95 – Rosie Moss: is it grief or hormones?

Rosie Moss spent years being told her symptoms were simply grief, when actually there was undiagnosed PMDD also at play.

Rosie hosts the podcast Widowed AF, and after her husband Ben died suddenly in a scuba diving accident in 2018, she was left to raise three young children while experiencing monthly crises that went far beyond ordinary grief, including periods of being unable to leave her bed for days at a time. Over the following years she was prescribed a succession of medications, from antidepressants to sedatives to an antipsychotic, none of which addressed what was actually happening to her hormones.

Rosie describes being threatened with the police at A&E and being refused the estrogen dose that had finally brought her stability, while Dr Louise explains why physical symptoms such as joint pain and night sweats are often a sign that hormones are involved rather than grief alone, and why current guidelines still recommend antidepressants for PMDD despite limited evidence that they help.

Rosie also shares the three take-home tips she would give anyone navigating grief.

Follow Rosie and Widowed AF: @widowed_af

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