“I started hormonal contraception a few years ago,” says Indra“I reacted very badly to that, especially mentally.” Indra suffered from feelings of depression, mood swings and became easily irritated. “I also felt very alone and didn’t feel like doing my daily activities anymore.”
Indra stopped using the contraception, but the symptoms persisted. “I searched for a long time before I came across PMDD.” PMDD (Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder) is a mood disorder linked to the menstrual cycle where symptoms appear in the week before menstruation.
I searched for a long time before I came across PMDD.
“Those symptoms can be both mental and physical, for example cramps or breast tenderness. That was an eye opener for me.” PMDD has an impact on various aspects of life. “The impact is everywhere, both at work and privately in your relationship. But also on your social life, because if you start to cancel things, you see your friends less.”
Progesterone
Herman Depypere Professor of gynecology at Ghent University Hospital says the condition used to be known by another name, ‘premenstrual tension’. “That occurs in women who are sensitive to the hormone progesterone.” The symptoms may differ. “I have patients who say that they are very sweet in the first half of their cycle and that it completely turns around in the second half. For others, it is about a feeling of agitation or depression.”
“So if you take the pill, you immediately take that hormone.” The pill consists of a combination of estrogen and progestin. “Fortunately, there are now pills that add the hormone of the second half as a diuretic hormone. That could be a solution.” According to the professor, many women suffer from the condition.
Negotiable
Many women are looking for answers to questions about their periods. “It is important that the subject is open to discussion. That’s why I wrote a book about menopause,” says the professor. “That way they can figure things out themselves and form their own ideas.”
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