Most doctors will tell you PMDD can't be cured. That it's a lifelong condition. That the best you can hope for is management. that includes solutions like SSRIs, birth control, lifestyle tweaks, various therapies and mostly just learning to survive your luteal phase every single month.
So I tried all of those things. Med after med. Birth control after birth control. And then even tried over the counter antihistamines, which helped, but I hated the idea of taking them so often. So I moved onto all natural anti-histamines and mast cell stabilizers, which again... really helped. But it wasn't enough. It was never enough. Month after month, I was still suffering and as a result, if I'm being honest, so were the others around me.
And then one glorious morning, I stopped having PMDD.
Not managed it. Not reduced it. Stopped having it. Disappeared.
Let me take you down a journey, that lead me to the beginning of my PMDD free life and why I think the answer to "can PMDD be cured" is far more complicated than anyone is telling you and how I accidentally found my root cause for PMDD.
So let's answer the question.
Can PMDD be cured?
The honest answer: it depends on the root cause
PMDD is not a single disease with a single cause. It's a cluster of symptoms that appear in your luteal phase of your cycle that include severe mood shifts, rage, depression, anxiety, physical pain, and battles with suicidal ideation as a means to escape the crushing weight of existence that co-exist with PMDD.
The why behind those symptoms can vary wildly from person to person.
For some people, PMDD is rooted in a neurological sensitivity to normal hormonal fluctuations. It's genetic and the solution isn't so simple. For others, like me, there's an underlying condition driving you to the brink of insanity.
Like celiac disease or gluten intolerance.
There are other auto immunes that play a role and can result in PMDD, but today I"m just going to touch on my own personal, nearly lifelong experience.
If you'd like to read the full version in a more entertaining form, check out my blog series called THE PMDD CHRONICLES. It's a real, raw encounter about surviving PMDD.
Let's get into the short version.
The connection my doctors never told me:
Celiac, estrogen dominance, histamine intolerance, and PMDD
Undiagnosed or poorly managed celiac disease causes a pleathora of problems in the body. For me, it created three things that fed directly into PMDD:
- Estrogen dominance — a damaged gut can't properly eliminate excess estrogen, causing excess estrogen in the body, referred to as estrogen dominance. Estrogen dominance is a known driver of severe PMS and PMDD symptoms.
- Nutrient deficiencies — celiac destroys the gut lining, making it impossible to absorb key nutrients like magnesium, B6, zinc, and iron, folate, and B12....all of which play a direct role in mood regulation and hormonal balance.
- Histamine intolerance — a damaged gut produces less DAO enzyme, which breaks down histamine. High histamine levels spike during the luteal phase anyway. Add a histamine intolerance on top of that and your luteal phase becomes a full-body inflammatory nightmare. Check out these common histamine symptoms to see if you recognize any of them.
Put those three things together and you have a perfect storm for PMDD.
This was my life for decades. Every single month, like clockwork.
What I did and how long it took
While supplements helped some of my previous syptoms, they didn't eliminate PMDD. They did make it more manageble, which is always better than nothing, but it was going gluten free that elimnated my PMDD.
But when I say gluten free, I mean completely.
Not "mostly gluten free." Not "I avoid bread but I still eat out at regular restaurants." I cut out:
- All gluten-containing grains, including oats (which are highly cross-contaminated)
- Restaurants (I still partake in ones that are COMPLETELY gluten free kitchens)
- Any product with a risk of cross-contamination (like cereals)
Within 6 months, my PMDD was gone.
Not better. Gone. My luteal phase became... normal. Manageable. Human. I couldn't believe it at first. I kept waiting for the crash that never came.
And now, I cycle sync because it feels natural, not because my life and other's depend on it.
The gene connection: ESC/E(Z) complex
Here's where it gets really interesting and where the science is catching up with what I experienced.
Researchers have identified that women with PMDD show abnormal gene expression in something called the ESC/E(Z) complex. This is a group of genes that regulate how cells respond to hormones like estrogen and progesterone. In women with PMDD, this complex essentially overreacts to normal hormonal shifts, triggering the severe cyclical mood and physical symptoms that define the condition.
