Updated 3 October 2026
At a glance
- The Office on Women's Health says PMDD affects up to 5% of women of childbearing age, and a 2025 narrative review in Frontiers in Psychiatry reports a pooled prevalence of 1.6% in community-based samples that fully followed diagnostic criteria.
- The NHS says PMDD symptoms usually start around 1 or 2 weeks before each period and improve a few days after it starts, and that a diary of symptoms for at least 2 menstrual cycles may be helpful to share.
- The log in one line: mood, irritability, anxiety, sleep, and energy each day with the cycle day beside them; worse days flagged and medicines checked each week; hourly ratings, scores written from memory, and separate daily entries for every physical symptom left out.
- PMDD Journey is a PMDD tracker that keeps mood, irritability, anxiety, sleep, energy, and cycle dates in one dated history, and its insights read them against cycle weeks and function.
PMDD symptoms follow the cycle. They build in the week or two before a period and ease soon after it starts, so how a day felt depends on where it falls. A few weeks later the memory of that pattern is blurred, and one hard evening can stand for the whole month.
This guide explains how to track PMDD symptoms: what a symptom log covers, which fields to record each day and each week, what to leave out, how to log mood, irritability, and anxiety by cycle day, how to log sleep, energy, and physical symptoms, how to compare symptoms with context, how to date tests and treatment changes, and how to turn the entries into a summary for your doctor.
What does daily tracking show in premenstrual dysphoric disorder?
PMDD symptom tracking means writing down mood, body symptoms, and daily function in the same short format every day, with the cycle day beside each entry. The Office on Women's Health describes premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) as a health problem similar to premenstrual syndrome but more serious, causing severe irritability, depression, or anxiety in the week or two before a period, with symptoms that usually go away two to three days after the period starts.
Each entry has three parts: a score, the cycle day, and a few words on what the day limited that day. The log records dated scores for each of your cycles; the clinician examines you and decides on diagnosis. If you are just starting, see How to Start Tracking PMDD.
The Daily check-in in PMDD Journey asks for mood, irritability, anxiety, sleep, energy, and cycle day in one guided form, so each day carries the fields a PMDD log depends on. The Daily Journal adds free-text and voice notes on cycle-day context and what the day limited, which tells a reader what a score meant.
Why is PMDD hard to confirm without daily ratings across cycles?
The 2026 mixed-methods study in Health Services Insights states that the DSM-5-TR specifies PMDD diagnosis based on prospective daily symptom charting across two menstrual cycles, because retrospective self-report has been found to lack validity in accurate diagnosis. The same paper reports that cross-country survey findings suggest people with PMDD experience average delays of 12 years and visits to six different healthcare professionals between symptom onset and diagnosis, and notes unclear guidance on which clinician to approach, since PMDD intersects mental and gynecologic health.
Records end up divided the same way: mood in one visit, bleeding in another, medicines in a third, none with the cycle day beside each score. One dated record shows which days fell before the period and what changed after bleeding began.
A tearful evening one week and a calm one the next are easy to lose. The Daily Journal in PMDD Journey keeps notes on work strain, partner talks, and visit debriefs attached to the day they happened. The Flare Tracker flags a day clearly worse than usual, such as a day when irritability or anxiety stands out, so one-off days can be told apart from days that repeat before every period.
Which eight fields tie mood, irritability and anxiety in PMDD to the day of the cycle?
The Office on Women's Health says a diagnosis needs five or more PMDD symptoms, including one mood-related symptom, and lists irritability or anger, sadness or despair, tension or anxiety, mood swings, trouble thinking or focusing, tiredness or low energy, trouble sleeping, feeling out of control, and physical symptoms such as bloating, breast tenderness, headaches, and joint or muscle pain.
Mood, cycle day and limit fields for PMDD
PMDD Journey (part of Health Journey Labs) keeps eight fields, each read against the cycle day counted from the first day of bleeding.
| Field | How often | What to record |
|---|---|---|
| Mood | Daily | 0 to 10, with 0 as steady and 10 as the lowest you have felt |
| Irritability | Daily | 0 to 10 on a scale you define once |
| Anxiety | Daily | 0 to 10, plus a word if it stood out |
| Sleep and energy | Daily | Hours slept and energy 0 to 10 |
| Cycle day | Daily | Day number counted from the first day of bleeding |
| What the day limited | Daily | Work, plans, or relationships, in a few words |
| Physical symptoms | On days they occur | Bloating, breast tenderness, or joint or muscle pain as custom symptoms, yes or no |
| Worse days and medicines | Weekly, same weekday | Count of flagged days; medicine and supplement names with start dates as directed |
Source: PMDD Journey
From PMDD Journey, we recommend the first six rows daily and a weekly count of worse days, so each cycle compares with the one before.
