Ottawa women’s health doctor, Kandis Lock, N.D. provides a supportive and empathetic space for Ontario women struggling with PMDD to voice their concerns and receive natural, cutting-edge treatments tailored to their unique needs.

For many women, premenstrual syndrome (PMS) presents within the few days leading into the menstrual cycle–dissipating shortly after it begins. For some women, premenstrual syndrome (PMS) can manifest more intensely as premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD). Only affecting 5-8% of women, PMDD is a serious medical condition with life-altering symptoms like severe irritability, depression, or anxiety that occurs 1 to 2 weeks prior to a woman’s menstrual cycle; then gradually lessen as the menstrual cycle begins.

PMDD is believed to be caused by a heightened sensitivity to the naturally fluctuating levels of estrogen and progesterone during a woman’s luteal phase. PMDD can be overwhelming due to impaired emotional regulation–disrupting women’s lifestyles, careers, and relationships. Fortunately, Ottawa women’s health expert, Kandis Lock, N.D. is here to help and support you as you reclaim your life from PMDD through natural treatments like bioidentical hormones.

You deserve to lead a life free of unnecessary distress! Take the steps towards managing your PMDD by calling Ottawa women’s health expert, Kandis Lock, N.D. at (613) 738-4779 today.

Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder Symptoms

PMDD symptoms are unique to each woman. Typically, these symptoms manifest one to two weeks before menstruation and subside within a few days of the menstrual cycle beginning. In addition to experiencing common PMS symptoms–like cramping and bloating–women might also encounter:

Depression is a persistently low mood that negatively impacts the way you feel about your job, family, relationships, goals, and other major facets of your life. A woman struggling with depression may find that it manifests as a pessimistic or cynical view of their physical, emotional, and mental state with little interest or motivation to attempt to improve their situation.

PMS is known to cause mood swings and mild irritability over daily frustrations that typically would cause no real bother. However, PMDD can cause a more turbulent reaction, inciting women to fly off the handle and rage against disturbances that may seem insignificant to outside observers. In severe cases, PMDD can even manifest as uncharacteristic physical or verbal aggression.

Every woman has experienced days of lacking focus and clarity, but for a woman with PMDD, it can feel like every external stimulus is more disruptive than the next. Many women have reported a ‘brain fog’ which they describe as feeling like a thin veil has been draped over their vision and their head has suddenly become filled with cotton balls or clouds.

Pursuing a goal or passion always has its ebbs and flows: a setback or failure in a workout, class, or career task can easily cause anyone to waiver before digging in their heels and getting it done. During the height of PMDD, however, a woman can discover a complete lack of interest, leaving them asking questions like: “do I like this at all?”, “why am I even doing this?”, or even “have I ever enjoyed this activity?”

Moodiness can be described as the quick jumping between heightened feelings. While anger and irritability are two of these emotions, moodiness is a sudden shift between feelings such as joyful and calm, to being suddenly upset or tired, with little or no apparent reason.

During a menstrual cycle, it is not uncommon to crave certain foods like sugars, salts, and fats as a source of comfort and to alleviate headaches and cramps. PMDD takes this to a whole new level: if their appetite doesn’t fade away entirely, women in the midst of a PMDD phase may suddenly exhibit problematic eating behaviors such as obsessive food restrictions, binge eating, or purging.

Sleep is vital to maintaining good health and mood throughout the day, but a sudden onslaught of nights plagued by insomnia can throw a locked-down schedule into chaos. PMDD can leave you tossing and turning, incapable of resting long enough to sleep, or waking you prematurely. Many women also report longer-term feelings of daytime fatigue and the sudden need to take extended naps during the day, when that was not a part of their typical schedule before.

It’s probably safe to say that most women enjoy being able to rationalize their decisions and be in control of their day-to-day life. For women with PMDD, those daily tasks and obligations can suddenly become overwhelming. It can cause panic about previously unconcerning activities which suddenly spiral into a fight or flight response. This can trigger irrational and erratic behaviors and anxieties or sudden disappearances which may negatively impact work and relationships.

Bloating, headaches and nausea are well-known symptoms of PMS, and these symptoms are often present and overwhelmingly severe with PMDD. While the typical cramps, weight fluctuations, water retention, and lower back and abdominal pains are experienced by women all over, these can be debilitating and leave an otherwise healthy sufferer of PMDD bedridden for days.

Diagnosing PMDD

Diagnosing PMDD can be a difficult process, and there are no diagnostic tests that produce a straightforward ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer. Kandis Lock, N.D. will ask you to maintain a tracker chart of your symptoms for a number of months. There are 11 key symptoms that determine PMDD. According to the DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition), at least 5 of the symptoms must be present consistently in order for a woman to be diagnosed with PMDD.