What I believe happened in my case: the chronic inflammation and gut damage caused by unmanaged celiac disease was keeping that gene complex in a state of dysregulation. When I went completely gluten free and my gut began to heal, the inflammation dropped, nutrient absorption improved, estrogen dominance resolved.
In other words, going gluten free didn't just fix my gut health and along with it my mental health. It may have quite literally helped reset the gene expression driving my PMDD at a cellular level.
Remember, I'm not a doctor. I'm just someone that has suffered for decades prior to this and wanted to share that journey with someone, even if it's just one of you, that might need to see it.
Celiac Disease resulted in decades of PMDD.
The timeline, the relapses, and the research all point in the same direction.
And the best part of it all? Whatever the why behind it is, I get to finally live, instead of just exist.
The proof is in the relapses
Here's the part that removes all doubt for me: if I accidentally consume gluten too many times in a cycle, my luteal phase becomes a PMDD nightmare once again.
It would go like this..."Oh I miss real fries." So off we'd go to a place with a sworn dedicated fryer, but somehow....during my luteal phase...it became obvious that I had consumed gluten. Lethargic. Irritable. Anxious. Brain fog that felt more like brain mud. And entirely suicidal, often without a "real" reason to even consider it. Except that I was miserable, for the half the month.
My body was communiciating to me and it took me a while to really listen but once I did, the pattern became even more recongizable in the absense of gluten because the version of me that I had known for so long, was becoming more and more obvious...actually a series of symptoms instead.
The bad news, even though I had went gluten free, switching up the way I eat nearly entirely at home, one little cross contaminated morsel at a restauant was enough to do me in. Turns out gluten free friendly isn't actually friendly to someone with Celiac at all.
Soon, the pattern unearthed itself and it became glaringly obvious. The lightbulb moment happened.
Restaurants (gluten exposure)...bam! PMDD! Like clockwork. Again and again. As a foodie, this may have been worse to me than the PMDD. Gut wrenching. An agonzing reality. Ok perhaps that's pushing it. I guess I'd rather cook all my food than be nearly chronically suicidal.
So that's what I started doing. Over time, I've spent months educating myself on the food labels and what brands were recommended and where hidden gluten may be hiding in plain sight.
It's finally paid off. As of today several months later, I am still PMDD free.
I'll keep you posted. So far, I'm loving the PMDD free life.
So, no gluten for me, means no luteal phase from the depths of hell. No gluten. No PMDD?
That's not a coincidence. That's a root cause.
One of many possible for PMDD, but a root cause none the less. I'll write more about that another day.
What this means for you
I'm not saying celiac disease is the cause of everyone's PMDD. It's not. But I am saying that if you have PMDD and you've never been properly tested for celiac disease or gluten sensitivity, it's worth asking about. Gluten is highly inflammatory and inflammation is the root of so many of our diseases today, so it's certainly worth consdiering as a possibility.
There's over 250 symptoms Celiac Disease can cause. Including PMDD.
Here's a list of the 58 most common ones.
- Digestive issues (bloating, IBS-like symptoms, unpredictable digestion)
- Histamine reactions (flushing, hives, headaches, migraines, heart palpitations)
- Nutrient deficiencies despite eating well
- Fatigue that doesn't match your sleep
- Brain fog that gets worse in your luteal phase
- A family history of autoimmune conditions
- Anxiety, depression, irritability, mood swings, panic attacks
- Frequent urination
- Kidney Stones
- Acne
So, can PMDD be cured?
My answer: sometimes yes, if you find the root cause.
PMDD isn't always a standalone condition. Sometimes it's a symptom of something else. Often actually.
I lived with debilitating PMDD for decades. I was told to manage it. I was given multiple SSRIs, various birth controls, and a mountain of excuses at to why none of those were working in the way others thought they should.
I was "dramatic" and "self absorbed" when in reality, I was suffering. And so many others are too.
If you're one of the ones who's still suffering, please don't stop looking for your root cause. It might not be celiac. But it might be something and that something, just may be the cause to your luteal phase from hell.
Want to read the full story of how I figured this out? Follow along in The PMDD Chronicles a real, raw memoir of surviving (and eventually beating) PMDD.
Think your celiac test might have been wrong? Read: Can I Have a False Negative Celiac Test?
