Review, 2002
Can antidepressants help severe PMS (PMDD) symptoms like irritability and low mood?
Yes. This review says serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SRI) antidepressants reduce PMDD symptoms effectively, while non-serotonin antidepressants do not, and they can even be taken only in part of the cycle.
What they did
This is a review article (not a new study) that pulls together existing research on diagnosing and treating premenstrual dysphoria (PMD), a severe form of PMS.
What they found
PMD affects 5% to 10% of all fertile women. Its core symptoms are depressed mood, tension, mood swings and irritability, occurring between ovulation and the period and clearing up within a few days of bleeding starting. SRIs reduce these symptoms, but other (nonserotonergic) antidepressants do not. SRIs also start working faster for PMD than they do for depression, so some women can take them only during the luteal phase (the time between ovulation and the period) rather than every day. The most common side effect with long-term use is sexual dysfunction.
What it means for you
SRI antidepressants, sometimes taken for only part of the cycle, are a treatment option for severe PMS/PMDD backed by research the author reviewed. The main limit is that this is a summary of other people's findings, not a new controlled study with its own participants, so it does not give fresh trial numbers of its own.
5-10%
Fertile women affected by PMD
About the study
- Original title
- Diagnosis and treatment of premenstrual dysphoria
- Authors
- Eriksson E, Andersch B, Ho HP et al.
- Journal
- The Journal of clinical psychiatry
- Year
- 2002
- Study design
- Review
- What was tested
- SRI antidepressants vs nonserotonergic antidepressants; taken continuously or only in the luteal phase.
- Read the paper
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11995774/
Topics
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