What Your Doctor Isn’t Telling You About Natural PMDD Treatment

When Standard PMDD Advice Isn’t Enough

If you’ve been told your only options for PMDD are birth control, antidepressants, or “just managing stress better” — I want you to know there’s more to the story.

You’re not imagining things. PMDD can feel like your entire personality changes for half the month — one week you’re fine, the next you’re anxious, angry, overwhelmed, or numb. Then your period arrives, and suddenly, it all lifts. Until the next cycle.

I know how disorienting this can be because I’ve lived it. As a naturopath and nutritionist, I was doing everything I was “supposed” to — eating well, meditating, taking supplements — and still found myself drowning every month in a tidal wave of rage, sadness, and shame. I was told it was just PMS. I was offered medication. None of it got to the root.

That’s when I started exploring a different path — one that didn’t just try to silence the symptoms, but actually worked with the body to restore balance and calm. What I found was that real, lasting relief from PMDD is possible — but it requires a different approach. A more holistic one.

In this blog, I’m going to share the natural PMDD relief tools that made the biggest difference in my own recovery — and now help the women I work with every day finally feel like themselves again.

Let’s get into it.

What Is PMDD Really Doing in the Body?

Let’s start with a simple truth: PMDD is not “just PMS.”

While PMS might cause moodiness or bloating for a few days, PMDD is something very different. It can completely hijack how you feel, think, and relate — not just physically, but emotionally and mentally. One minute you’re calm and connected, and the next you feel like a stranger in your own skin. I used to describe it as my body dragging me into a version of myself I didn’t recognise — and couldn’t control.

But here’s what most people (including many practitioners) don’t explain clearly: PMDD isn’t caused by having the “wrong” hormones. In fact, your hormone levels might be completely normal on blood tests.

The issue is how your brain and nervous system respond to those normal hormonal shifts — especially the sharp drop in estrogen and rise in progesterone in the second half of your cycle (the luteal phase). If your nervous system is already on high alert, or you have a history of trauma or chronic stress, this shift can feel like an internal earthquake.

That’s why PMDD is not just hormonal — it’s also neurological and emotional. And that’s why treatments that only focus on one piece of the puzzle often fall short.

I’ve seen it so many times (and lived it myself): women are given the pill, antidepressants, or told to just “track your cycle” — but they’re still stuck in a loop, feeling like they’re losing their mind every few weeks.

That’s why I believe so strongly in a more complete approach to PMDD — one that understands the role of the nervous system, nutritional biochemistry, trauma patterns, and emotional support, alongside hormone balance.

When we start working with the whole picture, that’s when real healing begins.

Why the Conventional Options Often Fall Short

If you’ve been offered antidepressants, the pill, or told to just “ride it out,” you’re not alone. That’s the typical PMDD script.

And to be clear — I’m not vehemently against medication. SSRIs and hormonal contraceptives can bring relief for some women, especially in crisis. But they rarely address the whole story. And for many, they come with side effects like numbness, weight gain, low libido, or a sense of being emotionally flat. For others, they simply don’t work.

This is the point where a lot of women start to feel defeated. They’re told: “We’ve tried everything.” But that’s only true if we believe that PMDD is purely about chemical imbalance.

The problem is, most standard treatments only look at the surface layer — the symptoms. They don’t ask the deeper questions:

·   Why is your system reacting so intensely to normal hormonal changes?

·   What’s happening in your nervous system? Your gut? Your stress response?

·   Is there unresolved trauma still living in your body or subconscious that’s being triggered every cycle?

I’ve had clients come to me after 10+ years of trying protocols that only scratched the surface. No one had ever looked holistically at their diet, nutrient levels, childhood patterns, or how unsafe their body was feeling around ovulation or in the luteal phase.

That’s why I call PMDD a whole-person condition. It affects every layer — physical, emotional, energetic — and so the support needs to do the same.

The truth is, most doctors aren’t trained to work this way. It’s not their fault — it’s just not part of the conventional model. But it doesn’t mean that deeper healing isn’t possible.

You don’t need to choose between suppressing your symptoms or suffering through them. There’s a middle path — one that’s rooted in evidence-based natural medicine treatment, nervous system wisdom, and deep listening to the body. And that’s what we’ll explore next.

