i have had major pms the past 2 months... my cycles are not normal but usually around 40 days or so.. i am at day 27 and my breasts are already a bit sore.. last month was so awful and they got so swollen and hurt so bad..
i am very tired already too and my legs hurt... is this due from a decrease in plaquenil over the past few months??? can it affect your hormones? my rheumy says no but i am beginning to wonder.
also does anyone take borage or primrose oil for breast tenderness and /or pms?? if so how much do we take if we already take fish oil??
ihope someone can help me please..... i have searched these boards but cant find the answer! i also already take 800mg magnesium...
valene, It is very normal to have really sore breast tissue and tired body, aches and pains as we approach out period. Please don't spend so much time thinking about the reason for everything that happens. Just relax and let life happen. You see the doctor a lot and I am sure that he will know if there is something amiss. Also, be aware that when we complain about every thing and anything the doctors get so they only half hear us. They can absorb only so much information at a time. Good luck. Irish
i dont complain about everything to my doc.. the only doc i see montly is my eye doc to whom i dont tell any of this... i dont know who to see for this... i have never had pms like this before ... and i was curious as to whether decreasing my plaquenil could affect my hormones... i am not due to start for another 13 days or so.. this is normal???
Hi Val, yes this is normal in my experience. I am going through perimenopause and periods are not normal. PMS can easily start around day 23 or so for me until the period starts which could be anywhere to another 7 - 30 days or so.
At day 27, you are one day away from a normal cycle of 28. It is not at all surprising that your body prepares to have a period. But because the hormones are wacky you won't have the period at day 28 but go on for quite awhile before the period actually starts. This is exactly what I go through.
Quote from: valene2009 on December 16, 2012, 07:23:30 AM
i dont complain about everything to my doc.. the only doc i see montly is my eye doc to whom i dont tell any of this... i dont know who to see for this... i have never had pms like this before ... and i was curious as to whether decreasing my plaquenil could affect my hormones... i am not due to start for another 13 days or so.. this is normal???
Have you had any soda tea chocolate lots of sugars? I know our breasts change as we go through different phases of life and health. I have very dense cystic breasts even for a small thin woman, the cysts dont normally hurt, but sometimes with my period they swell and hurt like heck. Also if I have any of the above mentioned it can cause more pain and cysts. Your best bet it to mention it to your obgyn and maybe get test to see if you have a lot of cysts or adenomas. We are women our breasts constantly change with age and hormones etc.
I tend to keep blaming things on my AI but like someone else said, thats not always the case and there are other things to consider.
thanks.. the bad thing is i dont start until 40 days!!! that is how long my cycle is.. so i have pms like 12 days!~!!! i could live with 7 days.. o well.... i am back to eating very healthy and i think i may go back to normal
if my bad eating brought on more hormones it is probably going to take several months if not more to even out...
update.. i did speak to my obgyn about the breast swelling/ bloating in breasts only --for about 15-20 days before periods.. etc.. [periods seem to be coming closer and closer month by month..this all started one month after i decreased plaquenil in half.
the ob just said some people have bad pms.. whatever... anyway. i think it may be due to decrease in plaquenil..however i dont have night sweats as bad anymore.. but i rather have those then deal with these breasts getting huge, heavy and hurting..i am a small person. ughhh
anyway going to a different rheumy on wed..hopefully he will shed some light on whether he thinks the dec in plaquenil could have messed up my hormones.. ihope he doesnt say its not possible or doesnt know.. ughhh
Valene, You need to stop obscessing about every little thing that your body does. I had terrible PMS for years and my periods would be 23-56 days apart. It is normal to have miserable PMS. If you have not suffered any pain or misery in your life until the sjogrens, pms, eyes, etc you are probably more prone to agnoizing over every little twinge--not withstanding your OCD. (sorry).
You also seem to be bent on destroying any chance that you might have with the plaquenil. YOu are not giving the drug a chance, and it always seems likt you look for every excuse to stop a treatment or blackball what the doctor is trying to do to help you.
Please, please, please get treatment for the OBS and rremember that we can not control every little thing that happens to our body. ^#%& happens in life and one must accept or adjust or else just sit down and be content wo wallow in misery that many times we cause ourselves. I don't mean to be cruel, but so many people try to help you on this site, and so many times you sort of "shoot" them in the foot so to speak and just turn around and do something that is not always the most sensible way to go.
People with OCD (IBS is irritable bowel syndrome--I mixed up my abbreviations) are their own worst enemy and need to make plans on how to deal with things. The first thing you do is "do not panic, do not make a hasty decision, do not call the doctor every time some little thing pops up, learn to accept the crap that happens in life cause that is what the rest of us have to do?. There are therapy sessions that teach a person how to think in relation to their stressors in life. People with OBS do not interpret information the same way others do. However, the rest of the world doesn't always know this and can be really turned off by the way OBS people behave.
I have persoal contact and experience with people with OBS, and so often their behaviors are pretty much the same. Please know that you are not an odd ball, but seek out ways to cut down on the over reactions to issues. We are all on your side on the site, so please do not take offense at what I just said. Learn from it. Good luck. Irish
Irish you seem totally nice and caring... but i am seriously not obsessing over pms... i was just giving an update on whats going on w/ me as i am going to a new doc on wed..make sense??? i am trying this new rheumy cause my other rheumy lowered my plaquenil.... I have given plaquenil 2.5 years-and am thinking i may NEED TO GO BACK TO 400MG--AS I DIDNT HAVE PMS UNTIL I LOWERED IT... I AM NOT WANTING TO QUIT PLAQUENIL.. I AM WANTING TO INCREASE IT AS PMS BEGAN 1 MONTH AFTER LOWERING IT.. i think there may be a connection or maybe not?? hmmmmm
thank you so much for your caring and concern..i totally appreciate it.. if i am having pms just because of hormonal changes/ age.etc.. i will deal with it... i will be fine... its funny how posts just like texts and emails come across so differently then just when actually speaking aloud to someone...
