Randomised trial, 2009
Which hormone add-back therapy works best with GnRH agonist for PMDD?
The lowest dose of estradiol with progesterone worked better. The highest dose (1.5mg estradiol with 400mg progesterone) actually caused more symptom recurrence than lower doses or estradiol alone.
What they did
27 women with PMDD in a randomized double-blind cross-over trial tested three different hormone combinations: 1.5mg estradiol with 400mg progesterone, 1.5mg estradiol with placebo, and 0.5mg estradiol with 400mg progesterone. Daily symptom ratings measured mood and physical symptoms.
What they found
The highest dose of estradiol combined with progesterone (1.5mg estradiol plus 400mg progesterone) caused the most symptom recurrence compared with lower-dose estradiol plus progesterone and estradiol alone.
What it means for you
For women on GnRH agonists with PMDD, lower hormone doses spaced out over longer cycles may prevent more symptoms than high doses. However, this was a small study with only 27 women.
27
women studied
1.5 mg
highest estradiol dose tested
400 mg
progesterone dose
About the study
- Original title
- Evaluation of different add-back estradiol and progesterone treatments to gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist treatment in patients with premenstrual dysphoric disorder
- Authors
- Segebladh B, Borgström A, Nyberg S et al.
- Journal
- American journal of obstetrics and gynecology
- Year
- 2009
- Study design
- Randomised trial
- Participants
- 27
- What was tested
- Three different hormone add-back regimens with GnRH agonist
- Open access
- Yes
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1016/j.ajog.2009.03.016
Topics
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