Posted by Racer on January 2, 2006, at 12:39:15
In reply to why do I have horrific anxiety right before.., posted by spriggy on January 1, 2006, at 21:51:40
I'm a bit of an expert about hormonacoasters right now, so I can tell you that your cycle starts out with Estrogen, which generally if a feel-good kind of hormone; then you get your luteal surge just barely before you ovulate; after which progesterone takes over. Progesterone, as far as I can make out, is Not Your Friend. I know it ain't mine. I get snappy, then vicious, then depressed. All at once, but it kinda comes in that order, right around the time that maybe I might be ovulating -- hard to tell when I do that, even a bit hard to tell if I am doing that at all. Makes baby-making rough.
If it's really bad, to the point that you can't stay stabilized, two things are said to be pretty effective: birth control pills, which regulate your cycle for you and ease the mood swings a good bit; or a low dose of Paxil for about three days a month: starting a few days before your period, and lasting only until your period starts. It's not clear why that helps, since it's not enough time for it to work as an SSRI. There's something else going on, but it's had a lot of good results in studies. Talk to a good doctor about it -- probably either a pdoc or a gyn.
Good luck.
poster:Racer
thread:594192
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20051231/msgs/594346.html