PMDD: Severe period symptoms leading some women to hysterectomies

Women arsenic young arsenic 30 successful Northern Ireland are having to acquisition utmost treatments, including hysterectomies, to woody with terrible intelligence symptoms linked to their periods.

Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD) affects 3-8% of women of reproductive age.

A doc has said 30% of those diagnosed person attempted suicide.

Two women told BBC News NI their premenstrual symptoms were truthful debilitating they wanted to die.

Dr Frances Stewart, a advisor obstetrician and gynaecologist, said 86% of those diagnosed volition person had suicidal thoughts.

She said she sees women who picture a "rip-roaring rage that they can't control", up of menstruation.

However, she said that aft their play "they recognise themselves again" with those astir them describing it arsenic "living with 2 antithetic people".

"For immoderate the lone mode to grip it and to support everyone astir them is to astir fastener themselves successful a country until they get done this spell," she said.

"That is due to the fact that they are acrophobic of what they could bash either to themselves oregon those astir them."

Dr Stewart said immoderate of those women are having to marque "life-changing decisions" astir having their ovaries, wombs and fallopian tubes removed to "manage their premenstrual symptoms".

Samantha Campbell, 32, contemplated taking her ain beingness erstwhile symptoms became overwhelming.

"I felt everyone astir maine was conscionable amended disconnected without me. I didn't privation to load my household - I felt an impulse not to live."

Samantha, who lives successful County Down, has been diagnosed with PMDD.

One week earlier her period, Samantha said she would "isolate", including staying unsocial successful her country to support herself and family.

"If I snapped astatine others astir maine oregon was aggravated towards them, which is simply a symptom, I would past wounded myself - I self-harmed either by cutting myself oregon by overeating," Samantha said.

Samantha has since had her ovaries removed - which helps to equilibrium hormones, but that country triggers menopause. She is besides readying to person a hysterectomy.

PMDD was recognised arsenic a aesculapian information by the World Health Organisation successful 2019 and is besides recognised by the NHS.

Women acquisition utmost intelligence upset for 2 weeks anterior to their play and erstwhile their play comes, the symptoms subside.

It is not wide wherefore immoderate women acquisition worse symptoms than others.

Health professionals judge it could beryllium familial or, for some, their cardinal tense strategy is peculiarly delicate to hormonal changes oregon find coping with accent precise difficult.

Symptoms tin include: cramps, headaches and associated and musculus pain; behavioural symptoms specified arsenic binge eating and problems sleeping; intelligence and affectional symptoms, specified arsenic feeling precise anxious, angry, depressed oregon adjacent suicidal.

Jennifer Messit, 39, lives successful Dublin and, astatine her worst, said she had "suicide ideations, feelings of worthlessness and each 2 weeks conscionable wanted to termination myself".

She said she is astatine the much utmost extremity of the spectrum and had to question to London to get a diagnosis. However, she feels fortunate that earlier having a hysterectomy, she had a son.

"When each is said and done and your friends and household are going connected to person children, it does wounded the bosom a lot," she said.

"I americium a bully mum and I would person been a large mum to much than one," Jennifer said.

Dr Stewart said making life-changing decisions astir fertility astatine specified an aboriginal property tin beryllium agonising, but it is astir choosing a prime of life.

"Women picture themselves arsenic 2 antithetic radical passim their cycle. Once ovulation happens these women are highly delicate to the changes successful their hormones and their quality to woody with prime of beingness plummets," Dr Stewart said.

However, she said the affirmative quality is PMDD tin beryllium treated erstwhile diagnosed, which is critical. But it was cardinal that a diligent completed a questionnaire successful bid to person a due diagnosis.

PMDD tin beryllium treated by either shutting down the ovaries by injection which stops the hormones being released oregon yet a afloat hysterectomy which means removing ovaries.

Dr Stewart said the cure is the removal of ovaries and the womb, though that is extreme.

"The restitution rates from the lit and from a idiosyncratic level are highly high," she said.

"We are seeing much radical who are recognising it but that is due to the fact that it is an internationally recognised illness it has the classification done the WHO truthful so it is thing that is recognised."