Yes, Luteal Phase Anxiety Is a Thing (But There's Also a Fix)

I've spoken a bunch on here about how, after years of infertility, my menstrual cycles are finally "normal." What I didn't expect was the flip side: a really crappy luteal phase, specifically luteal phase anxiety that's worse than anything my irregular cycles ever threw at me.

For years, irregular periods were the whole problem, so getting a monthly preview of what regularly cycling women have dealt with their entire adult lives has been humbling, to say the least.

My doctor's first suggestion was magnesium glycinate, and when I asked if there was actual research behind it (because I don't take anything on faith anymore), there is: a randomized, double-blind crossover study found that 200 milligrams of magnesium combined with 50 milligrams of vitamin B6 significantly reduced anxiety-related premenstrual symptoms — the nervous tension, the mood swings, the irritability — more than either alone.

If magnesium isn't cutting it, SSRIs like sertraline (Zoloft) have some of the strongest evidence behind them for PMDD, and the part that surprised me is that they don't have to be taken every single day. Luteal-phase-only dosing, aka starting after ovulation and stopping when your period arrives, works just as well as taking it continuously.

None of this is groundbreaking, but nobody tells you that the two weeks before your period deserve their own plan and their own patience, not just something you have to white-knuckle through every single month.

This luteal phase has already been so much more manageable than my last twelve, and that's saying something.