Today is day 12 of my cycle, so over the next few days I will be at peak hormone anxiety-ridden mess. To put this into perspective, this is how it’s affected my day so far:
- I turned down the opportunity to work for a local agency today because I couldn’t face people. My usual day rate is £400, so this isn’t just like turning down the last slice of pizza.
- I took a phone call from a client, arranged a meeting for tomorrow AM, spent a couple of hours after that panicking that they wouldn’t be happy with the quality of my work (despite being my longest standing client of some 11+ years) and proceeded to hide from a follow up phone call.
- Noticed another client on twitter chatting to a tangentially related business and convinced myself that they were going to ‘leave me’ for a better alternative. Had a panic attack. Cried.
- I ate an entire tub of pringles because I had an overwhelming carby salty craving and then convinced myself I was going to be fat forever thanks to my poor diet choices and the meds I recently gave up.
- Masturbated. 6 times. Thanks, ovulatory libido increase.
- Got angry at Gaz because he didn’t reply to a text message this afternoon (despite the fact that he is, you know, working) and convinced myself it’s because he doesn’t love me, and goes to work to get away from me. Cried.
- Had a small glass of prosecco because it was the only thing I could think of that would calm down the anxiety enough for me to function this afternoon. Convinced myself I am an alcoholic that’s going to die of massive liver failure. Cried.
- Realised I hadn’t thought of suicide ‘properly’ since coming off the meds. Thought about suicide. Cried.
- Pondered what I did to deserve life throwing so much shit at me (completely ignoring all the pretty cool experiences and stuff I get to do). Cried.
I am unproductive and unpredictable, up and down and anxious. I see no worth in myself or my creations and can’t understand why people like me, let alone love me.
& I’m already having doubts about my choice to drop the meds, instead of increasing the dosage.
I guess I should hurry up and investigate that rabbit hole.
08 Sep at 9:09 am
Thank you for being brave enough to share this Jem – it’s certainly opened my eyes to just how difficult living with PMDD must be and will hopefully remind other sufferers that they’re not alone. I hope things improve for you today.
08 Sep at 10:58 am
Thanks Tanya.
Gaz cheered me up when he got home and today has been a good day so far, so I’m feeling positive.
08 Sep at 6:54 pm
Sorry you’re having a rough time. I hope the rabbit hole offers you some workable solutions.
09 Sep at 11:28 am
Glad today is a bit better day x