Because the fields repeat, scores from different cycles line up. The Daily check-in in PMDD Journey carries mood, irritability, anxiety, sleep, energy, and cycle day every day. Custom symptoms take labels of your own, such as breast tenderness, so a symptom outside the daily fields is logged only on the days it shows up and still joins the same history.
Can past PMDD cycles be scored from memory?
The 2026 mixed-methods study in Health Services Insights notes that retrospective self-report has been found to lack validity for diagnosis, which is why the log works best when each entry is made on the day it describes.
| Leave out | Why | Record instead |
|---|---|---|
| Hourly mood ratings | Symptoms build over one to two weeks, so one score a day shows the change | Mood, irritability, and anxiety once a day, with worse days flagged |
| Scores for past cycles written from memory | The study above cautions that retrospective report lacks validity for diagnosis | Today's daily fields, with the cycle day |
| Every physical symptom, every day | It repeats the daily fields and fills the page with blank rows | Physical symptoms as custom symptoms on the days they occur |
Source: PMDD Journey
Anything a clinician asks you to measure stays in the log.
Weekly Goals in PMDD Journey holds one small aim and whether it held, such as logging all six daily fields on every day of one cycle,. The Daily Journal takes a single line when a day needs more words.
How do you rate mood, irritability and anxiety with PMDD against each day of the cycle?
Ratings and cycle-day lines
PMDD Journey rates mood, irritability and anxiety and adds the cycle day.
The NHS says PMDD symptoms usually start around 1 or 2 weeks before each period and usually improve a few days after it starts, and that a clinician may diagnose PMDD if symptoms happen every month, around 1 or 2 weeks before the period, and have been present for at least 2 months. A score without a cycle day cannot show that timing. Record, each day:
- Mood, irritability, and anxiety, each 0 to 10, with the meaning of 3, 6, and 9 written once and kept
- The cycle day, counted from the first day of bleeding
- The day bleeding stopped
- A word on what stood out most, such as irritability or tearfulness
- A few words on what the day limited, such as work, a conversation, or plans canceled
The Period Tracker in PMDD Journey logs start and stop dates, flow, and how heavy or light bleeding felt, which fixes the cycle days against which mood is read. The Daily check-in then records mood, irritability, and anxiety on the same scale each day, so the weeks before and after a period read directly against each other.
How should sleep, energy, focus and physical symptoms be noted with PMDD?
Sleep, energy, focus and body lines
PMDD Journey keeps sleep hours, one energy rating and yes or no for physical symptoms.
The Office on Women's Health lists trouble sleeping, tiredness or low energy, trouble thinking or focusing, and physical symptoms such as bloating, breast tenderness, headaches, and joint or muscle pain among PMDD symptoms. The NHS lists feeling more tired than usual, problems sleeping or sleeping too much, breast tenderness, joint and muscle pain, and bloating.
- Sleep: hours slept and whether it was broken, as a short note
- Energy: 0 to 10 once a day, on the same scale across cycles
- Concentration: a word on days when thinking or focusing was hard
- Physical symptoms: yes or no on the days bloating, breast tenderness, headache, or joint or muscle pain occurred
These vary with the same cycle days as mood, so record the cycle day with them.
Energy and sleep are in the Daily check-in in PMDD Journey, with mood, so a heavy-energy day and its sleep entry are read together. The Flare Tracker flags a day when anxiety or irritability stands out, with intensity and a short note.
Do work strain and relationships change in the premenstrual weeks with PMDD?
