[cashart10]

Is anyone else's cycle maximized by your period? I am not sure if this is PMDD. For instance, last night my mania was ridiculous and child like (but greatly euphoric)...don't get me wrong, I have been feeling euphoric, high energy, lack of sleep, spending and reckless so I am not denying the mood episode, I am just saying it was, I don't know, different, and this morning I started my period. On top of that, my most psychotic episode ever, which I am sure some of you have read about, happened the day before I started my period. Again, I was already in the middle of a severe episode but it was ridiculous the day before my period. The same happens when I am very depressed. I tend to become much more suicidal right before I start my period. Is this a bipolar thing? Do any of you experience this? I've never discussed this with my pdoc and I am just curious.

[quasicrystalline]

I got my period the very night I was hospitalized for severe mania, and likewise, if I'm depressed, it gets worse just before my period too. I generally get a mini depression right before my period even if I'm not having an episode. Always had killer PMS as long as I can remember. Maybe it truly is a bipolar thing?

I am diagnosed with PMDD as well as I go insane before, I got the mirena which was supposed to level it out. It has to an extent but I can have a range of moods before ranging from up to 9 days of severe mixed or depression. The day before is always the worst.

[BeyondtheRainbow]

I had a lot of trouble with that until I finally had a hysterectomy (for other reasons) and since my fallopian tubes went the blood supply to my ovaries was reduced and early menopause at the time has turned to almost done/done with hormonal shifts. They said it would take about 5 years to kill my ovaries. It's been almost 3 and there is a noticeable difference in my bipolar; it has been less frequent and some episodes even responded to early treatment.

In contrast I had the Mirena IUD placed about a year before my hysterectomy. It releases tiny amounts of hormones. We knew I was sensitive to hormones but this seemed safe. It was not. I spent 9 months on it in a terrible, intense episode and finally had it removed "just to see" since there was no evidence of this. Within days I was improving. After that in just a couple of weeks my psychiatrist and Gyn surgeon found 2-3 other women who were bipolar and affected by the Mirena.

So for me menopause has been great. Before then, ugh. I even tried the pill of a year so I'd know when I was cranky from PMS instead of guessing with my irregular cycle. They made me sick and that's about all they did.

[HALLIEBETH87]

I understand this! I tend to go to a deep depression during. Most my hospitalization I started my period there. I can't control myself. I just nose dive into the dark and most of the time I get suicidal. That's not to say I don't have bipolar because I do have mania and depression episodes off and on all the dang time. My moods still aren't stable.

[raspberrytorte]

I get more irritable and down before my period. If I'm in an episode I'm usually really stressed out so I don't have it.

[ingill]

It seems like this type of thing is pretty common:

OBJECTIVES:
Several lines of research suggest that reproductive events may affect the course of bipolar disorder (BD) in some women. With respect to the menstrual cycle, the focus has been on dysphoric symptoms [e.g., premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD)], and the exacerbation of depression, in the premenstrual phase. This article reviews the literature on the potential effects of the menstrual cycle on BD.
METHODS:
A systematic search for published case reports and research studies available through March, 2013 was conducted. Several combinations of search terms were entered into PubMed and PsycInfo.
RESULTS:
Overall, 25 case reports, ten retrospective studies, and 11 prospective studies were identified. The majority (64%) of case reports involved hypomanic or manic episodes in the premenstrual phase. Retrospective results suggest that 25-77% and 15-27% of women with BD meet the criteria for premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and PMDD, respectively. Menstrual cycle-related mood changes were reported by 64-68% of women with BD in retrospective studies, and were displayed by 44-65% of women in prospective studies.
CONCLUSIONS:
Although research has focused on the premenstrual phase to the neglect of the periovulatory phase, it appears that a subgroup of women with BD, possibly those with hormonal sensitivity, experience menstrual cycle effects on depressive, hypomanic, and manic episodes. These phase-episode effects appear to be heterogeneous and may have implications for treatment. Whether they might best be described using course specifiers, similar to postpartum onset and rapid cycling, or as diagnostic entities, like PMDD, requires further study.

Source

From personal experience, I nearly always get depressed for 3-4 days just before my period, regardless of what kind of mood state I'm in. It's worst if I happen to be hypo/manic at the time - there've been several times that I seriously considered going to the hospital just to keep myself safe. It took me a while to figure out what was going on because I was on hormonal BC for something like 10 years and I think that helped suppress the premenstrual crazy (but unfortunately I can't take hormonal BC anymore). After I realized the pattern though it's been much easier to talk myself through it and not take any, ahem, drastic actions.

[Capriciousness]

My pdoc says fluctuating hormones disrupt our brain chemistry so it makes sense.