angry

fiberartist219

How can I tell if I'm hormonal, or legitimately angry? I stopped taking the pill in October, and my natural hormones are rearing their ugly head! Losing weight is a lot easier, but so is growing pimples and yelling at people! (It's like I'm a teenager again.) My mind is working differently in a lot of ways, but I can't tell if it's because of certain circumstances that I'm in, or if it's working differently due to the hormonal changes.

For example, my employer is in the middle of a merger. I'm scared I could lose my job, so I have a heightened awareness of gossip and all the things that *could* happen. I feel like to a certain amount of resentment might be normal.

However, my husband is acting normally, but when I get mad at him, I tend to chew him out more than usual. Am I mad about work stuff, or am I a PMS monster that is biting is poor head off?

My periods are not even close to regular, so it's not like I can count the number of days or weeks and guess what part of my cycle I'm in, so that's why I'm kind of curious to see what other women have to say about this.

suztheq

How can I tell if I'm hormonal, or legitimately angry? I stopped taking the pill in October, and my natural hormones are rearing their ugly head! Losing weight is a lot easier, but so is growing pimples and yelling at people! (It's like I'm a teenager again.) My mind is working differently in a lot of ways, but I can't tell if it's because of certain circumstances that I'm in, or if it's working differently due to the hormonal changes.

For example, my employer is in the middle of a merger. I'm scared I could lose my job, so I have a heightened awareness of gossip and all the things that *could* happen. I feel like to a certain amount of resentment might be normal.

However, my husband is acting normally, but when I get mad at him, I tend to chew him out more than usual. Am I mad about work stuff, or am I a PMS monster that is biting is poor head off?

My periods are not even close to regular, so it's not like I can count the number of days or weeks and guess what part of my cycle I'm in, so that's why I'm kind of curious to see what other women have to say about this.

It sounds like it's the perfect storm of stress and hormones to me. I've been on some form of hormone since I was 15 due to very irregular and painful cycles (I'm 29 now). I've been on a ton of different pills because even the ones that helped keep me on an even somewhat regular cycle stopped after about a year or so. Some pills worked better than others. Some it took my body three months to get used to and some took less than a month. Some helped keep my skin clear, some didn't. Tri-phasil pills kept me from bleeding for the first week, but not the other three. A couple of different brands turned me into a raging lunatic. One in particular I only lasted three weeks on it and I thought I was either going to commit a murder or be committed to a psych ward. (One day, getting stopped at every red light on my way home from work made me cry for almost an hour straight). I guess my point is that hormones are amazing little things and even the slightest imbalance can really throw you off. Add to that all the stress you have at work and you could have a recipe for disaster.

If you don't mind me asking, why did you go off the pill? Also, have you always had irregular cycles? (That in itself is horrible) If so, have you talked to your doctor about an underlying cause such as hormone imbalance, endometriosis, etc? Have you considered trying another type of pill, the ring, injections or an IUD? Just some things to consider. I hope you feel better and find some answers.

fiberartist219

Oh, I don't want to get back on hormones. I have more energy now than I have in the last decade. I wanted to see if the pills (along with another medication I was on) were slowing my weight loss, and it turns out that they were. Now, losing weight is a lot easier, because I have more energy, and I'm not as hungry as I was before.

I have always been irregular UNLESS I was on birth control pills.

I did talk to my doctor about it and we decided that irregularity was the least of my problems. Since I don't have any desire to have kids, I could give a crap when I'm ovulating. He said that irregular menstruation is an inconvenience, but it is not dangerous. He offered to test me for PCOS, but I declined the test. From what I know about PCOS, I don't want anything to do with the treatments, and since I don't care about fertility, I didn't feel like paying $200 to get an official diagnosis. If I had plans on treating it, I would get the ultrasound, but since I don't really care, I'm not going to bother.

I know that mood swings are a part of PMS, but since I can't exactly time things with my uterus, I don't know when I'm PMSing until days later when the bleeding starts.

I think it will somewhat even out after a few more months, but the announcement of the merger at work seemed to send me into a tizzy. I have a very comfortable life with my job, and when all that I have worked for is threatened, I turn into a mama bear who wants to protect her cubs. My coworkers seem to be feeling similar emotions over it, so I don't think I'm off base for getting testy these days.

So now the whole concept of PMS seems new to me again since my symptoms have been stifled for the last decade while I was on the pills. However, I will gladly take PMS over the sluggish feeling I've been having the last several years. I am being treated for hypothyroidism, so I'm sure if that's off, who knows what other hormones might be floating around all willy nilly.

Thanks for replying. I think I needed to sit back for a couple days to get a better idea of what is going on with me. The more I think about it, the more I think that you are right and it is a perfect storm of both the stress and the hormones. I think that all the things I spout off about are legitimate, but I just need to find the right tone of voice and polite words to say them in. I'll get there.

suztheq

I understand being protective of what you have worked for and of your co-workers. I feel the same way about my job and the people I work with. I would have to agree that you not off base at all with your feelings. I wish you the best of luck through the merger.

Now on to even more fun things... I too have always been irregular, but even when on pills. My cycles were debilitating and since I also don't care about fertility, I was open to a lot more options. Turns out that I have endometriosis. Lupron was the only thing that completely stopped my periods. I was on it for 18 months, though it's only approved for 6 months. Talk about side affects! However, the good with the shot still outweighed the bad for me. Now I'm on a super low dose pill that I take continuously and I've had a lot of luck with it. No side affects, no weight gain or mood changes.

I do understand not wanting to go back on hormones, especially if the irregularity isn't too bothersome. Mine were only considered "dangerous" because I only stopped a few days out of the month and was anemic for years because of it. I really hope your cycles and hormones level out, for your own sanity. Also, try not to get too stressed about work, "momma bear". The stress definitely isn't helping. If you need to vent, you can vent to me anytime. I'll send you a request. Good luck with everything, and have a good rest of the weekend!

fiberartist219

Well, my irregularity is kind of in the other direction. I stopped the pill in October, had a period, had another one two weeks later (very light) and then didn't have another one until January. That one was heavier, but still only lasted three days. I don't think I'm anemic from it, so I will be ok.

I saw a job posting on careerbuilder today that I am interested in... now I just need to polish up my resume and get the courage to send it!

deegeyspazms

OMG I've woken up feeling mad for no apparent reason - tummy bloats and boob aches - here we go! Might write down everything that's p*ssing me off and review it next week (or after period) to see if it's justified or not!
So glad I'm not the only one!
Cup of cocoa made with pure cocoa powder, milk and a sweetener has made me feel a fair bit better. I think it stimulates serotonin production - the happiness hormone...