PMDD shaped my life for 17 years before I could name it. I spent those years searching for answers, questioning my sanity, and desperately seeking treatments that actually worked. My painful journey had an unexpected twist. Helping others heal from PMDD became my life's purpose. Hi, I'm Jess, a board-certified nutritional therapist, coach, the founder of Her Mood Mentor, and your host. This is PMDD Pep Talk, a weekly reminder that your suffering is real, your experience is valid, and your future is brighter than your symptoms suggest. Each week, we're going to explore the truths about PMDD that nobody talks about. The kind of truths that shift something deep inside you and make you think, maybe there's more possible than I imagined. Whether you're in the depths of luteal darkness or riding the clarity of your follicular phase, you're exactly where you need to be. Because here's what I know for sure. Healing PMDD isn't just about managing symptoms. It's about transforming your life. This challenge, as brutal as it can be, is an invitation to know yourself more deeply, and live a more joyful, purpose-filled life. PMDD might feel like your whole story, but it's just a chapter, and you get to write what comes next. Welcome to PMDD Pep Talk. Quick pep talk pause. Remember that everything we talk about here is meant to educate and inspire. Always team up with your healthcare provider for personal medical advice. Alright, now let's get into it. Hello, this is Jess with Hormone Mentor, and today I'm meeting with one of our one-to-one clients and PMDD rehab students, Emma. Hello, Emma. Hi. We're so happy to have you here. Emma is here to share her inspiring PMDD story with us and walk us through the highs and lows that she's been through. So thanks so much for being here, Emma. It's going to be so great to talk to you again. Thanks for having me. I'm excited. Yeah. Well, let's get into it. So tell us a little bit about your history with PMDD, the symptoms that you had been experiencing for how long, like all of those juicy details. Right. So I feel like my story is so different from everything I hear online. I feel like people have suffered for so long and I really only noticed symptoms April of 2025. But it was going on for weeks and turned into months. And I just knew things were off with my body. I couldn't really pinpoint why I felt the way I felt. It wasn't until I got kind of like a loose diagnosis from my therapist and she kind of steered me in the direction of thinking I might have PMDD. And when I started to do research, I found you, and thank God I did because I was kind of at the lowest point that I could be at. And when I found you, I was like, this is all really resonating with me. So with her diagnosis and finding you, I feel like I was like, this sounds, this sounds like I have possibly have this, this thing. Yeah, yeah. So it hadn't been going on for decades, luckily, like it has for many. And we love to see how, uh, your therapist knew about PMDD and guided you, because that doesn't always happen. So that's super fantastic. And then you jumped right in. You're such an action taker. We got acquainted. Um, but before that, tell us a little bit about what kind of symptoms were you dealing with when you noticed that, hey, this is not the norm that I've been experiencing up until this point? Yeah, so I feel like my number one symptom was— I call it the jitters, um, just because It's a little bit different than feeling shaky when you feel like you haven't eaten in a while. It was this feeling where I would— often it happened at nighttime. I'd wake up in the middle of the night and it just felt like everything inside of me was buzzing. It was very weird and it freaked me out. It just felt like my entire body was shutting off. And that was the first thing that got me into thinking like, there's something off with my body because it happened a couple times and I was like, this is not normal, like something, something is off. I pinpoint— tried to pinpoint it and what got me thinking was like maybe just like something was off with my minerals or like in my blood, maybe I'm imbalanced in some way. That's kind of the first, first thing I thought of. And then another massive symptom was I just felt extremely apathetic. Like, I, I felt so emotionless, which is not me at all. I have really big emotions, whether it's happiness or sadness or, you know, having fun. Like, I feel them so, so deeply. So I just noticed this lack of emotion and it was very, it was very strange and definitely agitation. Everything annoyed me. Every little thing someone did, especially, you know, the 2 weeks before my period. I just noticed, like, I just was about to snap every, every 5 seconds. And all these things just did not feel like me. The apathy, the jitteriness was so weird. It felt like I had 10 cups of coffee and I didn't. It was just all these things started to add up and I was like, something's off. And I just, I don't know what it is. It's very strange. Yeah, it's, it's really alarming when you recognize this isn't, this isn't me. Like, what's going on here? This is a change. And how, as those symptoms progressed, how were they impacting your quality of life? You're up to a lot. You're an active gal. Well, oh my gosh. Yeah, it was Honestly, not to sound dramatic, it was like ruining my life. Um, for one, social events. I mean, my fiancé and I were often leaving social events very early, and both of us are very social people, so that totally impacted our social lives. I mean, I either would feel that jittery feeling or I would just feel extreme fatigue or stomach issues. There was just always a symptom that was presenting itself. Every