Beauty and Beast-My Mulitple Personalities

In Proverbs 21:19 Solomon says, It is better to live on a corner of the housetop than in a house in company with a quarrelsome wife. He also noted not once but twice in the same book that a contentious wife is like constant dripping (19:13, 27:15).

 Since we know Solomon to be the wisest person to ever live, I am guessing at least one of his 700 wives had some serious PMS. My own husband no doubt feels as though he is married to two women (and they‘re both me). I have PMDD ( premenstrual dysphoric disorder), which in layman’s terms is PMS on steroids and not just for a couple of days but in some cases three weeks out of a given month. Below I have listed the symptoms that must be present in order to qualify (sounds like you might be getting a prize,huh). You must have at least five of the following:

Disinterest in daily activities and relationships
Fatigue or low energy
Feeling of sadness or hopelessness, possible suicidal thoughts
Feelings of tension or anxiety
Feeling out of control
Food cravings or binge eating
Mood swings marked by periods of teariness
Panic attack
Persistent irritability or anger that affects other people
Trouble concentrating
Physical symptoms, such as bloating, breast tenderness, headaches, and joint or muscle pain
Sleep disturbances



Me, I have them all. I will frequently do and say things, when the hormone soup starts to come to a rolling boil, that are later regretted. As years passed things just got worse. At my annual physicals, I would list my complaints and they would be waved aside as nothing more than a little PMS. Last year a new physician took me seriously. She asked about any additional concerns and I jokingly told her, “my husband says I’m mean” but she didn’t laugh with me as expected, she listened and then said, “he would know’.  Soooooooo... we set about finding a proper medical regimen to treat the condition.

Through it all my husband stuck with me even though the relationship was quite a roller-coaster ride. He never knew which one of me he would find upon his arrival home from work.
Every month without fail in the aftermath of my meltdowns, he would forgive me when I apologized. I did not deserve forgiveness, for without fail the cycle would be repeated.

How could he keep on forgiving me? I believe it happened because God gave him the grace too. For this was grace as God has shown it to be; simply unmerited favor that is a by-product of His love.

I happily report that with the prescriptions and life-style changes that were recommended, we are now one husband and one (nice) wife in the same house.