Symptoms to track include:

  1. Depression: feelings of guilt, worthlessness, hopelessness
  2. Anxiety: feeling tense, on edge, unable to relax
  3. Mood Swings: rejection sensitivity, suddenly tearful, sensitive to feedback
  4. Anger: feeling irritable or easy to snap, marked by increasing conflicts with peers
  5. Disinterest: sudden and inexplicable apathy towards activities you loved only days ago
  6. Difficulty Concentrating: brain fog or inability to put your mind to the task at hand
  7. Fatigue: a general feeling of lethargy or physical exhaustion
  8. Appetite Change: bouts of binge eating or sudden shifts from a healthy diet to one riddled with unhealthy and uncontrollable cravings
  9. Sleeping Changes: inability to fall asleep or stay asleep at bedtime, needing to take naps during the day or sleep in after your alarm has rung
  10. Out of Control: feeling overwhelmed with the world, there is suddenly not enough time to do everything that is necessary
  11. Physical Symptoms: bloating, headaches and migraines, cramps, back pain, tension in parts of your body

PMDD and BHRT

While exercise, a healthy diet, quitting smoking, and stress management are always beneficial and will promote across-the-board health, PMDD’s symptoms are sinister in their ability to undermine and divert your efforts.

Many doctors will prescribe birth-control pills, but these will only alleviate the symptoms, not to mention the trial and error of finding the right pill. There are often side effects with birth-control such as acne, depression, blood clotting, nausea, and more. Also, this approach can derail a woman’s family aspirations.

PMDD is ultimately a chemical imbalance and throwing more lab-synthesized unnatural and harsh compounds at it is more akin to throwing gasoline on a dumpster fire.

For these reasons, Ottawa women’s health doctor, Kandis Lock, N.D. provides natural and safe bioidentical hormone replacement therapy. Bioidentical hormones are identical to the hormones naturally present in your body–which means no harsh or harmful side effects. Kandis Lock, N.D. will develop a customized plan to balance your progesterone and estrogen, preventing your serotonin from the supreme drop that leads to the severe symptoms of PMDD.

Kandis Lock, N.D. understands the intricacies of PMDD and the disruption it can cause for Ontario and is determined to help you understand what is happening in your body, while offering a safe and compassionate environment for you to ask the difficult questions.

Frequently Asked Questions about BHRT

Beginning a Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy (BHRT) protocol typically comes with several questions. We’ve gathered some of the most common questions related to starting BHRT and answered them here below. If you have any further questions or need any clarification, please contact Kandis Lock, N.D. at (613) 738-4779.

How Is BHRT Different From Regular HRT?

The main difference between bioidentical HRT and other forms of HRT is the kind of hormones that are used. In regular HRT, the synthetic hormones used contain additional chemical components that allow the drug manufacturers to patent their chemicals. At best, these added components do nothing for you. At worst, your body may recognize them as foreign chemicals and they may cause unpleasant side effects.

In BHRT, the hormones used are bioidentical, which means that they are the exact chemical structure as the hormones naturally produced in your body. This means there is no risk of your body not accepting them. Plus, they are derived from natural plant sources such as yams and soy.

What Form Does BHRT Come In?

Bioidentical hormones are prepared by a compounding pharmacy where they are produced into several forms including pills, patches, subdermal pellets, creams, injections and more. Everyone responds to these various forms differently, and your BHRT doctor can help find the form that will most benefit you and your body.

Is BHRT Covered by Insurance?

Because insurance plans and providers vary considerably, there is no way for us to provide a blanket statement. Your plan may cover BHRT under certain circumstances. The best course of action is to call Kandis Lock, N.D. at (613) 738-4779 to discuss whether we accept your current insurance plan and provider. After you call us, we recommend contacting your insurance provider as a follow-up to ensure that your treatment is covered or to discuss how your treatment may be covered.

What If My Question Is Not Listed Here?

Women often have many questions before beginning BHRT, Kandis Lock, N.D. will be happy to answer any questions that you may have before, during and after treatment. Call (613) 738-4779 with any further questions or to schedule your consultation today!

Ottawa PMDD Treatment

Reclaim Your Life –Tackle PMDD Head On

Call (613) 738-4779 to speak with Ottawa women’s health expert, Kandis Lock, N.D. to schedule your consultation and discover how safe and natural bioidentical hormones can help you today!

Ottawa Integrative Naturopathic Telemedicine provider, Dr. Kandis Lock treats women struggling with PMDD using bioidentical hormones in Ottawa and Brampton, Brockville, Cornwall, Kitchener, Markham, Mississauga, Pembroke, Perth, Smiths Falls, Toronto, Vaughan, Hamilton, Hawkesbury, Kanata, Orleans, Ottawa, Windsor and Nepean Ontario.