no worries its all good.. (well sjogrens sucks but..)...lol... i plan to update after wednesday what the doc says..then i will decide which doc to stick w/... in my small town i have a choice of 4 rheumies... whooo hooo... ahhhh... i love being near my family again but i was living in los angeles as i did for over 9 years i would have so many choices for docs... but i think most on here arent too happy wtih their rheumys... and to those who are i am glad you foudn a good one!!!
btw. i dont have IBS.. and what is OBS?? you mean OCD??? :)
thanks!
and Tivia--yes i have been having too much sugar lately! so bad.. too many chocolates and candies.. but i always did before with no issues.. but my body may be changing so i am going to try and cut those out 2 weeks before i think my period is coming although i never know for sure.. i just need to eat better altogether..today i was so bad and had pancakes (havent in like 6 months) and then cookies and candy -but im on day 2 of my period and was craving!
have a good one..
I did not realize that you had the plaquenil lowered 2 1/2 years ago as it sounded like this dose was a relatively new thing. A change in dose that long ago sure doesn't seem like the culprit, but maybe the new doc will be able to shed a light on it.
Also, I have known very few women who have not suffered from the premenstral bloating and other issues. It is something that seems to come with the territory. Those with really severe PMS( and I mean severe) have been known to have an antidepressant ordered for about 10 days prior to expected period. Expected period really sounds hard to nail down, doesn't it. These women are the ones who have such bad emotional issues and irritability at this time that life is beyond difficult for them. Irish
I would also see a new obgyn she didn't sound very caring. When I needed surgery I went through a couple before I had the one for my surgery and now my regular one. Both interstingly enough men, but much more caring than the women docs.
No Irish..I had it lowered in October... I have beenon PLaquenil since Aug of 2010.... they lowered me in oct of 2012.... one month later my hormones went nuts.. it may have nothing to do with it.. im asking my doc wed...
i was thinking of asking him if i can up my dose back to 400mg??? i just thought it odd that the rheumy wanted to lower my dose in 1/2.. didnt make sense to me...
Ive been on Plaquenil since 2005 and my doctor wanted to lower my dose last summer because I seemed to be pretty stable, doing pretty well. She wanted to see if I could do as well on a lesser dose to lessen side effect risks. But then I had a small flare up so she kept things the same. I go back in a couple weeks, I am thinking she might want to try a decrease again, but am not sure I want to do this. If it ain't broke, don't fix it!
Just my thoughts.
Nancy
I am 44, have seriously dense, fibrocystic breasts, and the last couple of years my periods are all over the place - not always regular, some months HORRIBLE PMS and some months none at all, some months BUCKETS of blood and clots the size of golf balls (no joke), some months almost no blood at all....welcome to peri-menopause! ::) :P
What I eat DOES seem to affect all these things - and my hormones DEFINITELY trigger autoimmune reactions...they can make my lupus/sjs/raynauds flare horribly. But that all happens regardless of Plaquenil dosage, Mtx dosage, steroids, etc - all of which have fluctuated over the last couple of years. In my case, anyway, I truly don't think there's a connection to any of the meds, and I don't think the autoimmune stuff causes the hormonal issues, though the hormones going nuts CAN trigger the autoimmune.
I am not a good candidate for hormone therapy because I have APS and am at risk for stroke...so I just gotta ride it out. i try to eat well, stay away from soy, eat only organic meats (to avoid the hormones pumped into them), and get exercise. (If I could eat dairy, I'd be sure that was organic, too).
It's totally possible - in fact, probable - that the change in Plaq and the "trouble down below" were just a coincidence.
Maybe the best course of action is just to watch things, write them down in a calendar, and mention it to your doc at your next regular visit. Usually with this stuff they need to see what happens over a long period of time, anyway.
Hope that helps.
My mind also reeeeeeally wants to understand everything and find a cause or connection for everything. The human body is so complicated that it's not always possible - sometimes (in fact, often) stuff just HAPPENS. IF there is a pattern, it takes a long time to find it. I try to look at this aspect of autoimmune disease as an opportunity - maybe even a gift - to become more laid-back and patient, and not jump to conclusions.
Hard to do!!!! :-\
thanks Sleepy... i too wondered if it was just coincendence..and of course i started eating like crap in late sept so that didnt help.. i have got to get my sweet tooth down!
Valene, for comfort, you may want to buy a few bras in the next cup size up for those swollen days. I also think that a talk with an endocrinologist may be in order, just to make sure that you aren't doing something weird like developing antibodies to ovarian tissue or PCOS.
Our bodies do change as we go through life. I entered menopause at 35, and was through it at 40. One day I was on birth control pills, the next on estrogen replacement! I couldn't get a gyno to pay attention when I told them that my periods were getting really scanty, but my GP listened to the night sweats and the periods and ordered a blood test.
I personally find that solving a mystery is important to my peace of mind. Or at least, knowing that I did what I could to solve the mystery.
Sharon
i did try a bigger cup size but it was too big.. i need a 1/2 size.. do they make those when you wear a B cup size???
Try a padded or "push-up" C-cup...when mine are really sore I find that the extra padding and "lift" help a lot with soreness.
I like the ahh bra when I have the soreness and swelling.. I also like them when I have chest congestion.. My regular bra feels like it's squeezing me making it even harder to breathe.. The ahh bra or even the stretchy sports bras feel so much better..
omg forgot about the AHH bra.. my mom likes those to sleep in.... thanks!! i wll get one.. i think they cell them at the drugstore..perfect!!! :))))