day it was something. So our social lives, I feel like for a couple of months, took a hit there. My job too. I mean, I feel like I'm a phys ed teacher and I'm on my feet all day. I'm working with children and I just felt like I wasn't doing the best I could do as a teacher, even as a friend, as a partner, as a daughter, sister. I just feel like it was just so internal. Like everything was just about me and all I could think about was how I felt. And so yeah, it's just, yeah, pretty bad. Yeah, it quickly can seep into every, every avenue of your life. How many days per cycle were you noticing that these symptoms were affecting you, like actively? Yeah. So that's another thing. It's hard because when you do all this research, you try to fit into the box of like what it could— what, you know, could be. And because I thought I had PMDD, I'd start to freak out because I'd be like, I feel like my symptoms are like longer than 2 weeks almost, which as we gathered the information about my body and what was going on, it kind of made sense that sometimes it was longer than 2 weeks, obviously. During my luteal phase it was worse, but it probably affected me like closer to like 16 days out of the month, sometimes like 17 depending on what month it was. But yeah, it was lasting a long time. Yeah. So more than half of your month, half of your cycle, these symptoms are getting in the way. 1000%. And I'm going to— I'm going to list some other symptoms we had down here that we saw improvements with throughout and we kind of forget about. Them later. But, uh, you did mention the fatigue. Nausea was another big one that was coming up. Um, anxiety, uh, panic with that, uh, jittering feeling. Yeah, which is very panicky. Bloating. Um, and then of course as this all piles on, like the sleep gets worse, more depression. So those were some other symptoms that you came into the program like really wanting to change that were really affecting all areas. Yes, absolutely. Yeah, so for 17 days of each cycle, we were seeing around in the beginning, um, these symptoms really getting in the way of your quality of life. You had already been seeing a counselor, you, you know, have other providers in your life. What made you decide to take the type of approach that we take here to these symptoms? So I'm definitely— I've always been a little bit more interested in going like a holistic route, trying to fix things by supplementing and nutrition. I have a little bit of a background in nutrition and fitness. So it's always, always been something I've been like kind of semi-passionate about. And I just, I just felt like this was the right route. I mean, my primary doctors were not helping at all. You know, they time after time, it was like, you're fine, your bloodwork looks good. Just, you know, go see an OB-GYN. I'm going to go see an OB-GYN. They didn't really have many answers for me. In fact, my last one was like, this is just normal. You're 26. Like, yeah, these are the symptoms that, you know, that arise during, during your cycles when you're this age. And I was just like, this is, this has got to be a joke. I'm like, there's just no way I can, like, live like this. Continue to live like this because it was affecting every aspect of my life and I just felt like crap all the time. And so that's when I was like, I need to just kind of like do my own research, figure this out. And then when I did get that diagnosis from the therapist, I was like, you want to know what? That's what I needed to just like research what this is. And I'm just the kind of person who can't sit in discomfort for very long. So I'm like, Google, Google, Google, which is sometimes not a good thing, but sometimes it also helps me because I found you that way. And when I found you, I was just like, this sounds like something I need, something that's going to like actually fix the issue, not put a Band-Aid on it, especially because like I'm getting married next year and I want to start a family in the next couple of years and I need to like get a grasp on what's happening and try to fix it and I really did not want to go on an SSRI. I've done it before, did not like the way I felt on it. And I've never been on birth control before, but I really just was— I didn't want those options, even though those were the only ones kind of like given to me by doctors. So yeah, that's why I was like so happy to find, find you and the work that you do. Yeah, you really wanted to take a different approach, figuring out what What's going on here, right? Those medications can be life-saving. They're so necessary at times, but we're not really getting to uncover the root of what's happening. And you wanted to go straight to it. So I'm wondering, you know, you, you came into the program, um, you didn't know what you were getting yourself into. So I'm curious, what were some fears as you were considering signing up, just getting signed up? That you were encountering entering the program? Any fears? So, I mean, obviously the biggest one for me was I have a wedding and a future home to save up for, and finances were just, you know, the thing that scared me. I was like, okay, what if I spend this money and I just don't get results? You know, what if this was all for nothing? So that was definitely my biggest fear, which Thank God, like, things worked out as they did. But that was definitely my biggest fear. I'm like, am I going to waste all this time, all this money on something that I'm like, how do I know if this is going to work? I mean, hearing the success stories on your page were so helpful, but I was just like, okay, but what about me? Like, my body's different. It's going to react different