---
title: Do symptoms of acute intermittent porphyria change during the menstrual cycle?
description: Yes. 30 of 32 women with this rare disease showed symptom changes across their menstrual cycle. Breast tenderness and abdominal swelling showed the strongest
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/acute-intermittent-porphyria-symptoms-during-the-menstrual-cycle-2015/
---

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- Do symptoms of acute intermittent porphyria change during the menstrual cycle?

Cohort study, 2015

# Do symptoms of acute intermittent porphyria change during the menstrual cycle?

Yes. 30 of 32 women with this rare disease showed symptom changes across their menstrual cycle. Breast tenderness and abdominal swelling showed the strongest changes.

 Moderate study design

32 women with acute intermittent porphyria in Sweden

## What they did

Researchers tracked 32 Swedish women with acute intermittent porphyria (AIP), a rare genetic disease causing severe pain and physical symptoms. Women rated their symptoms every day across their menstrual cycles to see if symptoms were worse or better at different times.

## What they found

30 of 32 women showed significant cyclical changes in at least one symptom. Back pain occurred in 10 women and sweet cravings in 10 women. Breast tenderness and abdominal swelling showed the strongest cyclical patterns (F=21.888 and F=16.982 respectively). Pelvic pain and abdominal swelling were strongly correlated (rs=0.337, p<0.001).

## What it means for you

Women with AIP experience symptom changes across their menstrual cycle, particularly physical symptoms. However, AIP is very rare, so these findings may not apply to women without this condition. The study was small with only 32 participants.

30/32

women with cyclical symptom changes

10/32

women with back pain

21.888

F-value for breast tenderness changes

## About the study

Original title Acute intermittent porphyria symptoms during the menstrual cycle Authors Ahangari A, Bäckström T, Innala E et al. Journal Internal medicine journal Year 2015 Study design Cohort study Participants 32 What was tested None - observational study Read the paper [doi.org/10.1111/imj.12784](https://doi.org/10.1111/imj.12784)

## Topics

[Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)[Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pmdd/)[Bloating, breast tenderness and physical symptoms](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-physical-symptoms/)[Pain and headache](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-pain/)

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Calm down, see it another way, and decide what to say, with a PMS and PMDD app built by a doctor.

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