How Do You Keep a Job When You Suffer from Life-Debilitating PMDD? 15 Tips for PMDD Survival

Journey To FreedomLifestyle Design
Written By Shirley Druyeh

The Cycle Has Started Again...

Between 12 and 14 days before my period—lasting until around day two of my cycle—everything changes. My brain fogs over. I forget things. Focus disappears. Anxiety spikes. Ruminating thoughts hijack my mind, disrupting both rest and sleep. My inner critic turns savage. Sleep breaks into fragments—1 or 2 a.m. wake-ups become the norm.

Psychomotor slowing and emotional lows hit hard—every movement feels delayed, every task takes twice the effort. It’s like moving through wet cement, with a heavy fog clouding my brain and dragging at my limbs. My thoughts lag behind reality, and even simple actions feel impossibly hard. My body aches, tightens, and slows. I feel like I’m failing at everything.

And yet—I still have to show up for work throughout it all.

This isn’t just PMS. This is PMDD: Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder. It affects 3%–8% of menstruating women and is often misdiagnosed or misunderstood. But for those of us living through it, it’s a monthly battle that demands strategy, self-compassion, and quiet resilience.

Here’s what PMDD looks like in my life—and the 15 tools I use to keep my job, manage my symptoms, and hold onto myself.

What is PMDD?

PMDD is a severe hormone-based mood disorder. Unlike PMS, it disrupts daily life, work, and relationships. It mimics depression, anxiety, and even bipolar disorder due to its cyclical highs and lows. Symptoms often include:

  • Brain fog

  • Sleep disruption

  • Anxiety and mood swings

  • Physical pain and tightness

  • Psychomotor slowing (the body and brain feel heavy and slow)

  • Verbal overflow or social withdrawal

  • Creative highs followed by emotional crashes

My cycle is only 26 days. That means nearly half of every month is affected.

How I Was Diagnosed—and Why I Moved to Australia

I was diagnosed with PMDD about 9 years ago, after struggling with confusing, exhausting symptoms for nearly a decade. Cold, grey UK winters made it worse. I longed for a place with sunlight, nature, and space to breathe.

When I moved to Sydney, everything began to shift. I lived in the Eastern Suburbs—walking distance to the ocean. I surrounded myself with fitness-focused people, trained up to three times a day, and ate clean 80% of the time. Within a year, my health improved dramatically.

But stress crept back in. Overworking led to burnout. And so I began again—this time armed with deeper self-knowledge and tools to manage life and PMDD together.

What PMDD Feels Like (Mind, Body & Mood)

  • Cognitive fog: Forgetfulness, indecision, perfectionism, overthinking

  • Sleep disturbances: 2am wakeups, early fatigue, restless nights

  • Emotional shifts: Anxiety, shame, spiralling negativity, withdrawal or over-talking

  • Physical pain: Lower back pain, body tightness, past nausea (now mostly gone)

  • Psychomotor slowing: Feeling like I’m moving through mud—mentally and physically

  • Creative highs: Times of deep clarity and energy mid-cycle

Sometimes I feel like two different people each month.

15 Ways I Manage PMDD Without Losing My Job

Here are the tools, routines, and mindset shifts that have helped me stay employed, stable, and semi-sane through it all.

1. Track My Cycle Religiously I use Fitbit, a mood tracking app, journaling and cycle syncing (which I learnt from Claire Baker - a menstrual cycle coach) to anticipate symptoms. Recognising the onset helps me prepare—even if I forget just how hard it hits.

2. Practice Low-Profile Living During my worst days, I limit interactions, clear my calendar and give myself permission to exist quietly. I watch Netflix, read books, and stay off my phone. It’s not always possible—but when I can, it saves me.

3. Work From Home (When I Can) COVID made this easier. Turning off the camera, taking breaks to reset, managing tough conversations on my own terms—it was a game changer.

4. Avoid Big Decisions No quitting jobs, ending relationships, or making life changes in the luteal phase. I’ve learned to ride it out and reassess when the fog lifts.

5. Move the Energy Out Sometimes a five-minute walk. Sometimes a Peloton ride. Other tools: my mini trampoline, treadmill, a massage, sauna, a warm bath or shower. Movement helps shift or distract me from the pain.  Sometimes it helps shift the fog.

6. Prioritise Protein and Smart Nutrition Cooking at home when cravings hit has helped me stay grounded. I’ve learned that protein brings energy and clarity—especially during the worst days.  I have heard some say Protein makes it worse for them but for me it helps.  I now prepare meals and stock my fridge in advance when I know the PMDD window is coming—future me always thanks me.

