I need help! I don't know WHAT is wrong with me!! Life is good. VERY GOOD. I'm happy in my marriage. I have PERFECT (and I do mean perfect ) Grandkids that I adore. SO...why am I so mad? So EASILY irratated. SO hateful to my husband and others I'm very close too? I have these crazy mood swings...I can't stand being around myself, I'm not sure HOW the hubby stands to come home from work everyday. ALL day long, I can't wait for him to get home and when he does, I snap at him..for absolutely no reason whatsoever.
WHAT IS GOING ON??? HELP! I don't like being this way at all.

Well if this is a sudden thing then there is a chance it could be hormonal. It's easy enough to check with a blood test but I do know that low levels of progesterone will cause irritability and you are of an age where you could be experiencing that.

Of course if you had been this way all your life I'd say you had a personality or mental disorder But chances are, prob just hormonal and if it is, easily manageable with hormone replacement therapy.

Before you go see a doctor, use some common-sense home remedies.

1. Exercise. Do you walk at least a mile a day, part of it uphill so that you get a bit ‘puffed’? This will increase your energy and help you sleep better at night.

2. Sleep. Do you sleep at least six hours a night? If you don’t, then don’t nap during the day – or as you’re lying down for a nap, set a timer so that it’s a short ‘micronap’ which is very refreshing and won’t interfere with night sleep.

3. Food. Sweets and refined starches (e.g. flours, cornstarch, etc., even whole wheat flours) cause blood sugar fluctuations that make you fell hungry when you don’t need food. This makes you overeat and then you have less energy and gain weight and then you feel depressed.

Get rid of all the sugars, honies, molasses, etc in your house and just eat fruits for dessert – no cream of sugar or ice cream with the fruit, either. And for bread eat whole grain breads (not whole grain flour breads – real whole grain breads.)

Don’t buy or eat prepared food. They all – ALL – contain sugars. Cook meats, vegetables, everything from scratch.

These things will stabilize mood swings.

And if your family complains, tell them you are now the Food Fascist, and if they want to eat junk, they can buy and eat it away from home. If they’re smart enough to ‘get it’, they’ll feel better in a short time too!

4. Mood lifters: with the money you save not buying junk food, you can carefully shop some nice music CD’s and happy DVD’s that have a positive outlook on life. Play them instead of watching daytime TV which is sickening stuff and makes people feel anxious and hostile.

5. Focus on people and things besides yourself. You could pick a project around the house you’ve been meaning to do, and then do it AS PERFECTLY AS YOU CAN. Help a naighbor with yard work and other chores -- but pick someone with a positive outlook! You’ll feel so pleased with yourself!

And if all that fails, see a doc.

P.S. I do all that and I still have unhappy moments, so I’m seeing a grief counsellor tomorrow morning.

Good luck!!!

Thank you both for your replies, they will be very helpful. Just a little reminder, I'm diabetic, so diet is a daily 'must' and routine.

I'm not really sure what's happening. I feel okay physically, just ticked off so easily. I get the sweats like never before..I've always sweat, but now when I'm doing anything, even just sitting there, I can just get drenched with sweat to where my hair is dripping wet. It's the weirdest thing ever.

I don't get the exercise like I used to or that I should, but I'm still very active. I will try the walking uphill though, babs...can't hurt.

Like I said, my personal life is awesome, couldn't be better and I don't really have anything at all to gribe about at this point...I just don't wanna become a total bitch!!

Interesting...I was gonna ask you if you were having drenching sweats...you see Laurie, all those are symptoms of being perimenopausal. True, menopause usually hits in the late 40s early 50s but studies do show that some women go through perimenopause in their mid to late 30s and the top symptoms are iritability, mood swings, and night sweats (which can occur during the day) along with sudden hot flashes. That's why I suggested getting your hormone levels tested.
******
What are the symptoms of perimenopause?
The following are the most common symptoms of perimenopause. However, each woman may experience symptoms differently. Symptoms may include:

mood changes
changes in sexual desire
difficulty in concentrating
headaches
night sweats
hot flashes
vaginal dryness
sleep disturbances
joint and muscle aches
extreme sweating
frequent urination
similar symptoms as experienced with premenstrual syndrome (PMS)
Perimenopause

You mentioned that you are diabetic... couldn't these all be symptoms that indicate that meds might need to be adjusted as well? Or have you started any new meds that might be interacting with those that you already are taking? I agree with all of Bab's suggestions, but with a chronic health condition, I think a call to the doc is not necessarily unwarranted either... if nothing else just as a check-in. I tend to be very conservative in that arena though....

Georgia85: You forgot to mention dry skin. Ever get that one? It's enough to make one think that one is mentally ill, because few ever mention this unexpected condition, which can torment.

babthrower: I thought that you were over your anger, because I quite deliberately called you a nasty name, and you handled that quite well.

Hi puppy.

I've been doing some soul searching recently. I think (IMO) that the key to happiness is to really appreciate the things you have. Sure, I can be unhappy because I have to put $45.00 in my gas tank. I'm not. I'm so lucky that I have a car and have the money for the gas. Some aren't so lucky. I've really grown to appreciate the things I have. It is so easy to take what you have for granted. I think competition is the root of all evil. People want to be the center of attention and they want to be number one. People want their team to be the best, their kid to be the smartest and their house to be the nicest on the street. I think the chase to be number one and have it all can really backfire. I don't compete with anyone. I compete with myself. I appreciate the things I have and I like who I am. If someone has more than I do, I'm happy for them. It doesn't affect me in any way if something good happens to someone else. I am on my own path and life is good. I am still growing and healing. I recently switched my career to a technical field and it has been quite a challenge. I'm doing things that I never thought I could. Everything begins with a thought. Maybe you need to do some soul searching and find what will bring you joy. Change is hard and takes work. I don't think your problem is hormonal. I think you are lacking something in your life. Maybe you need a personal challenge or a change of pace. Take some time to reflect. Once you can find a true appreciation for what you have, you will see how blessed you really are. Challenge yourself. Appreciate where you are, how far you have come and make the next step toward a better life. Everyone has the same 24 hours in their day. Today is a new day. Make the most of it and choose your time wisely.

