These include breast tenderness or swelling, joint pain, muscle pain, gaining weight, or feeling bloated.Because of the broad variety in clinical presentation, the onset of symptoms only during or around the luteal phase is key for diagnosing someone with PMDD rather than any other mood disorders. PMDD follows a predictable, cyclic pattern. Symptoms begin in the late luteal phase of the menstrual cycle (after ovulation) and end or are markedly reduced shortly after menstruation begins. On average, the symptoms last six days but can start up to two weeks before menses, meaning symptoms can be felt for up to three weeks out of a cycle. Severe symptoms can begin and worsen until the onset of menstruation, with many not feeling relief until a few days after menstruation ends. The most intense symptoms occurring in the week and days leading up to the first day of menstrual blood flow. The symptoms usually cease shortly after the start of the menstrual period or a few days after it ends. Various symptom and severity tracking questionnaires exist to document presence and severity of symptoms throughout consecutive menstrual cycles.The International Society for the Study of Premenstrual Disorders (ISPMD) defines two categories of premenstrual disorders: core PMD and variant PMD. Core PMD has six characteristics, all mainly focusing on the cyclical nature of PMDD and its typical onset pre-menses tracked over the course of more than two menstrual cycles.
In the end it was moved out of the appendix and into the main text as a formal category. A review in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry published in 2014 examined the arguments against inclusion, which it summarized as:

the PMDD label will harm women economically, politically, legally, and domestically;
there is no equivalent hormone-based medical label for males;
the research on PMDD is faulty;
PMDD is a culture-bound condition;
PMDD is due to situational, rather than biological, factors; and
PMDD was fabricated by pharmaceutical companies for financial gain.Each argument was addressed and researchers found:

No evidence of harm;
no equivalent hormone-driven disorder has been discovered in men despite research seeking it;
the research base has matured and many more reputable studies have been performed;
several cases of PMDD have been reported or identified;
a small minority of women do have the condition; and
while there has been financial conflict of interest, it has not made the available research unusable.It concluded that women have historically been under-treated and told that they were making their symptoms up, and that the formal diagnostic criteria would spur more funding, research, diagnosis and treatment for women with PMDD. References
External links

Premenstrual dysphoric disorder at Curlie
Bhatia SC, Bhatia SK (October 2002). "Diagnosis and treatment of premenstrual dysphoric disorder". American Family Physician. 66 (7): 1239–48. PMID 12387436.
International Association for Premenstrual Disorders (IAPMD)