Ladies, do you feel worse before your period?

[sharks]

Now I'm getting panic attacks. Does anyone take anything natural for the panic attacks?

 

[JaimeS]

The black cohosh is pretty normalizing that way? Again, not a physician, not medical advice, etc.

 

[Husband of]

I’m keen to bump this thread to understand how common this is, whether it applies to all MECFS sufferers, just some at random, or if it could be related to a subset (eg those with persistent enterovirus infection).

Also keen on hearing other ideas on treatment.

my wife definitely gets this quite badly; in general her symptoms vary a lot across her cycle

 

[Pyrrhus]

Related discussion:

For the women, what are your periods like since become ill? Do they change with how you feel?
https://forums.phoenixrising.me/thr...e-ill-do-they-change-with-how-you-feel.76150/


Here's the relevant bit from that discussion:

It is important to note that an exacerbation of symptoms before menstruation was noted in the original 1959 descriptions of ME.

For a more recent mention:

Onset Patterns and Course of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (Chu et al., 2019)
https://forums.phoenixrising.me/thr...hronic-fatigue-syndrome-chu-et-al-2019.84716/

Pregnancy, menopause, and menstrual cycles exacerbated many women's symptoms.

Note: There are also anecdotes from people who report that their symptoms are reduced during pregnancy, but that they might get worse after pregnancy...


P.S. And a comment from another discussion:

Another example of a leaky blood-brain-barrier occurs in menstruation.
Right before, and during menstruation, the lower level of estrogen causes the blood-brain-barrier to become slightly more permeable. Some have speculated that this might contribute to pre-menstrual syndrome.

 

[Husband of]

So what could you do at that specific time to boost estrogen?

 

[Jessie~]

This has been a problem for me for awhile. Especially physical and cognitive fatigue. My brain fog and cognitive processing is consistently so much worse for the week before my period, and as soon as my period starts I have a little more clarity and my cognitive functioning is back to my “normal”.

I have been thinking about asking my doctor if we can suppress my menstrual cycle with birth control pills by taking them every day without stopping them for the week of my period.

I have done this at times in the past when I was younger and less sick, and would sometimes go for years without having my period. I didn’t have any of the premenstrual problems and I enjoyed not having to deal with my period, but I also didn’t have those 1-3 days around ovulation when I felt pretty darn good in many ways.

I think I am ready to do it again and have a break from the increasingly difficult to tolerate problems of the pre-menstrual issues and the other issues that happen during my period. They are making many things much worse for 2 out of every 4 weeks.

I also have Hashimoto’s now and have to take medication for hypothyroidism. I am not sure how all of these health problems and medications that are affecting my hormones will affect me if I suppress my menstrual cycle again with birth control pills.

Can anybody share information or experiences with ME/CFS and suppressing the menstrual cycle using full time birth control pills, to help me make a more informed decision? I am pretty sure that I am going to do this soon, but would appreciate any helpful information, or red flags and warnings to consider before I do.