to certain things. And so that was just the fear that things weren't going to work. That and just kind of making sure I was doing things perfectly. I was afraid that I was like, oh gosh, like, if— what if I don't have a day where I eat great? Or what if I can't, you know, take my supplements that day or I didn't get enough water? And when we started, too, I was— I had a lot of weddings to go to, to my friends at the age where, like, freaking everyone's getting married. So I was just like, okay, well, what if I drink one night and it just kind of like sets me back 2 weeks, you know? Or so it's just there's a lot of unknown going into it and I'm not a fan of the unknown. Yeah, yeah, of course. You're making this a big investment in time, energy, obviously financially in yourself. You're not sure what is going to come of it. And then just the unknown of the process a lot of like fear around what if I can't do it right? Or what if I can't be consistent? Those, those are some of the most common fears coming into the program. So I'm wondering, now you're on the other side of it, you've gone through the entire program, which we're so excited to unpack with you here today. But what, let's get a look at like the fears versus the reality. What was the reality compared to the fears? So, well, one, I am like so, so happy. That I stuck with the protocol that we, that we went through and even to like the very, very end because I would see like some improvement. But it wasn't until like maybe, I guess, 4 months in where I saw like such a drastic change. So I'm like so glad that I stuck with it because the reality was like I just needed to get through it. You know, it's such a process and you kind of just have to like trust the process, as like corny as that sounds, and trust yourself too. And, you know, it's not going to be a perfect journey, but like just get through the day because like better days are coming, like 1000%. It's, it's, it's just a journey and you have to not like beat yourself up when you know, you're maybe not doing things perfectly. But the reality is it's like it takes time. So if you're not patient, you'll definitely learn patience through this process, which is great because I definitely needed to learn patience. And another thing for me, like the reality was like I sometimes like you kind of feel worse before you feel better because it's just especially like when I, you know, you look at my testing, how many things were off, my minerals were like all over the place. So like when things are rebalancing, like, yes, sometimes like might come back and might come back worse. And then all of a sudden, like you start to feel so good and it's worth— it's almost worth feeling a little bit worse for a little bit because you feel so much better on the other side. At least that was like my experience. Yeah, yeah, we had to work through some major, um, mineral recalibration with you, which took time. Um, but you didn't have to be perfect, right? Sometimes you had the drink at the wedding and you got a little less sleep because you were traveling, and you were still able to feel better in the end. And some of that perfectionism fear was able to kind of fall away as you trusted yourself and trusted the process more. And then what about the fear of the investment? Now that you're on the other side of it, the time, the energy, financially, how are you feeling about that now? It's so worth it. Like, it's just— I am so glad that I kind of like took this leap of faith. It was worth every penny. Like I have said many times to you, because there's nothing more important than your health. I mean, genuinely nothing else. Like not that nothing else matters, but it's so hard to care about anything else or, um, you know, do the things you want to do and take care of others when like you don't feel 100%. So it's just, it's so worth the investment. It's an investment on your life. Like, if you want to be happy and feel good and have energy and do the things that you love and take care of the people you love, like, you also need to put yourself first a little bit there and just, just like bite the bullet. And, you know, it's really worth it to feel, to feel like yourself again, in my opinion. I think it's so worth it. Yeah, I think it's so cool to unpack those fears because those fears are so natural and normal and there's nothing, absolutely nothing wrong with them. We're going to have them embarking on any new change or challenge, but then to revisit them afterward and kind of see where you sit with them. There's so much to be gained as you grow through the fears. Yeah. So I'm curious to get into a little bit, as you went through PMDD rehab, as you went through the entire coaching and nutritional therapy process, what started to change symptom-wise for you? So the first thing I started to notice, one, was digestion. Um, I was going to the bathroom regularly. I said this so many times, this is TMI, but my poops were so healthy, which I was so excited about. So that was like the first, first thing right away. I noticed that my gut just felt stronger. The second thing was my immune system. This is my second, second year working in a school. I'm around kids all day, snot-nosed kids, and I do pre-K through 8th grade. So a lot of sickness going around. So my immune system was the second thing, you know, since the start of this year. I think I had like a little bit of a cold. And last year, by now, I think I was on like my fourth round of like antibiotics. You know, I got every, every sickness under the moon. So my gut and my immune system were like the first things I was like, oh, things feel like they're moving in like a good