Nicky George felt ‘completely out of control’ as she faced multiple misdiagnoses for over two decades
After nearly 25 years of suffering, 40-year-old Nicky George from Hertfordshire finally has an answer to her debilitating symptoms. For decades, she endured severe periods, suicidal thoughts and erratic mental health, believing these were normal period symptoms or even signs of bipolar disorder.
Misdiagnosed for years and subjected to ineffective treatments, it was only when Nicky began perimenopause that she received the correct diagnosis: premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD). This severe form of PMS can cause a variety of emotional and physical symptoms in the week or two leading up to a period.
Now, Nicky is on a mission to raise awareness and educate others who might be experiencing similar struggles. She encourages open conversations about women’s health, stating, “Anyone going through it, just know there are groups out there, and people out there who will help you. You’ve just got to find the right person and not give up, because you’re worth it, and people will miss you if you go, so hang in there.”
According to Mind, symptoms of PMDD include:
- Mood swings
- Lack of energy
- Feeling hopeless, angry, irritable, anxious, tense or out of control
- Difficulty concentrating
- Suicidal feelings
- Breast tenderness or swelling
- Pain in your muscles and joints
- Headaches
- Changes in your appetite
- Sleep problems
Nicky began experiencing symptoms during her teenage years, with the 12 months before her first period being “very moody”. When her period arrived at 14, Nicky had no idea it wasn’t normal to experience such heavy, painful bleeding alongside crippling mood swings.
Speaking to PA Real Life, Nicky said: “I didn’t really know what was happening to me. I knew that I felt completely out of control. I thought everyone was like this, and that’s what periods were like, and that I just wasn’t coping very well, that I was weak, or something like that,” she said.
“School was really hard, particularly with the depression. I think maybe some people thought I was just a stroppy teenager.”
Within just an hour, Nicky would soak through menstrual pads, whilst also battling nausea, diarrhoea, constipation and cramps so severe she was sometimes unable to walk. For someone in good health, a period and its typical symptoms shouldn’t be serious enough to stop them from carrying out everyday activities.
By the time Nicky entered her 20s, her mood swings had grown so extreme that she was convinced she had bipolar disorder. She recalled: “For about 18 days or so, I was in turmoil. I couldn’t really focus, I couldn’t think clearly.
“I just felt really down. It was hard to get out of bed. Then, the seven or eight days when my period started, I had to go through all of that, and then there were a few days of feeling kind of normal.”
Her symptoms severely impacted her life. She struggled to maintain long-term relationships, found it difficult to cope with her job as a teacher, and even saw her friendships suffer due to her untreated condition.
In her 30s, Nicky began to connect the dots after speaking to other women and realising her menstrual experience was far from normal. After seeking medical help, her GP prescribed the contraceptive pill, which only intensified her symptoms and led to erratic behaviour and suicidal thoughts.
When hormonal treatment failed, doctors suspected a mental health issue and diagnosed her with depression and anxiety. Over the course of five years, Nicky tried various medications and dosages to treat these conditions, but it soon became clear that these were also exacerbating her symptoms.
She revealed: “It made me numb all of the time, but I still struggled to take care of my basic needs, like showering and looking after myself, eating well. I was able to get out of bed more when I was on it, but I just felt like a shell of a person on them.”
Nicky found herself shuttled between mental health teams and gynaecology teams, with doctors left baffled until she put forward the diagnosis of premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) herself.
She added: “It was really hard to advocate for myself, because there was really a very small window when I felt strong enough to do that, and then the rest of the time I was in a deep depression.
“I think that’s one of the reasons it took so long to get where I am, because I just didn’t have the energy to fight it.”
In 2023, Nicky unknowingly entered perimenopause at 38 and the transitional phase saw her symptoms escalate to an entirely new level. She said: “There were days when I felt like the world was ending. I was panicked, and nobody else seemed to get it. It was awful.”
She started hormone replacement therapy, but whilst it helps most people manage the symptoms of menopause, it had the reverse effect on Nicky and her health deteriorated so severely that she made a plan to take her life.
She was signed off work for nine weeks following her mental health crisis and, at that point, decided to stop the HRT and begin paying for private talking therapy.
She discussed her belief that she may have PMDD and her therapist directed her towards Dr Louise Newson who has a wealth of online content about PMDD. Nicky recalled: “I just watched every single video I could find of her on the internet, anything she’d written or been involved in, and I couldn’t believe it, because it was my story in a lot of the videos. I was like, ‘This is me’.”
In May 2025, Nicky visited a private women’s health clinic and was ‘immediately’ diagnosed with PMDD. Moments later, it was also confirmed that she was perimenopausal.
She was prescribed progesterone and noticed an almost instant transformation. Nicky said: “Within 48 hours, I felt different. It was like a blanket had been lifted off me, I just had energy to do things, and I felt good. For the first time in I don’t even know how long, I actually felt happy.
“It’s still a bit of a journey, but I haven’t had a single day off work since I came back in September. Before, every cycle, I was having time off – at least a few days – because I couldn’t cope with my symptoms when they were very, very bad in the luteal stage.
“I was absent often, and my work performance dropped during the luteal stage, and this was questioned by managers. I had to move jobs every five years as people’s patience had run out, and I often had outbursts at work with other staff – though never the children – and would often be overemotional at work.
“Even though I’m not always feeling 100% and I still have tough days, it’s considerably better, and I haven’t once felt suicidal since I went on it.”