---
title: Which birth control pill reduces PMS symptoms better: drospirenone or levonorgestrel?
description: Drospirenone-containing pills reduced PMS symptoms more effectively than levonorgestrel pills after six cycles, especially mood symptoms and water retention.
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/a-comparative-study-of-monophasic-oral-contraceptives-containing-either-2005/
---

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- Which birth control pill reduces PMS symptoms better: drospirenone or levonorgestrel?

Randomised trial, 2005

# Which birth control pill reduces PMS symptoms better: drospirenone or levonorgestrel?

Drospirenone-containing pills reduced PMS symptoms more effectively than levonorgestrel pills after six cycles, especially mood symptoms and water retention.

 Moderate study design

Women with premenstrual symptoms trying different birth control pills

## What they did

Open-label randomized study comparing two birth control pills. Women took either drospirenone 3mg or levonorgestrel 150 micrograms (both with the same dose of ethinyl estradiol) and reported their PMS symptoms on a questionnaire after six menstrual cycles.

## What they found

Women taking drospirenone had fewer PMS symptoms overall compared to levonorgestrel users. They had notably lower scores for negative affect (including anxiety, irritability, sadness, and weight gain). The drospirenone group showed greater improvement from their baseline symptoms in the premenstrual phase.

## What it means for you

Drospirenone may be more helpful for PMS symptoms, particularly mood symptoms and water retention. The main limitation is that the study was open-label rather than blinded, and the exact number of women studied was not stated in the abstract.

6

menstrual cycles studied

3

mg drospirenone per dose

150

mcg levonorgestrel per dose

## About the study

Original title A comparative study of monophasic oral contraceptives containing either drospirenone 3 mg or levonorgestrel 150 microg on premenstrual symptoms Authors Sangthawan M, Taneepanichskul S Journal Contraception Year 2005 Study design Randomised trial What was tested Drospirenone 3mg/ethinyl estradiol 30mcg or levonorgestrel 150mcg/ethinyl estradiol 30mcg Read the paper [doi.org/10.1016/j.contraception.2004.07.010](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.contraception.2004.07.010)

## Topics

[Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)[Menstrual cycle and mood](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-cycle-mood/)[Bloating, breast tenderness and physical symptoms](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-physical-symptoms/)[Oral contraceptives and drospirenone](https://niyora.com/research/topics/treatment-hormonal-contraceptives/)

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