--- title: Do women with severe PMS sleep worse and have trouble staying alert? description: Women with severe PMS report more sleepiness and fatigue and perform worse on attention tasks during the premenstrual phase. However, their ability to stay aw url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/daytime-sleepiness-psychomotor-performance-waking-eeg-spectra-and-evoked-2010/ --- - [Niyora](https://niyora.com/) - [Research](https://niyora.com/research/) - [Library](https://niyora.com/research/library/) - Do women with severe PMS sleep worse and have trouble staying alert? Case-control study, 2010 # Do women with severe PMS sleep worse and have trouble staying alert? Women with severe PMS report more sleepiness and fatigue and perform worse on attention tasks during the premenstrual phase. However, their ability to stay awake under drowsy conditions is normal. Early or limited evidence 9 women with severe PMS and 8 healthy women aged 18-40 ## What they did Researchers tested 9 women with severe PMS and 8 healthy controls in the lab during two menstrual cycle phases (mid-follicular and late-luteal). They measured sleepiness using formal tests and machines, tracked attention performance, brain activity, and mood. ## What they found During the late-luteal phase, women with severe PMS reported more sleepiness, fatigue, and other PMS symptoms. Their attention performance was worse, with more lapses and slower reaction times compared to their follicular phase and compared to controls. However, they could stay awake under drowsy conditions as well as controls. Brain activity patterns were similar between groups. ## What it means for you Women with severe PMS do experience real sleepiness and do worse on attention tasks during the premenstrual phase. However, the brain's ability to stay awake is not impaired, so the problem may be more about subjective feeling than physiological sleep changes. This is a very small study. 9 women with severe PMS 8 healthy controls ## About the study Original title Daytime sleepiness, psychomotor performance, waking EEG spectra and evoked potentials in women with severe premenstrual syndrome Authors Baker FC, Colrain IM Journal Journal of sleep research Year 2010 Study design Case-control study What was tested objective and subjective testing of sleepiness and attention Open access Yes Read the paper [doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2869.2009.00782.x](https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2869.2009.00782.x) ## Topics [Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)[Menstrual cycle and mood](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-cycle-mood/)[Sleep and insomnia](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-sleep/)[Fatigue and energy](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-fatigue/) Research tells you what helps on average. Niyora helps on the day it hits. Calm down, see it another way, and decide what to say, with a PMS and PMDD app built by a doctor. ## Related studies Survey study, 2022 What factors are associated with irregular menstrual cycles and how do irregular cycles affect other symptoms? Study, 2022 Does having COVID-19 affect premenstrual syndrome symptoms? Study, 2012 Do women with severe PMS have poor sleep quality? Survey study, 2026 Does PMS affect how well young women sleep? Survey study, 2025 Do PMS symptoms ease once your period starts, and does diet make them worse? Survey study, 2024 What premenstrual symptoms do martial arts athletes experience? Ask AI about this page Copy prompt ChatGPT ↗ Claude ↗ Perplexity ↗ Google AI Mode ↗ Grok ↗