When Emma joined us on the podcast, she shared her journey with PMDD that had shaped her life for 17 years before she could even name it. For nearly two decades, she had been dealing with debilitating mood swings, depression, and overwhelming symptoms that were affecting her work, relationships, and ability to function in daily life.

Since her teenage years, Emma experienced these cycles but dismissed them, thinking they were just part of life—until they became impossible to ignore.

Emma's challenges included:

Two full weeks of symptoms every cycle, starting at ovulation

Severe depression and mood swings that felt like "a different person"

Crushing fatigue and complete lack of motivation

Overwhelming irritability where normal daily messes felt like "the absolute end of the world"

Inability to maintain plans with friends, constantly canceling last minute

Struggling to work even a low-stress job, having to reduce hours

A constant feeling of being overwhelmed with "swirling, whirling, icky feelings" she couldn't name

Deep resentment toward her body and her cycle

Questioning her sanity and desperately searching for treatments that worked

After years of trying various treatments—SSRIs, birth control, psychiatric medications—Emma found some relief but didn't want to stay on medications long-term. She knew she wanted to have children in the future and was concerned about unknown long-term health impacts. Despite fears that she had "tried everything" and worries about extreme dietary restrictions, Emma decided to invest in an integrative approach to PMDD through Her Mood Mentor's program.

Through a personalized, self-led integrative program focused on nutrition, lifestyle, mindset work, and nervous system regulation, Emma experienced a dramatic transformation in just four months. Her symptom burden dropped by 221 points (from 513 to 292 on a comprehensive symptom assessment), and she went from two weeks of moderate-to-severe symptoms down to just 3-4 days of mild-to-moderate symptoms—with one completely symptom-free cycle.

Most remarkably, Emma was able to safely taper off birth control and lithium (medications she'd been on for three years) with zero negative side effects, and is now preparing to taper off her SSRI as well.

Here's what Emma shared on the podcast:

👉 "I feel like my world is opening up."

👉 "I'm able to do things and show up in my life."

👉 "I feel like I can look ahead at the future and see possibilities and not just be in survival mode."

👉 "I'm a lot more capable than I thought I was."

👉 "I can't believe I'm smiling at work on day two of my cycle."

Emma's story shows that PMDD recovery isn't just about symptom reduction—it's about complete life transformation. Through a collaborative, paced approach that honored her lifestyle, combined nutritional therapy, lab testing, mindset work, and nervous system regulation, she found freedom from symptoms that had controlled her life for 17 years. The work wasn't extreme or restrictive; it was personalized, compassionate, and sustainable.

Emma's transformation proves that PMDD doesn't have to define your life or limit your future. With the right integrative support, you can:

Reduce symptom duration from weeks to just days

Lower symptom severity from debilitating to manageable

Show up reliably for work, relationships, and your life

Safely reduce or eliminate medications (with medical supervision)

Build a foundation of health for future goals like pregnancy

Develop sustainable lifestyle changes without extreme restrictions

Transform your relationship with your body from resentment to compassion

Move from survival mode to seeing possibilities for your future

Looking for PMDD support?

❤️ If this podcast has ever made you feel seen, less alone, or more hopeful in your healing—please take a moment to subscribe, rate, and review PMDD Pep Talk. Your words don’t just help us grow—they help someone in the depths of their cycle find this support when they need it most. Every subscribe click, rate, and review helps us reach more people who are still suffering in silence. 

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Watch the episode on Youtube 

https://youtu.be/XuuOssTfPv4

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You can find Jes: 

Instagram: @hermoodmentor

Youtube: @hermoodmentor

Website: https://hermoodmentor.com/

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Looking for more support? 

✦︎  Grab our FREE Symptom Mapping Kit- The first step to healing instead of dealing with your symptoms is to map your symptom pattern.

https://courses.hermoodmentor.com/symptommappingkit

Ready to change your PMDD story? 

Schedule your intro session and let's run your symptom assessment: https://courses.hermoodmentor.com/offers/Amd9gW98