PMDD is a condition that manifests in the run-up to your period. Unlike typical PMS symptoms like mild mood swings or fatigue, PMDD symptoms are much more severe and can significantly impair our functioning and quality of life.

According to Francesca Steyn, chair of the Royal Collage of Nursing’s Fertility Nursing Forum, PMDD can be “severe enough that people have suicidal thoughts or tendencies”. Up to around 5.5% of pre-menopausal women are thought to live with it. But, says Steyn, “many are misdiagnosed or not diagnosed at all as it is often misunderstood as PMS, so women have to struggle alone for a long time”.

The treatment options that were offered to me were stark: take antidepressants, go on the pill, or have an injection that would cause me to go into early-onset menopause. Or I could just have a hysterectomy. In other words, the only available means of support for a chronic hormonal issue involved stopping natural ovulation. It didn’t feel that empowering.

“I was diagnosed with premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) aged 27 – these are the 3 things I want more women to know about the condition”