Context makes an entry readable weeks later, when memory of the day has faded. Keep four fields and compare each with mood, irritability, and anxiety across two cycles:
| Context | What to record | What to compare |
|---|---|---|
| Cycle week | Days before the period, days of bleeding, days after | Mood and irritability scores by cycle week |
| Work strain | Hours, deadlines, or conflicts at work, in a few words | Anxiety and irritability on strained against calm days |
| Relationships | Conflicts that stood out | Mood that day and the next |
| Caffeine and alcohol | Number of drinks, if you track them | Sleep and anxiety the next day |
Source: PMDD Journey
Office on Women's Health says many people with PMDD may also have anxiety or depression, so the log shows timing and the clinician assesses causes.
The Daily Journal in PMDD Journey holds cycle-day context, work strain, and partner talks in free text or voice, so a score has the day's circumstances attached. The Food Tracker records meal or drink lines, caffeine, and alcohol, read against mood and sleep when a clinician asks.
Where does a change of medicine or supplement for PMDD go?
Supplement and prescription dates
PMDD Journey keeps each result and each change with its date.
The Office on Women's Health says a clinician will talk about your health history and do a physical examination, and the NHS says a clinician will ask about your symptoms and how they affect your life. A clinician may also order tests to rule out other causes; record each one as a dated fact:
- Test name, date, and the result as the lab wrote it
- Medicine or supplement name and the date it started, stopped, or changed, as prescribed
- Side effects you noticed, with the date
- Missed medicines, with the date
Changes to a medicine belong to the prescriber. The log shows the cycles around each change. For a related guide, see How to Track PMDD Labs Alongside Cycle and Mood Weeks.
My Meds in PMDD Journey records medicines and supplements you already use as directed, with start dates and the changes your clinician made, so each cycle after a change can be read against the one before. My Labs stores result dates for tests your clinician ordered to rule out other causes.
Which two or three cycles of PMDD ratings should a doctor see?
Cycle-day ratings to bring
PMDD Journey fills the page from two or three cycles of ratings.
The Office on Women's Health says you will need to keep a calendar or diary of your symptoms to help your doctor diagnose PMDD, and the NHS says it may be helpful to keep one for at least 2 menstrual cycles. A one-page summary answers that with dates. Bring a page that lists:
- The period covered, such as the last two or three cycles
- The cycle days when mood, irritability, and anxiety were highest, and the day they eased
- Tests and treatment changes, with dates
- Three to five written questions
Questions can take the form “Is it worth reviewing the cycle days when my irritability peaked together?” For a short slot, see How to Prepare for a Short PMDD Doctor Visit.
The Doctor Report exports a one-page summary from the logged history, with cycle dates, mood and irritability, anxiety, sleep, energy, work or relationship impact, and how you functioned, so a visit starts from entries instead of recall. My Care Team in PMDD Journey stores clinicians and short visit notes: what to ask and bring, notes during the visit, and a review afterward.
PMDD and thoughts of suicide or of hurting yourself: get help before you log
The Office on Women's Health lists feelings of sadness or despair, or even thoughts of suicide, among PMDD symptoms, and says that if you are thinking of hurting yourself or others you should call for emergency help right away. The NHS also lists having suicidal thoughts among the symptoms and says support is available if you or someone you know is having a mental health crisis or emergency.
If you may act on thoughts of suicide or of hurting yourself, call your local emergency number (911 in the US) or a crisis line where you live (988 in the US) before anything else. If the thoughts are present but you are not in immediate danger, contact a clinician the same day and say that they appear in the days before your period. After help is in place, record the cycle day and what the day was like.
The Daily check-in in PMDD Journey records mood, anxiety, and cycle day, so after the immediate situation has been handled, the entries show a clinician which days of the cycle the worst thoughts appeared.
How PMDD Journey can help
A notebook or a phone note works for a short PMDD log. Across several weeks, scores, cycle dates, and medicines end up in separate places, and a tracker that keeps them in one history makes the review faster. Compare options in Best PMDD Apps 2026: Trackers Compared.
PMDD Journey is a personal PMDD tracker from Health Journey Labs on the App Store and Google Play. It lets you record mood, irritability, anxiety, sleep, and energy with the cycle day each day, flag worse days, and keep medicine and test dates in one dated history. Its insights read those entries against cycle weeks and function, and the Doctor Report turns the logged history into a one-page summary for a visit. Below is what you can use and how each part helps.
