HELP!!!! Teenage Daughter Severe PMS- What can she take ?

luckypenny

Hello

I am ER positive (~70%) AND slightly PR  positive and her 2 negative.  Had large tumor, full gammet of treatment etc.   Had hysterectomy last year, so take arimidex

My poor 12 year old is suffering monthly with PMS- actually probably PMDD.  Just in the past 2 months the pms symptoms are classic for PMDD- terrible mood swings, face breaking out terribly, anger, inability to rationalize ,horrible fatigue etc. She is a completely different person.    This lasts for a few days, then she gets her period.   The first day she is nauseous, sometimes vomits, has diarrhea , bad stomach aches, and extreme fatigue.  The first day is the worst and then she can cope just fine with the physical symptoms.   No emotional symptoms- except during pms time and some the first day.  She then reverts back to a normal straight A student, athlete,loving, funny , sweet human being.

I made an appt today for her to see the gynocologist.  We have to do something about this. However, I don't want to add to her risk level .  She is already at such risk of breast cancer ( early puberty, mom dx prior to menopause at 41 ) I am not brac postive. 

 I have read that the typical scripts are either an SSRI ( paxil, serafem or zoloft - paxil will be out - I read thats bad for er positive breast cancer) or birth control pills.   I am scared of  birth control pills for her- having that long exposure of estrogen, although the birth control pills could clear up her face during the bad times.  ( her is face is perfect right now , as she has her period- was a mess last week)  However, maybe the birth control pills are ok?   I mean surely young women take birth control pills when their mom has had breast cancer? 

Anyone with similar experience?  What would you  lean towards?

karen1956

I wish I could offer good advice....My oldest DD developed ovarian cysts when she was 16 1/2....10 years ago and she has been on the pill ever since...that was the only way she could control them......her doc knows that I am a survivor, but did not feel that the pill was contraindicated...

sure hope you get some answers and a good solution for your daughter....

Moiralf

Hi There,

Oh this sounds a lot like my daughter 15 years ago. Symptoms really similar. 

We tried the pill, a couple of different ones and that made some difference but not a lot. 

She also suffered severe depression during her teenage years so we tried a number of different anti-depressants. None of which made any great changes either. It was a terrible time for her and us.. She was a very bright and gifted young woman but  stayed in a terrible place for close to 10 years. Not something I would wish on anyone especially a young woman. Not that this is the same as you, don't freak out. Just my experience with one of my girls.

One of the things we did find out was that she had very bad endometretous(spelling??). This contributed a lot to her pain and discomfort for at lest 2 weeks out of each month. It took a while before the docs would even look for it as she was quite young but by the time they figured out it was possible and did exploration for it and then operated and removed as much as possible it was quite bad. Not trying to freak you out but I wish we had looked for this earlier. Things did get quite a bit better after that. Not perfect but better. In the end she had a mirena inserted.By then she was in her mid 20s so not a 12 year old. There is quite a bit of debate about this and I would research and question docs about it. Some say it may contribute to BC but others think not. I had one for 10 and it was a godsend for me but then again I got BC at 45. Who knows? I was on the pill for 20 years as well. Started at 15 for problem periods. My onc said it was in no way responible but time may say different. We go with what we know at the time.

She is aware of the possiblility that she needs to be more conscious of getting checked than others. For her it is worth any perceived risk.

You are going to the gynie and that is the best place to start. Ask about endo and his/her opinion on mirenas. Usually they start with the simplest solutions and see what works and then build up to the more complicated choices. The worst part is the time it might take to get to the correct solution.

At 12 I would think they would start with gentle options and work from there.

We found that keeping track of the symptoms and the dates helped her and us keep track of why things might be happening. She was not being difficult for no reason and it helped her get some feeling of control about why her moods were swinging.

Both my girls are though the teenage years now and I can't say I'm sorry. It can be a very difficult time for young women.

Hope that you and your daughter get all the help you need. Going though the changes of the teenage years is hard enough without being sick as well.

Good luck and all the best.

Moira

luckypenny

Thank you both. We went to gyno yesterday. She suggested depo provera shot. I am not ready for her to be on birth control yet. I am too scared of the length of time she will be exposed to estrogen since she got her period at 11 and then adding in birth control. It very well may come to that. But for now we are going to try serafem for the week before her period. It's an ssri.



If that doesn't work them we will have to look at depo or other birth control. I had the mirena and got breast cancer. Not sure if there is a link. But this dr did say that a good option when she is older is the paraguard. No estrogen etc. I was happy to have that info.



Thanks for words of wisdom. It is such a thing to struggle with as a young girl.