A Wheelie Good Chat
A Wheelie Good Chat is a podcast hosted by Sam Cole and co-host Joel Guest, offering an honest and insightful glimpse into life from the perspective of someone with a physical disability. Sam shares candid stories and personal experiences, while Joel, the ultimate Question Guy, dives deep with curiosity to explore and challenge societal assumptions, sparking meaningful conversations along the way.
This podcast is for anyone ready to expand their perspective, build knowledge, and reflect on the impact society has on individuals with disabilities. Together, Sam and Joel aim to promote acceptance and inspire change for people from all walks of life.
Let’s break barriers and embrace inclusivity—one conversation at a time. Follow on Instagram @awheeliegoodchat
A Wheelie Good Chat
SOLO: PMDD – The Unspoken Challenge
In this solo episode of A Wheelie Good Chat, Sam opens up about the challenges of living with Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD). She shares her own experience, breaking down how this condition can cause intense emotional and psychological distress in the lead-up to a period. PMDD isn’t just mood swings—it’s a serious struggle that affects daily life, relationships, and mental well-being.
Sam talks about why it’s so important to break the silence around PMDD and mental health. By sharing her personal experiences, she hopes to create more understanding and challenge the stigma that makes it hard for people to talk about menstrual health.
This episode also covers practical ways to manage PMDD, with Sam offering tips on self-care and learning to listen to your body. Let’s push for more awareness and support, so no one has to deal with this alone.
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Before we begin, we would like to acknowledge the traditional customs of country throughout Australia and their connection to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders, past and present, and extend that respect to all First Nations peoples today and in the future. I'm your host, sam Cole, and this is a really good chat where we divulge areas of my life yes, even not so PG ones, if you're a first-time listener. Thank you so much for joining A bit of a backstory on myself. I have a neuromuscular condition called dystonia and I started this podcast with my friend, joel to break stigma and normalize conversations around disability within society. So we really hope that you stick around for future episodes. So I thought I would do a little recording on my own today, which I'm very nervous about because I haven't done it in so long, but I thought it would be really good to have a conversation with you guys on my own. You know, joel and I are fine. There's nothing going on, no tea to share, it's just sometimes. I think that, you know, because we do this on the weekends, because Joel works full time, sometimes we just don't have time to catch up and that's absolutely fine. You know's a massive supporter of mine. He's a great co-host, so I never want to minimize or think that there's something wrong with him or wrong with our relationship. It's just more. I have things I want to say. It's really good to be able to, I guess, just do it one-on-one, one-on-one, one being myself. So today I really good to be able to, I guess, just do it one-on-one, one-on-one, one being myself. So today I really wanted to talk about, I guess, something that I've been diagnosed with since I was I think I was 19 or 20, so it's gone back a few years now and that is premenstrual dysphoric disorder. So and I'll just be referring it to you as PMDD throughout this episode I probably should let you all know what PMDD is.
Speaker 1:For those who aren't aware or just know, I guess the definition is good. So off this Australian website, jean Hales, pmdd is a serious condition that causes severe emotional and psychological distress in the lead up to your period. Pmdd is more than a bad mental syndrome. I've never spoken about this. I don't think anyone hardly. I think only a handful of people know that I actually had this diagnosis. It just comes down to feelings of ashamed, embarrassment. I just don't think it's very recognised.
Speaker 1:I think it's really important to highlight why I never really spoke about it and never really kind of, you know, oh yeah, I've got PMDD. It was more. Yes, I've got ADHD, because I feel like ADHD is more I don't normalize in a sense. Like you know, so many people my age, my friends and that are getting diagnosed later in life, which is fantastic. So there's more that conversation around it later in life, which is fantastic, so there's more that conversation around it. But when it comes to PMDD, it's I don't know, it still feels like there's quite a it's not the conversation as much as ADHD.
