Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) is a fairly new condition, arriving on the scene in 1987. The following symptoms are required for a PMDD diagnosis:
The best way to diagnose PMDD is to track your cycle - something most women do not know how to do. It requires knowledge of either your cervical fluid and how it changes throughout a cycle, or your temperature. Generally, PMDD symptoms start at ovulation, and being to resolve during your period.
This image showed the PMDD "Hazard Zone" for a typical cycle. As we know, a typical cycle is pretty rare, and I would also disagree with there they have the zone - in my experience talking with women about PMDD, symptoms begin at ovulation. Sometimes the ovulation symptoms imitate mania, and then by the time the period hits they are in a deep depression. Period finishes and they feel normal again. Each month this normal-manic-depressed-normal cycle continues. It looks a lot like rapid cycling bipolar disorder, but when they begin to track their cycles, they can identify that it matches perfectly to that. On a sidenote, hormones can aggravate bipolar disorder, so some women will have PMDD and bipolar disorder. PMDD and ADHD do appear to be strongly linked as well, although little research has been done in this area (female health = no research). PMDD Self Screen Quiz Can you have bipolar disorder and PMDD? Yes, but it is difficult to differentiate between the two without detailed cycle tracking over the course of 3-6 months, if not a year.
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