Estimated Reading Time: 16 mins
Please note – this post contains descriptions of PMDD-related suicidal ideation that some may find distressing. Please read with caution.
Introduction
The alarm rings, but waking up feels like a battle, and every step I take feels as though I’ve taken 10,000.
Tasks I would normally complete with ease suddenly become unusually difficult.
Whenever a free moment presents itself, all I want to do is sleep.
Even everyday activities can become so overwhelming that the idea of sleeping for days until it passes starts to feel increasingly appealing.
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PMDD-related fatigue should never be underestimated.
If you don’t experience the condition yourself, think back to a time when you were struck down with a particularly severe bout of flu.
That kind of overwhelming fatigue is one of the many symptoms associated with PMDD.
The difference is that for many women, it returns each month as part of a recurring cycle.
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You’ll notice throughout my PMDD posts that I tend to focus primarily on the severe emotional symptoms of the condition.
However, after the response to one particular video I published in 2022, I felt it was important to explore this often-overlooked physical symptom in greater detail.
It became clear to me just how common and debilitating PMDD-related fatigue can be.
I would even recommend saving this article from Healthline for future reference as it provides further insight.
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More Than Just Tiredness
PMDD-related fatigue can be one of the most disruptive symptoms of the condition.
Think about it this way.
If you feel too exhausted to do anything, you’ll struggle to do just that — anything.
This isn’t a mild case of tiredness.
It’s an extreme level of exhaustion that can be severely limiting, having a significant impact on daily life.
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Through eating well, exercising regularly, cultivating a more optimistic mindset, and continually strengthening my faith in God, I’m in a much better place than I was in the past.
Even so, PMDD fatigue still remains a prominent feature in my monthly battle with the condition.
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For someone like me, who practices these disciplines and is still affected, it’s worth considering how profoundly this symptom may affect women who lack the time, resources, support, or capacity to invest in their wellbeing in the same way.
The challenge extends beyond the exhaustion itself.
It’s the cumulative effect of all the symptoms working together and the consequences they can have.
To illustrate what I mean, let me take you back to a period in my own life.
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What PMDD Fatigue Really Feels Like
During those two PMDD weeks, I was often too exhausted to manage even the most basic tasks.
Washing dishes, hoovering, shopping, cooking, and even maintaining personal hygiene felt taxing.
I’d find myself sitting in a cluttered environment, looking and feeling unkempt.
My concentration suffered, making it difficult to keep up with the demands of my job at the time.
God forbid anyone invited me out — I was often too exhausted to leave the house, let alone drive.
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At times, simply walking from one room to another felt like a chore in itself.
If anyone checked in on me, I’d downplay the truth — too ashamed and embarrassed to admit just how much I was struggling.
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I’d tell them I was taking things easy or keeping myself busy.
To avoid raising concern, I’d fill my replies with cheerful emojis in an effort to throw them off the scent.
Not wanting to burden anyone else, I kept the full extent of the condition’s impact to myself.
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When Exhaustion Reaches the Mind
The knock-on effect on my mental wellbeing was deeply damaging because I saw myself as weak and useless for feeling the way I did.
Whatever self-worth remained was stripped away through constant self-criticism.
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Laying there, tearful and depressed, I found myself becoming exhausted with life itself.
When things reached their worst, I applied for Personal Independence Payments (PIP), a UK benefit designed to support people living with long-term health conditions and disabilities.
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I was struggling to hold myself together, yet the fear of falling into severe financial hardship meant giving up work wasn’t an option.
I had a mortgage, bills, and a car to maintain, and being single meant I depended entirely on myself.
As a result, taking a break never felt like a possibility, despite how much I knew I needed one.
The prospect of falling into uncontrolled debt, combined with the challenges of living with PMDD, felt like a recipe for disaster.
My condition-related spending habits were already creating a significant amount of stress and anxiety.
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In the end, however, my application for PIP was rejected.
The cyclical nature of PMDD made it problematic to explain, and the outcome of that saw my application for financial support denied.
I was crushed.
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Here I was, living with a genuinely debilitating condition, yet I felt alone and unsupported at the time when I needed help the most.
To make matters worse, their letter of rejection arrived during PMDD week, leaving me without the mental or emotional capacity to challenge their decision.
The sadness left me in tears, and the first thing I did was put the letter out of sight.
With no emotional strength to fight, my feelings of hopelessness simply continued to worsen.
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Hope in the Darkness
So what changed?
Well, if you’ve read my full introduction, you’ll remember I described ‘desperation’ as the catalyst for change in my life because it wasn’t just PMDD alone that I faced.
