It always starts shortly after ovulation. Alexandra sleeps worse, her skin starts to itch and her stomach bloates. However, the mental problems are much worse, says the 44-year-old teacher. “I’m more aggressive and argumentative. I think I annoy others more quickly than usual. When I observe myself from the outside, I think to myself: ‘Now just shut up, it’s okay now.’ But I can’t stop.” Above all, she completely rejects her partner. “I just can’t stand men in the ten days before my period,” she says. “As soon as I start bleeding, the gray haze disappears and I’m like a changed person.”

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