direction. And then the third most noticeable thing was the apathy starting to kind of subside. I would notice like I would start to cry easily, which is very on brand for me. I love a good cry. I would like listen to music that made me cry and be like, oh yeah, like I'm crying and it honestly feels so good. And yeah, like I started to kind of like feel emotions. Again. I didn't feel so like numb, which was such a plus. I mean, I don't know if everyone would think that like crying all the time is such a plus, but I was like, this feels so good. I love crying. Um, like happy, happy tears and sad tears, you know? So those were like the 3 things that I really needed to, you know, kind of like trust that like, okay, things are starting to work. Yeah. So seeing some big shifts and everyone's symptom presentation is different, what their goals are, what they're aiming for, but there can be kind of two sides to the mood, the hormonal mood experience. It can be apathy, it can be like a hardened kind of shell to the world, or it can just be that opposite of just, I can't stop crying and I can't get a hold of my emotions. And you don't— you know, those are two different kind of sides of the nervous system functioning, and you, you don't really want to be locked into one or the other. You want to be able to move through them. And so it was great to see that your goal and your symptoms were starting to improve throughout the program. And then what about duration? So starting out with 17, 16, 17 days, closer to 3 weeks of symptoms, what started to shift in the timeline? Yeah, once I kind of— I think it was like maybe after my first 2 cycles since working with you, I think it was like my burden, the symptom burden started to go down maybe like to like 10 days for maybe the first 2 cycles. And then after that was like maybe 5. And this past cycle it was like maybe 2 days where I noticed like a little irritation, a little bit of cramping, but like still felt like in a good mood. I I literally just got my period and on Friday it was 2 days beforehand and usually that's like 2 days beforehand. It's like, oh my gosh, like do everything to feel better. I feel like crap. And I was in my car on Friday driving home. I was so excited for a long weekend and I was just— I had— I was in such a good mood. I was like, oh my God, checking my app. I was like, I get my period in 2 days and like, feel great. So yeah, my duration is definitely like shortened a ton. Massive reduction in symptoms from what we saw in your MAP data was starting out with us in our first MAP, it was 17 days that you reported. And then in the last of moderate to severe symptoms, so we're categorizing them in severity. And then in the last MAP of data, which you now just have another MAP of data from when we last spoke, but there were no moderate to severe days of symptoms. It doesn't mean you didn't feel things, right? You're gonna get ready to go through a massive physiological process would be weird if you didn't feel anything, but to not have any in that moderate to severe category from 17 to none, like, that's such a fantastic transformation. So I'm wondering, you know, that was really getting in the way of your quality of life. As the symptoms came down, what has started to shift in the quality of life realm for you? Literally everything. I feel I'm doing a better job at being a teacher. I mean, I feel like that is a huge one. You have to have so much patience to work with children. So having PMDD on top of working with kids can be like such a scary combo. So that is a huge one. Social events, like I can stay up late. I don't feel like this extreme fatigue. The way I was feeling it. I'm working out so much more. You know, PMDD will definitely slow you down from that. I mean, I love to exercise, but I was really hitting a wall, like I was barely working out at all. And now it's at least 3 days a week. And even on days where I don't feel like 100%, I'm in my luteal phase, I can still do it. Now, this past luteal phase, I worked out 3 times. And it was awesome. Well, 3 times in 1 week just the week before. So it just— everything has improved. My relationships, like, I don't feel like I'm just as— I feel like nasty or bitchy anymore. Like, I feel like I can just, you know, if something's bothering me, I'm just like, okay, I can, I can deal with it. I don't feel like my personality has done this, like, I'm just doing this huge shift anymore. Like I can deal with hard, annoying little things and it's fine. It's not like catastrophic anymore. Yeah, you've really resourced yourself. Obviously it's easier to be resourced when the symptoms are less days and less severe, but you also have built a toolkit of strategies and supports that help you navigate through any symptoms that do come up. And again, just like we can go in that downward spiral with the symptoms taking us down, there can be the opposite effect, which very few of us get to experience, where we're kind of going up and everything's compounding going up in a positive way. Um, and we saw that from your— some quotes. How do you feel about reading some quotes from your sessions? Okay, so let's see. In session 2, so this was 2 weeks into the program, you said this luteal phase was more manageable. So it was a great early win. By the time we got to session 5, you were saying things like, you said, this is making me so emotional, I can live more now without the constant fear of a symptom popping up. Yeah, yeah, that I love too. That's so beautiful. You said, I feel more like myself. And you've said, I've learned I'm not my feelings or my symptoms. So some deep work playing out there. In session 7, you said, my stomach