must take great care of our bodies in order to ease how we feel.

pain ─ there is so much physical + mental pain that builds around this disorder, which deserves to be recognized, sympathized with, and treated. the deep pink (to me) somewhat resembles what ibuprofen & benadryl pills look like; painkillers & antihistamines respectively (i'm not sure if anyone else needs the latter, but my skin's condition gets really reactive when i go through my cycle).

anyone is free to reblog/use accordingly, although you may have to be mindful of permission/credit with the uterus imagery from the source!

tagging for reach (it may not fit your gimmick exactly, so feel free to ignore if you're uninterested, or reblog somewhere else!): @idwl @satyrradio @spaghettimakesflags @obnebulant-mogai @caeliangel @intervex @arco-pluris @beyond-mogai-pride-flags @radiomogai @themogaidragon @neopronouns @mad-pride @disabilitypride

[bearhugsandshrugs]

I'm in my fifth month of successful PMDD treatment and boy, I had to learn so much about that condition.

For one, it's partially genetic. It often correlates with trauma experiences. It can get worse over time. It's NOT a hormonal imbalance but rather an affection of the brain that hinders it from properly using serotonin.

It's still not fully researched - people don't really know why it sets on, what causes it, why minimal doses of SSRIs help. WILD.

Over a third of people with PMDD have attempted suicide.

There is no blood test to diagnose it, but you can track symptoms over several cycles. Gynos are doing a super shitty job and a lot of psychiatrists in my experience also don't really have good awareness of the condition.

So consider this a PMDD awareness post because fuck if this illness didn't fuck me up lol.

Some links:

Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD) is a cyclical, hormone-based mood disorder with symptoms arising during the premenstrual or luteal ph

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/premenstrual-dysphoric-disorder-pmdd

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/premenstrual-syndrome/expert-answers/pmdd/faq-20058315

[thechoicerocket]

Why can’t menstruation be opt-in rather than opt-out

[doulayogimama]

I attend a PMDD group via my therapist practice and they are hosting a conference for PMDD with a panel of experts 2 days before I'm due to fly back to Miami

The conference is in Toronto --- I just booked my tickets! I will fly in super early, landing at 8a and getting back into NY late at night.

I get to have 4 hours @ the conference and probably a good 4 hours to explore Downtown. I'm going BY MYSELF!!!!!

This is my first solo trip as a mama. Kevin was fine with me staying overnight in Toronto but I don't want to. I don't sleep well away from my babies.

I'm so excited!!!!!!!!

[tritiyum]

I know that the mental aspects of PMDD are the most debilitating for most people (including me) but there's also a lot of physical aspects of it that I don't really see people talk about much, to the point where I've had a lot of symptoms where I actually thought there might be something else wrong with me before realizing the pattern of when those symptoms appear. Going from being insatiably hungry to not being able to eat, extreme fatigue and oversleeping and/or not being able to sleep (terrible combo), horrible breast tenderness, more joint pain in general, pelvic pain and cramping that gets worse as the episode progresses, chronic illness flares because my other meds stop working as well. It's not JUST a mental disorder, it's so important to remember the physical components of it

[periodicallyferal]

I feel like there’s a kind of trauma that comes from living with PMDD that nobody really talks about.

Even when i’m fine, i'm still looking over my shoulder.

The second I wake up in a bad mood, feel irritated for no reason, start crying too easily, or just feel a little off, my brain immediately goes:

Fuck. Not again.

& maybe it's just a bad day. Maybe i’m just tired or stressed or hungry or overwhelmed or whatever. But PMDD has taught me that one weird mood can turn into two weeks of feeling horrifically emotionally unstable.

So now I’m constantly checking myself. Is this normal? Is this PMDD? What cycle day am I on? Am I about to spiral? How bad is it gonna get this time?

& even during the good part of the month, there’s still this feeling of knowing it’s coming back. Like I can enjoy feeling okay, but not too much, because I know it won't last.

There’s the dread before & the exhaustion after. The guilt. The anxiety. The constantly having to figure out whether my emotions are actually mine or if my hormones are fucking with me again.

It leaves me in this constant state of bracing for the next crash, like my nervous system can never fully rest.