Speaker 1:Obviously they're two completely different things, like I guess in the realms of you know, emotional regulation, very similar. Yeah, so that's probably why I feel like I keep saying ashamed, and so for me the symptoms come in really strong, probably like a week to 10 days prior to my period, and so when you think about it I feel like I'm just a moody bitch 24-7. You know, some people probably say I am Bitches. You know hard not to disagree, but this disorder really can really take over your life. I'm actually really proud of how far I've come since being diagnosed. You know, I'm sure it has something to do with my age and being medicated, as well as having the support that you know kind of comes with, because it is such an emotional. There's so many highs, so many lows. What I really experienced is such low lows in the way of my emotional regulation isn't there, it's just completely vanished, and that's really quite scary. I guess one thing that mum could say just could completely tip me over the edge. So my reactions are very reactive and so, like I was saying, I'm proud of how far I've come in reacting and responding to certain things that have been said.
Speaker 1:But it's just, it's a funny one to describe, because I'm sure all the females listening have experienced terrible PMS and then experiencing the PMS and then multiply that by 100. And that is very I guess almost very similar to what PMDD is. It's very much an isolating disorder because you get very much in your own head about things, about friendships, about how people see things. You or should I say how people see me when I'm in that, that mindset of how I'm being perceived and I'm the first one to say I absolutely love social situations, social situations is just, I don't know how I thrive. I, I love meeting new people, I absolutely enjoy that aspect of life, you know, and when I'm in my PMDD I guess cycle, I guess you'll call it I force myself to go out, whatever the setting is.
Speaker 1:I get so overwhelmed and I kind of go into myself, overthinking everything I say, annoying myself with what I say, and then really sometimes I can get very emotional and, yeah, like I said, really kind of yeah, overanalyze everything and everyone around me and kind of start to think that I'm not worthy of even being in this social situation, which is an absolutely horrible place to be. And I think sometimes, when it comes to these feelings, it's so much easier said than done to, like you know, to stay home. This is all my experience. I don't want to feel like I'm talking for anyone who experiences PMDD, so this is all just my experience and I'm sure some of it might be similar to other people, but I can't vouch for other people. But it's a very isolating thing to have to go through and I think for me, just with everything I really have realised how much I never want to burden anyone. So for me, I think it comes down to the fact that I never go.
Speaker 1:My PMDD is that it really is heightened at the moment. I never want to be. I don't want to say I never want to be that person, but I never want to have excuses for not going somewhere or kind of cancelling on plans. So I kind of force myself out of, I guess, that slump. I guess in a slump because everything is just so much effort and I don't know if it's more exasperated because I've got ADHD. So, yeah, it's just a lot to have to go through every month. I mean, in fairness, like I was saying earlier, like I do feel that I am a lot better. A lot better I don't want to say better I'm a lot more aware of my cycle and when it's coming and what to expect, because I have been dealing with it for over 10 years now, which is crazy, so interesting, because some months are, like, so much more difficult than others.
Speaker 1:And for me, I need to remember the fact that you know your body holds on to past traumas. So say, for example, something happened 24 years ago. Around that time I could be quite, I guess, more sensitive to things. So I feel like there is a word for this, but I can't remember off the top of my head. So your body kind of is, I guess, in survival mode. Even when it's you know I'm safe, I'm doing well and all that kind of thing. It's your body is protecting you from these feelings. That happened all those years ago. I hope that makes some sort of sense. Yeah, so I really hope I explained my experience of it well and how far I've come. As I'm talking now, it kind of makes me realize that my ADHD and my PMDD are going to be lifelong, just like my dystonia. Oh gosh, what a combo. Honestly, what a combo. Nothing like an upgrade.
Speaker 1:Hey, so for me it's managing myself and looking after myself when I'm in that, that cycle, and how to best, best look after myself, because it's all well and good for me to force well, I don't want to say force myself, but like if I have plans to go out during my PMDD I don't know what the technical word is or what the right word is, but I guess it's my experience. So there's no wrong or right way of phrasing things. So please don't take offense if you have the diagnosis of PMDD and I'm using the wrong words. Yeah, I'm just literally talking as I'm thinking, which is sometimes dangerous, but bear with me. I can feel myself getting really irritable, really emotional, and I had plans to go out and I just wasn't feeling it.