has felt great since starting. You said, I'm shocked at how much everything has come down, which you were referring to the mapping data that we collected where you could see everything playing out with the symptom reduction and duration reduction. You said, I'm at a point where my symptoms are not hijacking my life anymore. Mm-hmm. You said, I've been a better teacher this year because I'm more present. You said, I don't wake up every day feeling scared of symptoms. Yeah, that's a huge one. Yeah. And you said, I needed this so badly and it was worth every penny. And that's coming from someone who's planning a wedding and moving. Yeah. Yep. 1000%. And I mean, it's not surprising to see these shifts when we saw that reduction in your symptom mapping data from that daily record of severity of problems. That's our free symptom mapping kit we offer to everyone, but we work through with our one-to-one clients targeting their symptom patterns and helping them figure out how to interpret them and, and reduce them. So we saw that massive reduction in severity and duration from your mapping data, but then we also ran your symptom assessment assessment starting out in the program and ending. And when you came into the program, you had a 416-point symptom burden, and when you graduated in the program, you had a, um, 300-point symptom burden score. So you were able to even reduce your symptom burden by 116 points over that 4-month period of time, which was super fantastic to see as well. Yeah. So we've gone through a journey together. You've gone through a journey with your body, with yourself, with your sense of self. You are in a unique position to share hope and wisdom for other women out there who are still suffering. So I'm wondering, what would you want someone to know who is in a position like you were, say, 6 months ago, a year ago, feeling like there's no hope, I only have these two pharmaceutical interventions as options, uh, there's no way this can get better, this, you know, all those negative thoughts and beliefs that we tell ourselves because of the severity of the symptoms. What would you want that, that woman to know, knowing what you know now and what you've been through? Yeah, just whatever you do, do not give up on finding the answers because, yeah, it's like it's such a scary place to be in when you are so just lost and depressed and just don't, don't give up because you're going to find the right thing. For you. And we live in a world where it seems like we don't have a lot of options, but like we do, we totally do. And I'm now I'm just such a huge advocate, like, look at what you're eating, look at your lifestyle, you know, get the testing done, the hair mineral, the bloodwork, the just everything. Like, do not think that you only have two options. Because you don't. And, you know, honestly, like, go the holistic approach. It's so worth it. And, you know, your life is not going to feel like this forever. Like, it's not. You are not stuck like this forever. Even for the women who have been going through it for years and years and years, like, just look at the testimonials to, like, even yourself, like, You can be going through this for so long. I can't even imagine. My journey was so much shorter. But even in that short time, God, it was— it felt very hopeless. But it's not. It's totally like you can turn this around. So do not give up. Like, hang on. Even if you're hanging on by a thread, keep hanging on because you will find the right thing. Trust, trust, you know? Yeah, that's so, that's so beautiful. I mean, the reality is it feels hopeless and it's fine to validate that and to feel that reality, especially when you're trying so many things and you're not getting the results you're looking for. But there is also always more. There's always more support, more things to try, more hope of a way forward. Even though of course it will look different than it did look for you, Emma, or it looked for me, or it looks for the other clients. But we are not uniquely special that we could learn to reduce and manage these symptoms. We don't have any special juju that you listening don't have. Um, it really comes down to finding the right support for you and finding the right interventions for you, and also not just disappearing the symptoms. It's not all about that. It's about how you care for yourself and show up for yourself and believe in yourself. There's a lot of deep work to the process as well that's required, but you, you have to hold that thread of hope to get there. Yeah, like, you're strong. Just please, whatever you do, hang on, because the answers are coming. Just keep doing the research and find the right person to work with. Genuinely beautiful, Emma. Well, thank you so much for being here, for sharing your story. It's a big ask. It's very vulnerable to put yourself out there, um, but this is such a gift to offer to everyone in the community to know that here's another woman who changed her life and changed these symptoms, and it's possible for those listening as well. Mm-hmm. 1,000%. Stick with it. You'll be fine. I promise. Aww. Well, thanks again for being here, Emma. It has been such a joy and pleasure to work with you over these last 4 months to see this transformation to play out, to be a part of your healing journey. It's been a real gift. I loved celebrating with you throughout and turning over all the rocks and seeing where— what we were missing. So I just want to thank you, obviously, for being here. As I— I can't thank you enough for being here, but thanks for inviting me into your process and allowing me to guide you. Thanks, you helped me so much. I appreciate it. Well, thanks, Emma.
