Ugh. I know this is an old post, and I hope that you no longer have these doubts wildflowerchild. But just in case, and for anyone else dealing with this, I will offer my story.

I was actually misdiagnosed with PMDD before my bipolar diagnosis. It was assumed that just because I had severe mood swings before my cycles, it must be PMDD. Problem is PMDD is NOT just treated with hormones. They are also usually treated with....(dramatic pause).....antidepressants. Some women take antidepressants everyday, others only take them about the second half of their cycle, usually 1 - 2 weeks before their periods.

At that time my primary doc was treating me for that, as she had been for the many years I was diagnosed with depression. She referred me to a gynecologist, I think. Don’t remember if the gyn gave me anything, but it definitely wasn’t birth control. Even though we were on the path to adoption, we never stopped trying to conceive. So what does my primary doc do? Up my antidepressants, giving me an increased dose in the second half of my cycle. I was tracking my cycles anyhow, so this should have worked. Wrong. I got WORSE. It was actually because my PMDD treatment failed, as long as many years of antidepressant failures, that prompted my primary doc to finally refer me to a real psychiatric provider, and a therapist.

After hearing my symptoms, my pdoc and therapist worked together to give me a mood chart, to track my symptoms everyday, from levels of high to low. They said I might need to do it for 3 - 4 months, but it only took them 2 months to clearly diagnose me with bipolar disorder, it was type 2 at the time. I was the classic bipolar case of antidepressants triggering hypomanic episodes, for nearly 10 years since high school. That, along with my description of my symptoms and my mood chart, that showed various peaks and valleys, made them feel confident in my bipolar diagnosis.

Yes, my chart did show a significant depressive drop a few days before my period. But it also showed my mood significantly rising into hypomania in the first few days of my period. The way they explained it to me is that I did NOT have PMDD. But instead my period was a TRIGGER for my bipolar symptoms. The same way stress and lack of sleep can be triggers for bipolar symptoms.

It is very rare for a person to be misdiagnosed with bipolar when they really have PMDD. There are so many different criteria for a bipolar diagnosis than a PMDD diagnosis. Worse mood changes than normal PMS prior to your period is really the only criteria, to justify pumping you full of more antidepressants. However it is VERY common for a person to be diagnosed with PMDD when they really have bipolar disorder, because doctors will always assume mood swings are period related. But when you have mood swings at other times, or go from huge shifts in moods, like how I went from depression to hypomania within several days surrounding my cycle, it is more clear that your period is just a trigger for bipolar symptoms. That explanation really helped me A LOT.

Ironically as I get older, I get fewer and fewer symptoms before my period, sometimes none. Stress, even minor stressors, has become my primary trigger. I don’t know if that is because my bipolar has worsened (I have had several manic and mixed episodes so I am diagnosed with bipolar 1 now) or that I’m getting older. Although I am just 39, I have no idea what that means from a hormone standpoint. But I did have more bipolar symptom triggers from my period when I was younger and diagnosed with bipolar 2.

I hope that helps anyone dealing with this.