July 20, 2017 (St. Petersburg, FL) — There’s a quiet battle raging in the lives of many women in the Tampa Bay area and millions around the world. For around two weeks before their period they experience extreme depression, irritability, anxiety, anger. The symptoms are so severe they interfere with a woman’s quality of life, interpersonal relationships, ability to attend work or school, and can even lead to suicide.
This little understood but debilitating genetic condition known as premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) affects as many as 10 million women in the U.S. and Europe alone – 2-10% of women in their reproductive years. Far more severe than premenstrual syndrome (PMS), PMDD is a severe and chronic medical condition that needs attention and treatment. And for far too long women with the condition have lacked support.
Thanks to the commitment of two local women, that ends now!
Brett and Sheila Buchert, of St. Petersburg, have launched Me v PMDD, a new app and associated website to help women track symptoms, treatments, and gain support. MevPMDD.com went live on July 17 and already hundreds of women from around the world have signed up for early access. The app will be available for free in app stores Fall 2017.
“Me v PMDD is the app every strong woman needs to take back control over her cycle, her PMDD, herself,” said Brett Buchert, 21, co-founder of Me v PMDD, Inc., and a PMDD sufferer. Buchert, along with her mother and supporter, Sheila Buchert, began developing Me v PMDD earlier this year after Brett went through years of misdiagnoses, and months of manual tracking and the tedious conversion of her symptom data to spreadsheet graphs. The power of the information was clear. It not only led to Brett’s PMDD diagnosis, but also empowered her to focus on what she can control in her life.
“Me v PMDD puts the power of tracking into a woman’s hand,” according to Tory Eisenlohr-Moul, Ph.D., Center for Women’s Mood Disorders, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “The app will help empower women to take control over their emotional, mental and physical symptoms by gaining a clear picture of their symptom patterns, receiving peer support, and learning about evidence-based treatment options.”
In fact, a 2016 study in the journal eGEMs (Generating Evidence & Methods to improve patient outcomes) showed that mobile daily symptom data collection can improve care and outcomes.
Me v PMDD will make symptom and treatment tracking for PMDD accessible and simple and will feature easy-to-read symptom graphs to help women and their doctors understand and more effectively treat PMDD. The app will help replace the antiquated printable symptom tracking charts currently made available online. The app will also include a Self-Love Journal for personal affirmations and reminders of coping mechanisms, as well as resources to learn more about PMDD, links to PMDD peer support, suicide/crisis hotlines, and doctors in the area who treat PMDD.
Me v PMDD is also being developed in coordination with the Gia Allemand Foundation for PMDD, the nation’s leading organization advocating for the prevention, treatment, and research of PMDD. The Buchert’s have been invited to present their app at the national 2017 PMDD Annual Conference, October 4-6, in Deerfield Beach, FL. The conference is open to anyone interested in the issue.
“Tracking gives you the power!” according to Amanda LaFleur, Executive Director, Gia Allemand Foundation for PMDD. “Whether you have PMDD or you think you may have the condition, tracking your daily symptoms along with how any treatment you are undergoing is impacting your condition, will help you validate the diagnosis, and it will help you plan ahead for the bad, as well as the good days ahead.”
PMDD is a mood disorder connected to a woman’s menstrual cycle. The condition has similar symptoms to other mood disorders (major depression, bipolar disorder) which make it hard to diagnose and easy to misdiagnose, and thus mistreat. However, with close attention to the timing of symptoms occurring only in the premenstrual phase, an accurate diagnosis can be made, and more effective treatment can begin. While PMDD is hormone-based it is not a hormone disorder. Rather, it is suspected to be a genetic disorder with symptoms often worsening over time and following reproductive events such as starting your period, ovulation, pregnancy, birth, miscarriage and menopause.
Me v PMDD, Inc., is a mother-daughter entrepreneurial partnership committed to helping women fight back against PMDD. At Me v PMDD, we believe that knowledge is power. Knowing yourself and how PMDD affects you, empowers you to focus on what you can control in your life so it’s the best it can be, even with PMDD. Me v PMDD also stands as a pivotal player in the movement of awareness and acceptance of PMDD as a debilitating and sometimes life-threatening condition. This movement will influence more research, better treatment, and maybe even a cure. Together, We Can Do It!