- Daily check-in — A guided daily pass over symptoms, mood, nutrition, sleep, exercise, medicines, and outside factors, with mood, irritability, anxiety, sleep, energy, and cycle day.
- Daily Journal — Free-text and voice notes on what the day limited, cycle-day context, work strain, partner talks, and visit debriefs, which give the scores their context.
- Flare Tracker — Flags a day clearly worse than usual, such as a day when irritability or anxiety stands out, so one day can be told apart from a pattern that repeats.
- My Meds — Medicines and supplements you already use as directed, with start dates and the changes your clinician made, read against mood, sleep, and cycle weeks.
- My Labs — Result dates for tests your clinician ordered to rule out other causes, such as blood counts, thyroid, and iron, read against mood and symptoms by cycle day.
- Weekly Goals — One small aim and whether it held.
- Learn — Short education topics on luteal-phase symptoms, cycle timing, sleep, tracking across two cycles, and visit prep.
- AI companions — Clara for general chat and specialist companions, all of which see your logged history.
- My Care Team — Your clinicians and short visit notes: what to ask and bring, notes during the visit, and a review afterward.
- Doctor Report — A one-page summary exported from your logged history, with cycle dates, mood and irritability, anxiety, sleep, energy, and work or relationship impact.
- My Assessments — Structured check-ins beyond the daily scores, with life and social context from onboarding.
- Food Tracker — Meal and drink lines, caffeine, and alcohol, read against mood, energy, sleep, and cycle day.
- Period Tracker — Start and stop dates, flow, and how heavy or light bleeding felt, read against mood, irritability, sleep, and energy.
- Weight Tracker — Scale readings or body notes, read against energy, sleep, and the cycle.
Everything you log builds one history, and insights get stronger as it grows. Custom symptoms let you add your own labels.
We make PMDD Journey at Health Journey Labs. This guide is educational and does not replace medical advice. Diagnosis, medication decisions, and urgent care decisions belong with your treating clinicians.
Sources
- U.S. Office on Women's Health — Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) (page updated 26 September 2025)
- NHS — PMDD (premenstrual dysphoric disorder), reviewed 20 August 2026
- Islas-Preciado D et al. Unveiling the burden of premenstrual dysphoric disorder: a narrative review. Front Psychiatry 2025;15
- Border G, Miller YD. Patient perspectives of healthcare for premenstrual dysphoric disorder in Australia: a mixed-methods study. Health Serv Insights 2026
FAQ
Which daily ratings show PMDD across a whole cycle?
Use the same few fields every day: mood, irritability, anxiety, sleep, and energy, with the cycle day beside each entry. Add what the day limited, flag a clearly worse day, and count flagged days once a week on the same weekday.
The daily pass in PMDD Journey puts those fields in one guided form with the cycle day, so every day takes the same questions and cycles line up for comparison across months.
Mood changes before periods: what helps a PMDD assessment?
Start with the symptoms the Office on Women's Health lists: irritability or anger, sadness or despair, tension or anxiety, mood swings, tiredness, trouble sleeping, and physical symptoms. Score them daily, with the cycle day, for at least two cycles.
A dated history in PMDD Journey that begins before any diagnosis gives a first appointment two cycles of concrete entries, and its insights read them against cycle weeks and function.
Do physical symptoms need a full entry every day with PMDD?
Leave out hourly mood ratings, scores for past cycles written from memory, and daily entries for every physical symptom. Each repeats a field you already keep or weakens the record. Keep anything a clinician asks you to measure.
PMDD Journey keeps the fields few: Weekly Goals can hold the aim of logging the six daily fields for one cycle, and the Daily Journal takes extra detail in one line.
Should I track caffeine and alcohol with PMDD?
Caffeine and alcohol entries are optional. They help when sleep or anxiety is the question a clinician is exploring. If a clinician requests them, log them for the weeks asked and then stop.
The Food Tracker in PMDD Journey records meal or drink lines, caffeine, and alcohol, which are read against mood, energy, sleep, and cycle day, so a short period of entries can be compared with the daily scores.
How do I rate mood, irritability, and anxiety consistently?
Write down once what 3, 6, and 9 mean for you on each scale and use those meanings every day. Because the 2026 mixed-methods study in Health Services Insights reports that retrospective self-report lacks validity for diagnosis, rate each day on the day itself.
