An Ipswich woman who has suffered for years from premenstural syndrome (PMS) has started up an online community to create a support network for others who share her experiences.

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Emily Fazah, who is from Ipswich, has suffered from intense symptoms of PMS, including anxiety, fatigue, mood swings and cramps, since she started her period.

After living in London and working a nine to five office job, Miss Fazah’s PMS became too much and she decided that she needed to create a platform for people who suffer from the same illness to talk.

She started an online community, called Moody Girl, for other women to share their experiences.

“When I was living in London I was trying to continue in my day-today life with PMS,” she said.

Ipswich Star: The Moody Girl Facebook now have 1,200 followers and the Instagram has 800. Picture: POME LETTEThe Moody Girl Facebook now have 1,200 followers and the Instagram has 800. Picture: POME LETTE (Image: Archant)

“I had to ignore the effects and carry on. I though to myself, it can’t just be me who is affected by it. There must be other women who experience this. So I decided to do something about it.”

Miss Fazah set up a business plan and committed to starting a social media hub for women who suffer from PMS.

The Moody Girl Facebook page now has more than 1,200 followers, some from as far afield as the USA, and a further 800 people follow the Instagram site.

She continued: “The response has been really great. I have had loads of emails from girls who are going through the same thing. I even had a message from someone in the Philipines and from the FA.”

The 29-year-old teacher also wants to give educational talks about PMS at schools and universities and raise money for charities which support women with severe PMS.

“It is important to talk about PMS as if it is an illness,” she said.

“At the moment it doesn’t feel like someone could take a day off work because they have bad PMS. It needs to be seen as the same as mental health or another illness. People feel they can’t talk about it because it’s to do with periods.

“Some women don’t even know that they have it and so they can’t prepare for it which makes it harder to live with. So many women have said they wish that they would have had something like Moody Girls when they were going through the same thing.

“I am hoping that 2019 will be the year to talk about PMS.”