My Journey to Finding Real Natural PMDD Relief

I didn’t stumble onto natural PMDD relief because I was bored or curious. I found it because I was desperate.

At the time, I was already a qualified naturopath and nutritionist. I had years of study, clinical experience, and all the “tools” at my fingertips — and yet, every month, I felt completely hijacked by my own cycle.

I was fine for two weeks… and then it would hit. The mood swings, the rage, the anxiety, the crushing depression. My partner didn’t know how to support me. I didn’t know how to support myself. Neither of us recognised me during this time.  And the worst part? As soon as I’d start to feel better again, I’d be flooded with guilt, shame, and the fear that it was all going to happen again- which it predictably did

I tried everything I’d been taught — the supplements, the hormone testing, the dietary tweaks — but nothing truly shifted until I started addressing all five layers of what was going on in my system.

That’s when I realised PMDD isn’t a simple hormone problem. It’s a whole-system overwhelm. A nervous system stuck in high alert. A body that's misreading hormonal changes as danger. A lifetime of stored trauma being triggered like clockwork.

So I stopped trying to find a “magic” herb or pill — and I started working more holistically. Supporting my nervous system. Processing emotional pain that talk therapy had never really touched. Fine-tuning my diet and nutrition based on my specific biochemistry. And slowly, things began to change.

Not perfectly. Not instantly. But consistently.

That personal journey became the foundation of how I now work with women in my clinic. Because what I needed back then wasn’t another prescription — it was someone to help me put the pieces together and walk me back to myself.

In the next section, I’ll share exactly what those five key pieces are — and how they might help you start to feel like you again.

The 5 Foundations of Natural PMDD Relief That Changed Everything

It wasn’t one magic supplement that helped me heal from PMDD. What actually worked was addressing everything that was out of balance — my hormones, nervous system, nutrition, emotional state, and the deeper trauma I was still carrying. Once I began to support all these layers together, things began to shift in a real and lasting way. This approach has now become the core of how I work with clients.

1. Herbal Medicine: Calm Support When You Need It Most

There were a few herbs that made a clear difference in my own journey: Vitex, Saffron, and Kava.

• Vitex (Chaste Tree) helped regulate my hormonal patterns over time and reduce the emotional unpredictability I felt month after month. It needs consistency — think months, not weeks — but when used properly, it can be incredibly effective.

• Saffron became a core part of my protocol for low mood and that heavy emotional fog. I now use it in very specific ways with clients who experience crying spells, hopelessness, or overwhelm in the luteal phase.

• Kava was my go-to in moments of high anxiety. It helped bring me back into my body without the side effects I had previously experienced from anti-anxiety medications — but only when dosed and timed carefully.

These herbs are natural, yes — but they’re also powerful. That’s why I always recommend personalised prescribing rather than guessing from a blog post. When chosen and dosed based on your constitution and symptoms, herbs can be game-changing.

2. Nutrient Therapy: Supporting the Chemistry of Calm

I’m definitely not a fan of the “take-all-the-supplements” approach. But once I understood what my body actually needed — and how to support it intentionally — things shifted.

Some of the key nutrients for me were:

• Calcium and Magnesium: for calming the nervous system, easing cramps, and smoothing out irritability

• Vitamin B6 and Zinc: to support progesterone and reduce PMS-type symptoms like tenderness and mood swings

• Tryptophan: a precursor to serotonin, which I used strategically during times of emotional depletion

Supplements only really work when we know what we’re addressing. That’s why I focus on testing, tracking, and matching the supplement to the person — not just the symptom.

3. Nutrition: Stabilising Through Food, Not Perfection

Changing how I ate was one of the most practical things I did — and I felt the benefits fast. Within one cycle of eating in a way that better stabilised my blood sugar and reduced inflammation, my mood swings were noticeably lighter.

What helped me most:

• Building meals around whole, plant-based foods rich in minerals, colour, plant-based protein, necessary carbohydrates, and healthy fats

• Prioritising GLA and omega-3 fats, especially from Ahiflower oil, which I now recommend for its comprehensive omega profile

• Reducing or avoiding alcohol, caffeine, and ultra-processed foods in the luteal phase — this can be hard, but is so worth it

This isn’t about restriction. It’s about helping your body feel safe and steady with every bite. That alone can change your cycle experience.

