Can anyone tell me something about menstrual psychosis?
I am a female and I know all about menstrual symptoms (both mild and severe) but I am at a total loss with this one. My girlfriend turns into a crazy person when she gets her period. I don't mean "regular" crazy, I mean clinically deranged. She becomes highly irrational, paranoid, aggressive, accusitory, and deluded. She hears things all wrong and runs with it. She says things that couldn't be further from the truth and fully believes it. She twists my words. She bullies me. She thinks she is totally right when she is so far from rational I am a little frightened. She makes things up and when I try to defend myself or explain how she is miscontruing the situation she screams and won't let me talk. She reduces me to tears and acts as though I was abusive, then she locks herself in the bedroom. Hours later (or the next day) she acts normal until I say something else (no matter how benign) to set her off (it could be "pass the salt") I can do or say NOTHING right. It is important to mention that this doesn't happen every month. (but often enough) There is also a bit of mental illness in her family (I think her mom is an undiagnosed manic-depressive or bi-polar.) I am not a Doctor, and there are so many illnesses out there I couldn't possibly find the right web pages. So I am begging ANY of you who know ANYTHING about this to PLEASE reply. My relationship and sanity depend on it! Thank you for your time! (P.S. this is almost always accompanied by her period

Does this friend have other friends,maybe someone else who could be a sounding board for you,someone you could share this perception you have of her moodiness?

Does your friend think she is wrong,does she show regret after these episodes?

With all the information you provided it does sound like menstrual psychosis. You hit it rig on the nose especially if the symptoms disappear with her period.

I had a friend years ago that had this and every time she had her period I would stay away from her because she would become pyschotic. It got to the point to where one time it almost became physical.

See receive help by seeing a counselor and they gave her medication but she stopped because she didn't want to take it for something she only had once a month and since it disappeared after her period.

What she did instead was joined a support group for women going the same thing as her and it worked. Maybe your girlfriend should do the same and know this sickness is real and have nothing to do with you but it is tough to deal with.

Hi. I don't know anything about this psychosis but this sounds like myself once in month. My doctor recommended me to take vitamin b 6, omega 3 6 9 and cut down sugar and salt the days before my period. I know this is hard but try to see it as an illness not as her as a person. And of course she needs help an probably want it to!
Good luck to both of you

Hello all. I know that these posts are old I don't know if anyone is still responding, but I felt it necessary to do so. I am am 32 year old woman and I am suffering so much from these "symptoms" mentioned above, and I do not know what to do anymore. These "symptoms" only occur right before ( like a few days before my period) and actually during the entire time "of" the period. I lose control of my thoughts, actions, words, and become someone I don't recognize anymore. I am suffering from these menstrual psychosis "symptoms" right at this moment... and I am pushing away my husband and scaring him a little I think. I am suffering from both mental and physical symptoms:

Physical: extreme uterine pain that does not subside unless I take narcotics. I have tried everything else in the medical book, diarrhea that is painful and frequent, the chills, the urge to vomit ( although this specific symptom is not as strong as the others) and heavy bleeding and broken sleep.

Mental: extreme thoughts of violence, no hallucinations, extreme agitation and paranoia, paranoid delusions that everyone is out to get me and that my husband is doing things he is not really doing like not making any money at a job when he really is or has made money, accusing and condemning behaviors, destructive thoughts like wanting to get high or fall asleep and never wake up, fighting with everyone around me, etc.

In the past, I have been diagnosed in the United States as having bi-polar disorder but I refused to take medicine for it as Ive always held a steady job and made really good money ( I am the one who supports the entire household) so I didn't see the need for meds or want to deal with the side effects.

I am also on the birth control pill... have taken it on and off for over 17 years, have no kids (even off the pill I was not able to get pregnant) and the symptoms still show up every menstrual cycle then subside.

Can anyone offer any suggestions and my marriage is really on the rocks because of this and I just really have no idea how to gain control over my life. I cannot see a therapist right now or a doctor as I live in Brazil and have no health care. Public hospitals take 2 months to schedule an appointment to see any kind of doctor, so I don't know if this can wait that long or not? Please help. D

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Originally Posted by ;

Can anyone offer any suggestions and my marriage is really on the rocks because of this and I just really have no idea how to gain control over my life. I cannot see a therapist right now or a doctor as I live in Brazil and have no health care. Public hospitals take 2 months to schedule an appointment to see any kind of doctor, so I dont know if this can wait that long or not?

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The first step is differential diagnosis. You attribute your symptoms to menstrual psychosis yet refer to a previous diagnosis of bipolar disorder that remains untreated.

Psychiatric symptoms are often overlapping. Prior to treatment it is essential to understand the causes with as much specificity as possible. That process is generally not something that a general practitioner can do.

Until such time as you can obtain specialty counsel it isn't possible to offer any type of remedy.

Take what you described and add 2 nites ago when myself and two other roomates spent 2 and a half hours actually worried someone was going to get killed, listening to our other roommate scream and try to pry our doors off the hinges with a butcher knife, because no one wanted to watch cartoons with her. I'm not exaggerating. I swear she was every bit of this and more. She beat our Minpin up the other day too. I don't want to call the police on her because she'll be back on her Nuva ring (they're using it to treat her endometriosis) in a day or two and everything will be fine for the next couple months till she has to take a break from it again. I'm not really sure what to do or if there is anything to do but just move out. We've pleaded with her to talk to her Dr. about it but she has steadfastly refused.

Hi, I know this was posted a very long time ago but I am a 40 year old woman and what you described is "exactly" how my menstrual symptoms are... I recently noticed a pattern with myself and its very scary... like you I don't hallucinate and I am well aware of my actions and moods once they and my menstrual cycle subside. I get very irrational, I think my husband is or wants other women when I honestly know he doesn't, I feel like everyone hates me and doesn't want to be around me, I resent people when I have no reason to think this way, I am not bi polar and I would never take any form of medication for this as I am well aware of my actions but feel I have no control over it when its happening... I feel like I want to shut myself off from the world and everyone around me and just sleep... once its over I think , who was that person, that's not who I am... if anyone would like to talk about this with me I would appreciate it because I thought I was going crazy until I found this web site... feel free to send me a message at my e-mail address [email protected]... it would be comforting to talk to someone who is going through the same thing