PMDD Tips

06/18/2026

Please sign the petition!

Support the PMDD Awareness and Research Act (H​.​R. 8160)

06/13/2026

I am sending a letter, pleading for funds specifically for PMDD research. Will you consider doing the same? 🙏

01/14/2026

I have entered a time of life where my usual supplement routine is no longer cutting the cake. I’m approximately 3 days away from my period and the previous 4 days had me feeling so out of control with my anxiety and rage that last night I finally broke down and took Xanax.

This morning, desperate to find a different way, I looked for herbs that affect gaba receptors, since research has shown that women with PMDD specifically have issues in that regard, though I cannot word it very well 😆

I have not previously had chamomile and valerian as part of my routine, but I do know from experience that the tea “Sleepy Time Extra” contains both. In the last hour I had a cup of regular sleepytime tea with an extra bag of chamomile in it, and it helped a lot. I don’t feel sleepy. I feel calm and focused. Let’s go!

01/17/2025

I’ve been dreading this post, partly because I’m depressed about it, and partly because I am afraid of discouraging you from trying acupuncture. It didn’t work for me. I just entered luteal and I am worse now than I was before I started acupuncture. Worse in terms of mood mostly. If I had one positive thing to say about it- just ONE positive result to report- then maybe I could justify going back for more. But I can’t name anything.

Maybe it was the practitioner and his lack of knowledge about pmdd. It’s a possibility. I took this opportunity because of the affordability. And maybe in the far future the opportunity will arise again with someone more knowledgeable, and maybe I’ll get some results. I haven’t written it off completely and I hope you don’t either. Just like one supplement doesn’t work for everyone, the same applies here. You won’t know until you try.

I’m making this post directly after my therapy session, during which my therapist helped me see the silver lining. I didn’t exactly have the words before that. Because I’ve been wanting to try acupuncture for so long, and had so much hope going in. And now 🤷‍♀️

We wait for more research to be done for insights into pmdd.

My insurance changed recently and I will have access to a different healthcare system, so maybe that holds some promise.

Thanks as always for lending your ears 🙏

12/21/2024

Do your feet tend to be cold and difficult to warm up?

I would love your feedback. I had my second acupuncture appointment yesterday, and we talked more about the relationship between the kidneys and the feet and the reproductive system.

My feet were especially freezing when I arrived, even though I had the heater in the car only on the feet for the 30 minute drive to my appointment.

Most of the needles were placed in my feet, and he placed a heat lamp over them. He encouraged me to eat lots of spices, especially cinnamon, and to drink ginger and lemon tea with honey.

In Chinese medicine foods have cooling or warming properties depending on which season they tend to grow naturally. For example, watermelon is cooling during the summer, and grows best in that season. Eating watermelon in the winter doesn’t really make sense.

While it’s very practical it’s still a lot of information to try and remember. You can always use the internet to research a food. So in general we want to be eating warming foods in the winter.

I couldn’t help but draw a connection between the liver and kidneys with the anger ice burg. The kidneys are related to fear/anxiety, and the liver to anger. So this helps me to understand in part why the acupuncturist is targeting my kidneys. And something I thought of after and did not think to ask him, was the relationship of the kidneys to water in our bodies, and the role it may play in the bloating we experience during luteal.

I would also be very interested to know if any of you have a family history of kidney issues. I would really appreciate your feedback as I try to put the pieces together! Thank you 🙏