The Daily check-in in PMDD Journey asks for mood, irritability, and anxiety in the same place each day, which keeps the scale in front of you, and the Period Tracker places each score at a cycle day.
How do I mark the cycle day, and what if my cycle is irregular?
Count the first day of bleeding as day 1 and number each day after it until the next period starts. If bleeding dates shift, keep the real dates, since the NHS describes symptoms by their timing before the period, and the actual dates show it.
The Period Tracker in PMDD Journey logs start and stop dates, so the cycle day follows the real bleeding dates, and a cycle of a different length simply appears as it was.
What counts as a worse day to flag?
Flag a day when irritability, anxiety, or low mood is clearly worse than your usual range for that cycle week, or when a symptom stood out. Add an intensity from 0 to 10 and a few words.
The Flare Tracker in PMDD Journey records the flagged day with onset and intensity, and its insights show whether flagged days cluster in the days before the period, which separates a repeating pattern from a one-off bad day.
How do I log sleep and energy with PMDD?
Write hours slept, a word if sleep was broken, and energy from 0 to 10. The Office on Women's Health lists trouble sleeping and tiredness or low energy among PMDD symptoms, so both belong in the daily fields, recorded as they were.
Sleep and energy are in the Daily check-in in PMDD Journey with mood and cycle day, so a clinician can read the four together instead of in separate conversations about each one.
Did a PMDD treatment change the premenstrual ratings, and how would I see it?
Record the start date of each treatment and each change as prescribed, then keep the same fields before and after. Compare mood, irritability, anxiety, sleep, and energy over at least two cycles. The prescriber decides what a change means.
My Meds in PMDD Journey holds the name and start date for each medicine or supplement and each change your clinician made, which gives the cycles after it a clear starting point to compare.
Why do two or more cycles of ratings matter for PMDD?
Two cycles is the usual minimum: the NHS suggests a diary for at least 2 menstrual cycles, and the DSM-5-TR approach described in the 2026 mixed-methods study in Health Services Insights uses prospective charting across two. If an appointment comes sooner, go with the entries you have.
The insights in PMDD Journey strengthen as the history grows, so a log that continues past two cycles gives clearer comparisons than the first days did, and nothing needs rebuilding.
What if rating my mood daily makes the premenstrual week feel worse?
Shorten the log to one entry a day and review it once a week. Contact a clinician if symptoms change suddenly or worry you, and call your local emergency number if there is danger. Tell the clinician if the log increases distress.
In PMDD Journey the ratings can stay at three numbers and a cycle day, and Weekly Goals can lower the aim during the premenstrual week, so tracking does not add to the load.
Should a missed day in the luteal week be filled in from memory?
Leave the day blank and continue the next day. A gap is more useful than an uncertain entry, because a clinician can trust the dates that are filled in, and a blank date does not mislead.
PMDD Journey works with the days that are logged, and a short Daily check-in on the day you return restarts the history without any catch-up task or backfilled entries, and the earlier gap simply shows as blank days in the calendar view.
What does a doctor gain from mood ratings set against cycle days?
Yes. The Office on Women's Health says you will need a calendar or diary of symptoms to help a doctor diagnose PMDD, and the NHS says a diary kept for at least 2 menstrual cycles may be helpful. The clinician still examines you and decides.
The Doctor Report in PMDD Journey turns the logged history into a one-page summary with cycle dates, mood, irritability, anxiety, sleep, and energy, and My Care Team holds your questions and visit notes.
Can an AI chatbot decide whether my symptoms are PMDD?
A chatbot can help word mood ratings by cycle day or draft questions for a doctor. It cannot decide whether symptoms are PMDD, and thoughts of self-harm need a person, not a chatbot; confirm clinical points with your clinician.
In PMDD Journey, Clara and the specialist companions work from the history you logged, so questions about wording start from your cycle-day ratings. The doctor can then check it against two cycles of prospective daily ratings.
Why does privacy matter for mood, cycle and relationship notes?
Mood, irritability and anxiety ratings by cycle day, with notes on work strain and relationships, are deeply personal. Protect the device with a lock, and keep a notebook only you read.
Your entries in PMDD Journey are health notes that belong to you. For storage and handling, read the app's privacy policy. Nothing in this article is medical advice.