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Case report, 2013

Can high testosterone levels be connected to PMDD, bipolar disorder, and certain medications?

In one woman with bipolar disorder and PMDD on quetiapine and lithium, initial testosterone was 88.5 ng/dL. When hormone levels were normalized, testosterone returned to normal. This is one case only.

Early or limited evidence One 40-year-old woman with bipolar disorder and PMDD

What they did

A case report of one 40-year-old woman with bipolar disorder and PMDD being treated with quetiapine and lithium carbonate. Doctors tested her hormone levels including testosterone, thyroid hormone, and progesterone.

What they found

Her testosterone was initially high at 88.5ng/dL. After her hormone levels were balanced, free testosterone was 0.20 pg/ml and total testosterone was 27.90ng/dl. Her free thyroxine was 0.83ng/dl and her progesterone was 3.80ng/ml.

What it means for you

The paper suggests there may be a connection between high testosterone, the medications being taken, bipolar disorder, and PMDD. However, this is just one woman and the abstract doesn't explain what was done to normalize her hormones. More research would be needed to understand if there are real connections between these conditions and medications.

88.5 ng/dL

initial testosterone

27.90 ng/dl

final total testosterone

40 years

age

About the study

Original title
Affective disorder and hyperandrogenism
Authors
Zerouni C, Kummerow E, Martinez M et al.
Journal
Recent patents on endocrine, metabolic & immune drug discovery
Year
2013
Study design
Case report
What was tested
Quetiapine and lithium carbonate (method for normalizing hormones not specified)

Topics