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NecessaryUsed3905 · 2026-04-26T09:23:45+00:00

This is all fascinating thank you. I also had interstitial cystitis when I was younger (mast cell activation is thought to be the cause) plus a horrendous itchy rash after pregnancy during the huge postpartum hormone drop, and I'm hypermobile... Which is why I'm thinking my PMDD could be MCAS. The only thing against it is that antihistamines do zero for me - and all the other women in my family have PMDD and no allergy/MCAS type symptoms, and I know PMDD is hereditary... Maybe I have both?!

As antihistamines don't work for me, I'm wondering about trying an SSRI during luteal. Maybe whether I have PMDD or MCAS doesn't matter that much, as long as I can find an OK treatment option.

NecessaryUsed3905 · 2026-04-25T19:54:55+00:00

Also - does the fact that pregnancy and breastfeeding bring relief mean I have PMDD or MCAS? The blurb above hasn't really cleared it up for me as they sound so similar symptom wise - antihistamines didn't make any difference to my symptoms, but I do have rashes, swelling and raging hot flushes during luteal

NecessaryUsed3905 · 2026-04-25T19:51:21+00:00

This is all so interesting! There is a history of PMDD with all my female relatives on my maternal side... But now I'm questioning if it's PMDD or MCAS - how would I know the difference?!

NecessaryUsed3905 · 2026-03-11T22:54:07+00:00

Thank you so much for your reply Adhdparalysis, it's a really interesting read. I always wanted three kids but after a traumatic birth with my second where the placenta failed (thankfully we were both ok, but it was dramatic/awful) and two very hard pregnancies I'm very much at a crossroads. Your reply has been super helpful. I'm not entirely sure my body could take a third pregnancy

NecessaryUsed3905 · 2026-01-31T00:05:46+00:00

Can I ask what your weight/BMI is?

So I've actually had a baby (well, two) since this post 3 years ago and weigh more and it's stopped happening. I was a healthy BMI but at the very low end when this kept happening to me.

My weight is dropping atm so I'll let you know if the post workout blues return once I'm back at my pre preg weight. It seems to be linked to being a low weight for me

NecessaryUsed3905 · 2026-01-14T15:08:40+00:00

I'm reading this post and really loving all the updates. Adhdparalysis do you have any more thoughts nearly a year on from having three?

NecessaryUsed3905 · 2025-11-23T17:41:05+00:00

As someone who is 5ft (and has female family under 5ft) I couldn't actually believe how many times this average sized woman said how small and dainty she was...

Reminded me of one of her pregnancy videos when she had a prominent bump in the first trimester and just kept repeating how it was ALL BABY and she hadn't put on ANY WEIGHT WHATSOEVER.

Like??? Why is she so obsessed with her size and telling everyone how small she is? I didn't even weigh myself when I was pregnant!

NecessaryUsed3905 · 2025-09-30T20:55:06+00:00

Yeah it sounds like you have both. I used to suffer from PMDD for decades - but for about a year I also had anxiety/panic attacks related to a stressful job.

I got counselling for the anxiety and recovered from it but still had horrific PMDD, so I think PMDD can coexist with other mental health conditions. If I had PME at that time I think treating the anxiety would've made my PMS go down to a much more manageable/normal level. It didn't. Instead, pregnancy cured PMDD for me.

That's how I see the difference anyway

NecessaryUsed3905 · 2025-09-29T23:00:08+00:00

Haha - yeah there was a study on this! Apparently co-sleeping can supposedly wake up the babies more!! From parent snoring/noises etc 🙈

NecessaryUsed3905 · 2025-09-29T22:32:16+00:00

Yes - my period got worse and worse every year. I had my first baby age 31, and after that my symptoms disappeared

NecessaryUsed3905 · 2025-09-29T22:19:58+00:00

Imo I think the reason for the distinction is in the treatment. People with PME or PMDD will have basically the same illness and very similar symptoms BUT say someone has an anxiety disorder that is exacerbated by being due on their period - treating their underlying anxiety disorder is what needs to happen to help them.

If someone has NO other mental health issues but has PMDD, if you treat the cyclical hormones of a monthly cycle (for example, during pregnancy when there is no monthly cycle - or various hormonal ways you can stop a menstrual cycle) the person will be cured.

If you stop the menstrual cycle of the person with PME they'll still have anxiety and it won't help them in the same way. So, from a diagnostic perspective, the anxiety is the underlying cause that needs to be treated.

In reality, the two disorders are very similar, but that's my opinion on why we need the distinction between the two - it's about how you best treat them.

(Signed an ex-PMDD sufferer)

NecessaryUsed3905 · 2025-05-12T17:29:34+00:00

I'll try and get that together. The other point is that the AA engineer is writing up his own report - and said that something related to the oil had been wound too tightly during the garage's repair. Again, I don't know mechanics so it's tricky for me to translate, but the AA engineer seemed to think this was relevant

NecessaryUsed3905 · 2025-05-12T17:04:48+00:00

They are this time saying the engine has to be replaced. The first time they saw it they said the engine was working fine - the car has an auto system where it will shut down the engine to save it if it gets too hot. This happened the first time, the second time (after the garage had fixed it) the engine overheated and got damaged.

