birth control and PMS

[ex-severina334.livejournal.com]

I'm skipping my period this month. (I'm on the pill, so I can do that.)

Every time I read the posts on this community, I feel proud to be a womyn. Proud to bleed because it's a sacred time and it means I have the power to give life, and I have the power to decide when and if that's going to happen.

The thing is though... reality is different. Reality is PMS, which turns me into a monster on an emotional roller coaster. I get upset about the littlest things, or I'll bitch about something trivial. I get very depressed and crampy... I feel like I don't know myself because I've turned into a different person.

So it's because of that (and because if I skip this month, I'll be bleeding during the week of the full moon from now on) I'm skipping my period. I'm thinking about going on the shot or something, so I won't have to remember to take a pill and I won't bleed (which means no PMS). But when I'm not in the hut, I don't hate it. I view it as a sacred time (and when I AM in the hut, it's still a sacred time, but I scream about ripping out my uterus and bleeding through my pad and not being able to get that Instead in there right... and on and on).

So... after all that rambling... I got a question. Anyone know of any sort of birth control (like a specific kind of pill or whatever) that helps with PMS symptoms? I've been on Ortho Tri-Cyclen but it made me very depressed, and I'm on Lo-Ovral right now which doesn't make me depressed, and works for me-- I just want to know if there's something that helps with PMS.

(sorry I rambled so long. heh.)

Comments

[geminigirl]

Depends on what your symptoms are. When mine are out of control, I swear by Rescue Remedy which seems to take care of my emotional symptoms. (Those are the ones that I find most disruptive.)


If it's really severe, you might want to talk to your doctor about it. There's been talk about PMDD (premenstrual dysphoric disorder> or, I know I've had doctors recommend other naturopathic things to me. I've read that some women with severe symptoms have had some relief by controlling and increasing the calcium in their diets.

I've found that for me, PMS has wavered at different times in my life...sometimes much more severe than others. Sometimes tearing my hair out bad, and sometimes just feeling jittery and tense, and puffy. I haven't figured out a logical reason for it, maybe it's stress, maybe it's the way I eat...I don't know.

Re:

[ex-severina334.livejournal.com]

The physical part, I can deal with. It's just cramps, mainly. The emotions are awful. I was diagnosed with clinical depression a few years ago, and while overall I'm doing better now, during PMS I just fall apart. It's as if everything comes back to haunt me for a week, and then it flows out of me when I bleed.

[ratfink.livejournal.com]

My impression is that finding the right pill can take a lot of trial and error. Fortunately, I'm really happy with the one I'm on now--Nordette. I was on Ortho for a couple years, and lost a lot of my sex drive. It also didn't do away with my cramps and I felt generally poopy and bloated and disagreeable a few days before my period. Nordette has proven a million times better for me. All those symptoms described above are pretty much gone.