4. Nervous System Regulation: The Missing Link for So Many

For years, my nervous system was stuck in “fight or flight.” I didn’t realise it at the time, but even when life was quiet, my body was on high alert — especially leading into my period.

It wasn’t until I learned how to regulate my nervous system that my responses to hormone changes softened. These simple tools made a big difference:

• Yoga Nidra for deep, restorative rest

• Breathwork to bring me out of spirals and back into calm

• Vagal toning (like humming and cold water) to shift my baseline state

I’ll never forget the moment I did a breathing exercise and, for the first time in years, felt my body actually relax. I realised how long I’d been living in tension without knowing it. That realisation became a turning point.

5. Healing the Deeper Roots: Trauma & Family Patterns

Talk therapy helped me process — but it didn’t shift the core beliefs or patterns that kept showing up in my cycle.

What did make a difference were trauma-informed approaches that work with the subconscious and body:

• Rapid Core Healing

• Family Constellations

Through this work, I was able to:

• Finally stop abandoning myself in the lead-up to my period

• Rewrite beliefs like “I’m too much” or “I don’t deserve love”

• Reparent my inner child in the most beautiful way - so that she finally felt safe for the first time

• Understand and release inherited family patterns that were quietly influencing my emotional world

• Let go of trauma that was stored in my body, not just my mind

PMDD, for many of us, is not just about today — it’s the nervous system flagging something much older that never got the chance to be seen, felt, or healed.

When I began meeting those parts of myself with care, my entire cycle began to shift — not just symptomatically, but emotionally and spiritually too.

What Actually Changed When I Started Supporting My Whole System

Once I began putting all these pieces together, things didn’t just improve — they transformed.

The biggest shift? I no longer felt like I was bracing myself for the luteal phase. That constant, low-level dread started to fade. Instead of feeling like half my month was a write-off, I began noticing more consistency — in my energy, my mood, and my ability to respond calmly to everyday stress.

The relationship I was in at the time started to feel safer. I wasn’t reacting from that emotionally raw, fight-or-flight place anymore. I could communicate clearly without shutting down or blowing up. And I could actually work — not just drag myself through the motions, but show up consistently, without PMDD derailing everything.

Maybe the most powerful change of all: I stopped waking up after every luteal phase with shame. That crushing post-bleed guilt that used to sit on my chest like a brick — it slowly disappeared.

And the healing didn’t just stay confined to the second half of my cycle. It started to show up everywhere:

• My energy was more stable across the whole month

• I slept more deeply and woke up feeling rested

• I found it easier to say no, calmly and confidently — and mean it

• My daily anxiety eased, and the panic attacks stopped completely

• I started making different choices — in my relationships, in my work, in how I treated myself

The more I nourished my nervous system, supported my body, and tended to the emotional roots underneath it all, the more me I became again.

And honestly? I hadn’t realised just how much of myself had been missing until she returned.

You’re Not Broken — You’ve Just Been Carrying Too Much, Alone

If there’s one thing I want you to take away from all of this, it’s that you’re not irreparable broken. You’re certainly not weak - quite the opposite! And you’re not making it up or imagining it..

PMDD is overwhelming — not just because of the symptoms, but because of how isolating and misunderstood it can feel. It takes over your relationships, your work, your sense of self. And so often, the support you need just isn’t there when you ask for it.

But that doesn’t mean it isn’t possible to heal.

You absolutely can feel calm, connected, and clear again. You can wake up without dread. You can have a cycle that doesn’t feel like a punishment. I know, because I’ve walked that road — and I now have the privilege of walking it with my clients, too.

If this resonates, there are a few gentle next steps you can take:

• Download my free PMDD eBook to understand the root causes and explore natural support strategies

• Book a strategy session — we’ll talk through what’s going on and what support might actually help (it’s fully redeemable if you choose to go further)

• Explore the 12-week PMDD Transformation Journey, where I bring all of this together — naturopathy, nervous system support, nutrition, and trauma healing

You don’t have to keep surviving this on your own. There is another way — and you’re allowed to take it.

When you’re ready, I’m here.

With love,

Camilla x

About Camilla Brinkworth
Camilla is a naturopath, nutritionist, and trauma-informed PMDD specialist. After healing her own cycle through an integrative natural and holistic approach, she now helps women worldwide stabilise their moods, restore emotional balance, and feel safe in their bodies again—naturally. Explore support options →