If you've never heard of PMDD it is a condition similar to PMS that also happens in the week or two before your period starts as hormone levels begin to fall after ovulation. PMDD causes more severe symptoms than PMS, including severe depression, irritability, and tension.
A few years ago after I turned 40 and retired birth control I personally began to notice a pattern of falling into overwhelming, productivity halting, depression typically 7- 10 days prior to my menstrual cycle. This often looked like low motivation, extreme fatigue, brain fog, poor sleep, high irritability and anxiety. As a busy high achieving mompreneur despite wanting to, I was struggling to show up to my life.
Fortunately, when I realized what was happening. I gave myself permission to be a human being. I explored my treatment options and decided on a course of action that was right for me. The treatment of PMDD can include antidepressants and birth control. However, I selected to go the self-care route. I made a commitment to myself to intentionally manage my schedule accordingly. This doesn't mean that I get to crawl into a cave 7 - 10 days out of every month! It simply means that I am more mindful of what I am committing myself to during that period of time. For me this can look like:
- Meeting with less clients
- Setting aside a budget for takeout
- Taking time off from creating social content
- Being strategic in how I schedule meetings (i.e meeting earlier in the day when I have more energy)
- Going for walks instead of runs
Over the year I've noticed that proactively planning has also reduced the performance guilt that would often come up when I didn't feel like I was operating optimally.
I'm not sure if anyone can relate; but if you can I'd love to hear some of the things that you are doing to help you manage.
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