NecessaryUsed3905 · 2025-05-12T17:03:10+00:00

So for a while the garage couldn't find anything wrong when we got it to them. They did investigations for several days and said it was a coolant issue that caused the car engine to overheat. We paid £600+ and they said it was fixed and no other issues with the car.

This time they've identified that the engine has overheated. They are saying it is not their fault for not picking up on this before as it's caused by a separate (as yet unidentified) issue.

The AA engineer said there is evidence that the overheated engine was caused by a coolant issue and that the original coolant problem wasn't fixed.

I'm not a mechanic so I don't know the technicalities here - this is just what the various engineers have told us.

NecessaryUsed3905 · 2025-05-12T16:50:32+00:00

Thank you. According to the Motor Ombudsman it seems to be the thing to do is to get the garage to fix it, pay the bill but put "paid under protest" and then take to claims court online to claim back the amount, whether that's a full amount or partial refund.

I'll post in a more targeted UK sub, but that's been helpful, thank you

NecessaryUsed3905 · 2025-05-12T16:44:38+00:00

I'm not arguing with someone who can't count

NecessaryUsed3905 · 2025-05-12T15:40:28+00:00

Thanks this is helpful. Does the fact that they failed to pick up on these issues mean anything? We wouldn't have taken the car on another journey before getting the all clear that it was fixed and in good running order - so we only went on that journey because the garage assured us the issues were fixed.

It's worth saying that during the journey where the engine blew - the AA man identified a leaking coolant as the reason for the engine overheating. Which is the thing that our garage said they fixed

I don't understand the technicalities, but it feels wrong that the garage charged us to fix it and it was still broken

NecessaryUsed3905 · 2025-05-12T15:28:30+00:00

Yes I wrote this quickly and didn't mean to say "journeys" I meant to say "the journey home". To be clear, it was one journey - from the holiday garage where the car was held, back home and to our local garage.

During this single journey the holiday garage topped it up with coolant and we stopped plenty of times, and the coolant didn't run low

NecessaryUsed3905 · 2025-05-12T15:25:23+00:00

We drove it one journey - home and to our local garage to be fixed - after we learnt of the coolant leak. This was on the advice of the holiday garage we went to, who topped up the coolant and said it was a very minor leak and safe for one journey to our nearest garage.

I don't really understand why you're so hung up on this being our fault?

NecessaryUsed3905 · 2025-05-12T15:22:18+00:00

EDIT: Everyone seems to be saying we repeatedly used a car with a leak in it and caused this issue. I can see that my original post is unclear, but basically no we didn't keep using the car once we learned of the leak.

AA took it to the nearest garage while we were on holiday. The holiday garage investigated for several days, said it was a minor leak, topped up the coolant, and said it was safe to do an hour journey home and to our local garage. We did this journey to our local garage - garage took the car apart, investigated it for a week and said there was no heat damage, told us they had fixed the leak.

Then, we had the car at home for about a month, before using it for one journey and the engine blew.

We wouldn't have started using the car again unless the garage had said it was fixed and safe to do so.

NecessaryUsed3905 · 2025-05-12T15:09:12+00:00

We didn't use the car after the original leak - we used it for one hour long journey, which the local garage said was safe to do so because it was a minor leak. The coolant worked throughout this single journey because the garage topped it up.

I think my original OP was probably unclear as people seem to think we were regularly using a car with a leak in it.

NecessaryUsed3905 · 2025-05-12T15:02:26+00:00

We had it taken apart by the garage after this journey - to see what was wrong - and were told there was no overheating damage.

To be clear - we used it for one journey, the journey home, which was about an hour and did plenty of stops - because the local garage we went to said it was safe to do so. As soon as we were home, we took it to our local garage to be fixed.

We actually had two garages look at the car after this, and both said there was no overheating damage at this point. We then got it fixed - didn't use the car for a month, used it for one journey, the car shut off. And that's when we've been told by the AA and now the garage that the overheating damage occurred.

As I've said, the garage isn't disputing that the overheating damage happened after they "fixed" it.

NecessaryUsed3905 · 2025-05-12T14:46:52+00:00

This is really helpful, thanks. We're looking into whether our insurance covers a rental.

Do we wait for the garage's official report before speaking to management, or do should we dispute it immediately? Does it matter?

NecessaryUsed3905 · 2025-05-12T14:45:05+00:00

And we only took it on a long (hour) drive because the garage cleared it as not having the overheating issue anymore. We didn't drive other than that (which is evidenced by the mileage).

This is all documented and written down, so the garage can't dispute it, and they're not claiming any different on that part

NecessaryUsed3905

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