Speaker 1:I think it's really important to to take care of myself, and if I don't feel like going out, I shouldn't go out, because that is where, for me, situations like that forcing myself to attend something because I feel obligated to rather than just being honest and saying you know, I'm not feeling the best because of my PMDD, do you mind? If you know we catch up next weekend, something like that and if they're a real friend, they would understand and I'm saying this to myself, it's kind of like an accountability, not not just like this is what you guys should do. But yeah, I'm a big advocator for self-care, because you don't realise how much we need self-care until it's too late Well, I don't want to say too late, but until your body is so overworked, so stressed, and we really need to start listening to our bodies more, because our bodies really do tell us more than we give it credit for. So let's go back to a social situation where you know you might have interacted with this person for the past few times. It might be a friend or a friend or whatever, but every time you see them it's just like really uncomfortable and you don't realise how much that uncomfortability affects your body. You might be really tight in your neck or in your shoulders and you're that is saying so much. Yeah. So listening to your body is just so, so, so important and so beneficial. Yeah, it really is a great gauge of when, when you're uncomfortable, yeah, when something's just not feeling right, yeah. So the other weekend, um, I was really tense, I don't know why, what was it for? Oh, I think I was just really uncomfortable with what I was wearing and mum was like, oh, you look really tense and I was like I didn't really think anything of her and I kind of at that moment was like, oh, maybe I should get changed and just try a different outfit. And that seemed to help. I mean, it's not drastic as not liking someone and just try a different outfit. And that seemed to help. I mean it's not drastic as not liking someone, but you know it might have been a really cute outfit, but you know your body wasn't absolutely feeling it. Yeah. So it's times like this that I've really realised how beneficial it is having Joel, the question guy, here, because I'm kind of stumped on where to go now and I really don't know how long I've been recording for. But that's okay, we're just going to keep rolling with it.
Speaker 1:I guess we all, we all think about our future and how it's going to look and where. You know where people in my life going to be. You know, are we still going to be close? Are they? Are they going to be living abroad or something like that?
Speaker 1:And I always kind of think about this because it is a really kind of scary thought for me to have to, I guess, think about my future and you know, where's mum gonna be, because that is the most scariest thought ever. You know I don't want to lose any of the people that I've got in my life. Then, you know moving to a country, then traveling or whatever it may be. And then I always kind of think who is going to be my support? Because I guess all of my girls have careers that they're gonna, you know, go off to, which is so exciting for them and as sorry as I should like, you know, and I really really do hope that we're gonna be, you know, friends for like a lot longer than you know just the duration of them, you know, know supporting me.
Speaker 1:And then I'm like, so will I be like 30s with these young girls still in their early 20s? Or will I actually be working? So that won't really matter. Do you know what I mean? So that is what is going through my mind. It's obviously really scary to have to know lose people to their jobs, and it was inevitable. You know, I obviously knew that with the few girls who I picked up.
Speaker 1:Picked up, that sounds a bit sleazy, but, yeah, it always makes me a little bit sad to have to think about that. But it's a reality. It's a reality and you know, I like I. I like I'm not saying that they're going, they're leaving me this month or like that, but you know, it's definitely something I need to consider and it's something that I don't really like to consider because you know I'm really have got the best of the best, but you're having to actually think about my future and where I'll be and how that will look is a very, very scary thought.
Speaker 1:People have saving up their money for something you know wanting to do six months in Europe or something like that, but unfortunately that's just not feasible for me and I would love to do that, absolutely. Love to travel for a big chunk of time. That would be just so incredible, because I'm kind of like, if you're over in Europe, you may as well smash out a good chunk of time, you know, while you're over there. I guess you know I'm 33, 33 this year. I really have to think about that and yeah, it's really hard to um have to, I guess, say these things out loud, because I guess it's a tough realization to have to put into words. I'm not really know if I'm putting them into words, but attempting to put them into words is always a tricky thing. Yeah, it's a tough one to have to, you know, be so vulnerable, be so open and have these thoughts and put them into words.
Speaker 1:And if you guys do have some questions about today's episode, you know just drop them down and, yeah, send a dm because I would love to answer them for you all in follow-up episodes and if you do like these kind of solo episodes, I would love to keep them, you know, a bit regularly. Thanks for listening to this episode. We really hope you enjoyed it. If you want to stay up to date, please follow a really good chat on Instagram where I post the latest, and make sure you're following the podcast on your streaming platform. That's all for this episode. Stay safe, everyone.