7. My Supplement Stack (This is my PMDD Support Stack—Holistic & Backed by Professional Guidance)

Here’s what I take regularly. I saw a doctor who specialised in female health including PMDD and she helped me with this list of supplements. Please note this is my personal list, not medical advice. Please see a doctor who can advice you on what supplements are best for you:

  • Magnesium (preferably glycinate - helps with sleep)

  • Calcium carbonate (600mg)

  • Vitamin D,

  • Iron,

  • B6 and B-Complex vitamins

  • Evening Primrose Oil

  • Fish oil (Omega 3-6-9)

  • Ginkgo Biloba (2000mg)

  • Blackstrap Molasses: A natural source of iron, magnesium, and other minerals. Found it while trying to reverse grey hair (!) —but its real superpower is replenishing iron, magnesium and copper which then gives you energy.

  • Antihistamines (suggested by the PMDD Facebook group—still testing how they affect me. Estrogen increases histamine, and some women find relief using antihistamines.)

I’ve previously tried an SSRI but it didn’t work for me just made me put weight on and I decided then to treat it naturally. I have also used the pill in the past to help manage symptoms. However, for personal reasons I have decided to stick with the holistic route - supplements and lifestyle changes.

8. Radical Rest & Compassion I allow myself to work from bed. Cancel plans. Push meetings. The mantra: "This too shall pass". I’ve stopped punishing myself for needing rest.

9. My Second Brain (Craft Docs App) I used to use Notion, but I’ve recently moved to Craft Docs. I dump my thoughts into Craft Docs —journals, task lists, project tracking. It keeps me grounded and clears my mental clutter.

10. Journaling This is how I process. It keeps me from talking too much, lets me catch the PMDD shift early, and calms my nervous system.

11. Creative Outlets Piano, art, writing, sketching—when the energy spikes or emotions boil over, I let it out in creative form. This distracts me from the pain, calms my mind and body. I also tend to get burst of energy to create at certain points during my cycle.

12. Nature, Grounding, and Cold Therapy Ocean swims, barefoot grounding, and cold showers are now part of my toolkit. This summer, on a few occasions, I swam early in the morning at the beach and felt completely reset. Cold water exposure activates the vagus nerve, which supports nervous system regulation and helps stabilise mood. It makes me feel more alive, intensely present, and helps shift anxiety and low moods.

13. Sleep Rituals That Work

  • Melatonin, magnesium, calcium, sleep tea

  • Blackout blinds, eye mask, nature sounds

  • No screens in bed (I try!)

  • Spotify on Lenovo display for sleep sounds

  • Use the Empower You App or Peloton App for evening meditations / sleep meditations

This routine helped me fall asleep easier. I don’t often get 8 hours sleep more like 4 - 6 hours but it’s deeper and calms my mind when I can’t sleep. 

14. Support Systems I use a cleaning service during low-energy weeks. I don’t force socialising—small catchups or walks replace draining group events.

15. Just Showing Up In situations where I can’t cancel (like work) I just show up as myself. Even when I feel like a shell of myself, I try to show up. If I’m tired and quiet, I still attend. If I can’t speak up, I still listen. This is enough.

This Isn’t Medical Advice—It’s What’s Helped Me

Everyone is different. Speak to your GP or specialist before starting anything new. But if you're living this cycle and feeling lost, I hope this post helps you feel less alone.

Conclusion: You’re Not Broken—You’re Cycling Through Hell and Still Showing Up

Because PMDD is linked to the menstrual cycle, symptoms often ease or resolve after menopause or through medical intervention. For those still cycling, it can feel lifelong—but many learn to manage it by designing a life that supports their hormonal rhythm.

You’re not lazy. You’re surviving. You’re showing up. And that, in itself, is powerful.

📣 If this resonates, share it with someone else navigating PMDD. We’re stronger when we feel seen.

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Books & Resources That Have Helped Me On My Journey

I learnt about Cycling Syncing from Claire Baker you can find info on that here. She also has a book I’ve added below.

Here are a few books that really helped me shift my mindset and understand myself and my cycle in a more empowering way:


🖋️ Related & Other Articles:

Shirley Druyeh

Shirley Druyeh is a writer, creator, and quantity surveyor redefining what work and wealth look like. Based in Sydney, Australia, she is Ghanaian and British—born in Ghana, raised in the UK, and now an Australian citizen. She writes about financial freedom, homeownership, identity, and the journey of redesigning your life—one decision at a time. Her work explores the intersections of money, independence, womanhood, and what it means to build a meaningful life beyond the 9–5.

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