Chocolate: not just a placebo, a tasty one
If I hadn’t just had my period, I’d assume I was about to get it. Although some people manage to disbelieve the whole PMS thing, it doesn’t make the fact of it fairly miserable for me. Especially that part where I get to wanting to kill myself every other month because — well, not because of anything, just because. It was suggested that ibuprofen can help kill mood swings along with cramps, so I’ll try that too.
However, I do not have PMS, I’m just crying at, well, everything. The only reason I haven’t cried at a long distance commercial is because I haven’t seen one recently. I’m feeling slow and unmotivated — did I say I planned to redesign? I lied — and weepy. Time to sleep it off, I guess.
August 26th, 2004 at 12:23 am
I hate to take pleasure in suffering, but, oh! I’m so glad I’m not the only one who needs Prozac for her PMS! The only thing I’ve found that works for mine is the Pill… let us know how the ibuprofen works out?
Anyway, I hope sleeping helps, pleasant dreams to you!
August 26th, 2004 at 12:24 am
Hey, this is nearly verbatim (well not, but what I meant) when I said this past weekend that if I didn’t know better, I’d think Aunt Flo was visiting.
Ah, I remember these McDonald’s commercials they came out with (or were they long distance?) when we lived in Florida, and it was this elderly couple who climbed into an old truck together, and rather than belt themselves in as the law declared (I’d assume), the old woman scooted over to sit right next to the old man, and she’d turn (”she’d” because she did it every time I saw the commercial) and look at him, then they looked straight ahead, then the camera shot from behind, and saw them from the backwindow of the truck, driving off into the… you guessed it: the sunset. And every single time, I’d just tear up, and practically choke on it because B (at that time) laughed at me. (Now he says stuff like, that’s it, baby, get it all out.)
You’re not alone, man, even in your suicidal thoughts, although I’ve never blogged about them and don’t have them nearly as frequently as I once did. Maybe that’s some sort of consolation. I doubt it. I’m not good at consoling, but I really try. :) (cheese grin)
August 26th, 2004 at 12:02 pm
A really good exercise session that gets your blood pumping usually helps.
August 26th, 2004 at 9:16 pm
Sleep and food here. And, yeah, I grew up with a mother who never had PMS or even cramps and never understood why going for a long shopping trip with lots of standing and walking was not a good idea.
Have you ever tried charting? If nothing else, it provides a bit of grim satisfaction to have the pattern emerge in neatly printed text. Come for the fertility awareness, stay for the self-knowledge. *grin*
Rana
August 27th, 2004 at 11:41 pm
Exercising while I have my cramps is . . . a bad idea. Or when I’m depressed, actually: it does not make me feel better in any way.
I always intend to chart, but don’t.
I’m pretty amazed that a whole lot of other people get so depressed when they have PMS. What possible evolutionary advantage could depression and pain have given?
August 28th, 2004 at 12:01 am
WA, I’m stepping into possibly even grosser territory here, but I’ve wondered about the same thing since I had my kids and discontinued birth control and the pains I experienced with ovulation became so intense. You’d think: ovulation, continuing with procreation, etc., so what does it mean that it’s so painful that I have to eat a big meal and take five alleve in order to walk, and would of course, never consider engaging in anything that would be advantageous to the reason for ovulation in the first place.
Not that I care anymore, but still, it is an interesting phenomenon.
August 28th, 2004 at 11:40 am
I have never actually felt pain on ovulation (yay!), but I feel great sympathy for those who do. You’ve got a bigger point — at least when I feel sick, I’m not fertile. Between the pain on ovulation and the illness and misery when you’ve got your period — I’ve often wondered. Not that knowing would help, though.
August 28th, 2004 at 2:05 pm
Did you ever see the King of the Hill episode where Connie, the neighbors’ daughter, gets her first period, and her mom explains to her about PMS, pointing out that it’s a drag, but at least it “makes sad movies truly excellent”?
I’m glad I’m not the only one who reacts to PMS by crying at every little tiny thing.
August 29th, 2004 at 12:49 am
No, but that is a wonderful comment.
My littlest sister just got her period for the first time. My other sister also has absolutely terrible cramps, so the littlest one is used to both of us being nonfunctional. Her main comment is that wow, she doesn’t have cramps! She just feels a little sick and it hurts some . . . and she’s not good with pain. My sister and I are rather extreme.
I never realised how many other people get this response with PMS (my mother has not had her period in my lifetime); it’s nice to know I’m not crazy. Or, if I am, this particular thing isn’t a craziness.
August 30th, 2004 at 12:52 am
We’re a bit unusual from an evolutionary perspective; having enough body fat to have a menstrual cycle every month is a notable luxury, for one, and for two, our diets and lifestyles are very different from our ancestors’. I always wonder what would happen to my moods if I ate nothing but fruits and veggies and nuts, and walked ten miles a day to get them…
August 30th, 2004 at 1:47 am
Yes, as well as the easy and reliable birth control, so we’re not most of the time either pregnant or nursing.
I am not sure my moods would be great if I had to walk 10 miles for all my food. Cramps better? Maybe. But for the 90% or more of days I don’t have PMS, I suspect I’d be less happy, if much more fit.
August 30th, 2004 at 4:08 pm
Maybe being depressed is supposed to make all the rest of the tribe feel sorry for us, and give us food to compensate for not having gotten pregnant?
Nah. I think we’re just biochemically still evolving. It doesn’t get in the way of reproduction in a significant way, so the tendencies persist.
I like my body, but to say that I believe it works properly 100% of the time would be a stretch. It’s more like it likes to come up with annoying quirks to test my ability to cope with them. Feh.
Rana
August 30th, 2004 at 4:09 pm
Oh, and German doctors have found that dark chocolate is good for cardiovascular health. Yay!
Rana
August 30th, 2004 at 7:11 pm
Well, it seems that the ovulation pain would impact reproduction. And it’s not that my period hurting impacts anything — except if you’re living hand-to-mouth, losing a few days of getting food each month could be killer.
Yes, I read that about dark chocolate. I had it right all along!
August 31st, 2004 at 1:44 am
Yeah, evolution ain’t always perfect - and it’s not designing us for happiness, just for survival. Depressing, except when I’m really depressed, then I find it comforting.
August 31st, 2004 at 10:01 am
A lot more comforting than to think that menstrual cramps etc are specifically chosen as part of a design, though.
August 31st, 2004 at 6:06 pm
Yes. Yes indeed.
And, yami, I agree. I’ve felt that way myself while depressed.
Rana