Many areas of my life were beginning to unravel.
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There were several occasions when I spoke with the Samaritans because I had come dangerously close to giving up on life itself.
However, the thought of traumatising my loved ones prevented me from acting on those feelings, so I turned to prayer, but I also reached out and spoke to someone.
At that point in my life, it was exactly what I needed.
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You Are Not Alone
If you’re a woman living with PMDD, I want to be that voice of encouragement for you.
Your struggles are real, and they do not go unseen.
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Even when those around you don’t fully understand what you’re experiencing, please know that God does — and I do too, along with many others.
If you struggle with suicidal ideation, please reach out to someone — a suicide prevention helpline in your region, a trusted friend, a family member, or a healthcare professional.
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Don’t allow the condition to convince you that the world would be better without you in it.
You are meant to be here, you deserve to be here, your life has value, and things can get better.
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Refusing to Surrender
The turning point came when I made the decision that I wanted more from life than PMDD was allowing me to experience.
Despite how hopeless things felt at the time, having now reached my limit I was determined to fight back.
Although PMDD brought some of the most difficult periods of my life, it has also contributed significantly to the emotional strength I possess today.
In many ways, my life’s purpose was shaped by the lessons I learned through living with the condition.
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To coexist with such a condition and continue moving forward requires an extraordinary level of resilience and endurance.
We are warriors in our own right.
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In my efforts to counter the fatigue and many other symptoms of the condition, I’ve developed what some might describe as a military-style approach to my daily habits.
Not because I enjoy being so disciplined, but because experience has taught me that it is one of the most effective paths towards a better quality of life.
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Consistency pays off eventually, and the progress I’ve made with this symptom is why I’ll share the following practices in the hope that they’ll help you too.
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Combat Fatigue with 'Strength'
During PMDD weeks, I place particular emphasis on strength training, which may seem like an impossible task when you’re exhausted.
The body aches, and initially recovery periods may be necessary, but the energy and strength that come from building muscle can be profound.
More importantly, it’s exactly the kind of outcome women like us need when battling this symptom.
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For a long time, I couldn’t understand why working my muscles had such a positive effect on my overall wellbeing.
However, after doing some research, I came across The Mental Health Benefits of Strength Training, which outlined what I was experiencing, helping to explain its effectiveness.
Bookmark and give it a read when you have the opportunity.
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Fight Through Nutrition
Being consciously mindful of the foods we consume must become part of our everyday lives.
Avoiding junk food during PMDD can be especially challenging, particularly because many of us experience intense cravings for sugary, salty, and highly processed foods.
If we can, however, apply intentional discipline and significantly reduce our intake, reserving them for special occasions rather than everyday consumption, our bodies will thank us in ways that extend beyond the condition itself.
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To help maintain my consistency, I stopped buying unhealthy foods altogether.
During moments of intense cravings, there aren’t any unhealthy options available and on the rare occasion that I order food, I make a conscious effort to choose healthier options.
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By surrounding ourselves with nutritious food, it becomes much easier to resist temptations that may work against our wellbeing.
The impact of this practice helps support more stable energy levels and promotes a ‘lighter’ overall feeling.
It also improves mental alertness, all of which can be beneficial when managing the fatigue.
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The Power of Strategic Sleep
This can easily be underestimated, but we must maintain a consistent and healthy sleeping pattern.
For me, that includes waking up at 6.30am, but what I’d especially emphasise is making a conscious effort to go to bed one to two hours earlier than our norm.
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When combined with regular strength training and better nutrition, this approach can help us feel more refreshed and energised despite our symptoms.
When you start, remember to make allowances for setbacks.
Acknowledge the effort you’re putting in, and give greater focus to the wins you achieve along the way.
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Summary
The disruption that PMDD fatigue would cause is what compelled me to create a structure that would help me manage it more effectively.
The habits I’ve described require practice, consistency, and discipline — after all, improving life with PMDD doesn’t happen overnight.
If, however, we can commit to making small positive changes repeatedly, those little changes eventually become significant and over time life doesn’t just become more manageable, it feels more enjoyable.
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Ultimately, it would be wonderful if someone developed a cure for this condition.
But while we wait, let’s continue fighting for ourselves, and doing what we can to improve our experience of life.
All our efforts are for the next generation of women diagnosed with PMDD who may one day find hope, strength, and inspiration in our stories so don’t give up on you — or them.
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Here’s an article by Flo on managing PMDD fatigue, which happens to reinforce some of the things I’ve shared today — take a read when you can.
