Getting ready for
the appointment
By Ben Jonas Goedeke · 3 min read · checked against its sources · updated 10 Oct 2026
A short appointment goes further when you arrive with the facts ready. These are the things that help most.
Bring the record
Two cycles of daily notes are what the diagnosis rests on. Bring the report from Tideline, printed or on your phone, and offer it at the start rather than at the end.
If your doctor works with a daily chart such as the DRSP, ask for it when you book, so the two records can sit side by side.
Bring your history
Write down what you have already tried and how it went, especially antidepressants or the pill. If notes from another doctor matter, ask for them early. Records can take a while to arrive.
Know your first sentence
Start plainly: "I think this could be PMDD, and I have been tracking my symptoms." Then say what it costs you: days missed at work, fights you did not want, how the worst days feel.
Ask about other causes
No blood or hormone test can show PMDD. It is still reasonable to ask whether anything should be checked to rule out other causes, such as a thyroid problem.
If you feel dismissed, you can ask for a second opinion. Finding a doctor who knows PMDD is worth the effort.
Keep the record your doctor needs. Tideline is a period and mood tracker for iPhone: write one sentence a day, and after two cycles it puts the week before your period next to the week after it starts. Free to track, no account.
Get Tideline on the App Store
Keep reading
Sources
- IAPMD: Steps to diagnosis
- NHS: PMS (premenstrual syndrome)
- Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists: Managing premenstrual syndrome (PMS)
- Archives of Women’s Mental Health: Endicott et al. (2006), Daily Record of Severity of Problems (DRSP): reliability and validity