Good luck to you Laurie.

Other possibilities:

Caffeine intake - causes irritability in some people and anxiety in some.

Lack of vigorous exercise - walking might not cut it. You might need to really work to relieve your stress. A short period of vigorous exercise might do the trick better than a long walk.

Stress - It could be that even though everything is peachy that you might not be taking enough time to reflect. A go-go-go life style is not workable for some personalities. Those of us that have used cigarettes over the years may or may not need this moment of reflection on a regular basis more than other people do. If I don't take a bit of time to quietly think things over on a very regular basis, I tend to get irritable even if it makes zero sense.

I guess I would go see a doctor if I were you because I agree with all above and can't tell you for sure what's going on. Just wanted to contribute 2 cents worth.

tsaeb surmises:" I thought that you were over your anger, because I quite deliberately called you a nasty name, and you handled that quite well."

No, no, not that kind of anger. The anger I feel (intermittently) is toward one person only, who in my opinion disrespected Ern, and I also feel guilt because I did not sufficiently defend Ern. The reason the anger is irrational is that I know this person did not do anything deliberately against Ern or me -- just tactlessness. (Incredible tactlessness.) Yet I can't seem to shake it.

I talked to the grief counsellor yesterday, she came to my house and we spent a couple of hours talking. She thinks it is grief, and that it will pass when I have fully accepted what has happened. She says I should 'feel' the anger, not try to dismiss it, and worry about forgiving later. She said I should also "feel" the guilt, and not try to rationalize. She said that knowing in advance that a loved one will die does not lessen the grief with the death -- there is just a period of numbness or shock anyhow, and often this is followed by inappropriate, even violent, emotions. You just must go through it.

Then the grief can take many forms. Anger at oneself or at others is very common.

I'm glad I spoke to her. I will see her again next week.

(Sorry, didn't mean to hijack the thread.)

You didn't hijack the thread Babs...tseab's comment in her post was irrelevent to the conversation already so I think it was appropriate that you responded...

ANYWAY!!!!! Puppy...what you describe, especially the sweating episodes, really does sound like pre-menopausal stuff as was mentioned.

Although you're only 40 (today ) it isn't unrealistic to imagine you could be experiencing this. It might be worthwhile to talk with older female members of your immediate family to see when they went through it...it's often hereditary, but can be affected by other health issues also. And it's entirely possible that it could be caused totally by a need for your insulin to be adjusted.

Definitely something to bring up to your doctor.

When you described your "sweats"...I could definitely relate, since I am going thru that myself. Even if it's a nice 70 degrees in the room, I'll suddenly break out in a sweat...and can actually feel the "whoosh!" of it. And suddenly I'm drenched. Hot flash city.

A year ago when this started, my doc at the time prescribed a low dose estrogen, but it made me gain weight like I never have before, so I decided I'd rather have hot flashes. I know it'll stop eventually.

MrsS gave me a fabulous suggestion that helps! She said to get a towel wet with cold water and put it under your bare feet while sitting in a chair. OMG, it works! Also, I don't go anywhere without a fan!

I hope you find a solution soon Pup! I know how miserable it is!

Since I never had any hot flashes and am in menopause (whew), am I just plain lucky, or should I worry about having too much estrogen? You gals make it sound as though 99% of women get hot flashes.

Naah, trouble-free menopause is normal. We hear about those with problems because the problems are so distressing.

I went into it at age 55 and had no problems. A friend, a physician, who though not a gynecologist works mainly with women's illnesses, told me I was boringly normal in that regard. She told me most of her patients had no serious problems and just breezed right through.

But some of the ones who did had a really rough time.

(By the way, she said she didn't approve of routinely prescribing hormone replacement to menopausal women who had no complaints. Looks like time has proved her right.)

If you are experiencing perimenopausal symptoms, some recommend soy, saying that it is very helpful in alleviating these symptoms.

This might not work for everybody, but it stops the night sweats, the severe hot flashes, the mood swings, and takes the edge off, for which a few husbands are very grateful.

quote:

Originally posted by Teshuvah: ...for which a few husbands are very grateful.

I'm sure the women are far more grateful.

My mother used hormones for awhile, then all the hormones-are-bad-for-you findings started to come out and she had some success alleviating her symptomes with an herbal product containing black cohosh. I think it was called "Meno-Pause" or something clever like that. Soy didn't do much for her, but the black cohosh seemed to help a lot.

It's coz you're a woman.


It's your job!

quote:

Originally posted by blam:
It's coz you're a woman.
It's your job!

I'm sure there's a clever joke here that I'm just not in the mood to get. What, exactly, is a woman's job?

No point explaining if you're not in the mood to get it.

There's so much hormonal material in the water system these days, via our toilets and poor water resource management, that Blam may someday soon notice a couple of his own features that are changing physiologically. Hope the mood swings don't bother him too much, though.

A UK study commissioned by the British Government found that drinking water from rivers was being contaminated with highly concentrated female hormones from the urine of women using contraceptive pills. These hormones were changing the sex of around half of all male fish and possibly affecting male fertility.

I seem to recall that Blam liked to fish. Am I remembering correctly?