Raging Tween Hormones?

[tiredmommy]

So Duckie is 10 and decidedly in puberty. It's like living tween hell here sometimes and I swear she has a touch of PMS every month for the last few months even though she doesn't have her period yet. So I have a couple of questions.

1. Is it possible to have PMS before she gets her period?

2. Will it get better or worse once she gets her period?

I don't think I'm going to survive the tween/teen years.

 

[susiestar]

Definitely yes. Jess, scarily enough, started with a monthly mood swing about 4 years before her period started. I instinctively threw dark chocolate at her and it helped enormously. She was incredibly upset because she couldn't control her anger for a couple of days each time. Of course her anger was NOT anger compared with most kids, but for her it was intense. She just has always had a very sunny disposition, so it really bugged her. We found that making sure she had enough calcium, vit D and a multivitamin helped, and then chocolate on the days she was cranky made a big difference. I had horrible PMS and was a witch with it, really really bad, and chocolate always helped me. the darker the more it helps.

It got worse when she got her periods, and for the first year she would cry also. Cranky and crying PMS is NOT fun = and chocolate still helped. I kept the dove dark promises around hidden in various jars that thank you knew about so he could calm her down if I wasn't there wehn she got moody. He didn't liek them, so he didn't eat them all - just gave her a few at a time.

Only 1 ob/gyn ever said it was possible, and he didn't believe it until he saw it in his own daughters. His wife had lots of PMS problems and he was super helpful to all his patients who struggled with PMS. ONly male doctor I ever met who understood it and didn't say it was all in our heads. When seh is older she may benefit from medications like prozac during the week before her period. I did for many years. Thankfully the hysterectomy stopped all that for me.

I am sorry that she is going through this. Some people I know say that evening primrose oil has helped their kids wtih pms also.

 

[flutterby]

Yes, once she starts she will seem human again. It was hard to tell with difficult child because she's always been so unpredictable, but I can definitely tell when she's missed a pill (she takes it non-stop), however a friend of mine dealt with this with her tween for about 2 years. She recently started her period and they like her again.

 

[KTMom91]

Yes. Sending hugs and strength.

 

[slsh]

All I can say is.... batten down the hatches. Diva's moodiness was just warming up at this age. Once her periods hit... OMG. Houston, we have lift off. I can tell when her period is coming just from the sighs, eyeball rolls, huffs, puffs, and generalized stomping around the house. Her moods are all over the place and I never know which Diva I'm going to be dealing with at any given minute. I've tried really hard to educate her a bit about self-care - staying away from salt/sugar/pop that week before (seemed to help me at that age), but of course with- her being 13 and me being (quite a bit older), well, I'm just too impossibly dumb to know what I'm talking about. She refused antidepressants and now is refusing counseling. And it is all completely and totally my fault because... okay, I don't know why, and I don't think she does either, but just ask her and she'll tell you it's all my fault.

This transition to the teen years has just been way toooooo much fun. I have to say, the boys were so much easier. Even thank you - he just did his regular mood swing stuff. It didn't get magnified a billion times with- onset of puberty.

 

[gcvmom]

Oh yeaaaah! easy child had much more severe mood swings BEFORE she ever started her periods (which was last summer, sadly). She still gets moody, but nowhere near as bad as the year or two leading up to Aunt Flo.

 

[keista]

I've been wondering the same thing, but there's so much information on the internet about regular puberty, you can't find any info for BEFORE.

I was convinced this was the case for my difficult child -also 10. Unfortunately for her, those moods started coming closer together, so although not ruled out, it could still be a factor.

I was seriously considering a blood draw to check her female hrmone levels. One, to get a base line, and Two, maybe some Dr out there would have insight or be comiling stats or something.

PMS/PMDD runs in my family so it's a great concern. The day she was born, I knew that at the very least she'd be on the pill just so we wouldn't kill each other when she was a teen. I've ended up with much more than I bargained for.

by the way for those that don't know, the pill can definitely be helpful is squashing those monthly mood swings. Unfortunately it can be just as hard finding the right one as it is finding the right psychiatric medications. However I don't thing any doctor will prescribe before menstruation actually starts. If you find info to the contrary, please keep me in the loop.

 

[tiredmommy]

Thanks everyone. I've always had a pretty even temperament, hormones or not, so this is pretty foreign to me. There isn't PMS or PMDD in the family tree but one sister-in-law has had gynecological problems. I really hope she evens out once her cycle starts and gets settled.

 

[confuzzled]

sigh, normal.

whats also normal is when it finally comes, its not tada! IT'LL BE HERE EACH AND EVERY MONTH! or even I'LL BE LATE, BUT I"M STILL COMING! for some girls, irregular doesnt come close to what my definition might be...irregular, in mines case, was she had 3 cycles and then done. for almost a year. she's moving in the right direction finally since she's had two more since the new year. according to her dr, completely normal.

i was ridiculously freaked out. i dont know where i was as a girl, but i dont recall anyone *I* knew going a year without it afterward, unless they had something to show for it in the end, if you know what i mean. there was panic in the air after a few days, not a year.

i wished someone would have defined *that* part of normal before i was delicately asking insane questions of my poor kid. or that i was ready to put her bloodwork/pelvic/ultrasounds to figure out what was *wrong*. (i'm sure the pediatrician thought i was bordering on nuts with my concern over the subject)

im only mentioning it to give you a heads up, in case--i'd hate to see my hours of research go to waste, lol. :smiles:

 

[tiredmommy]

Thanks, C, I actually knew that!