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Review, 1987

What medicines work best for treating moderate to severe premenstrual syndrome?

For mild to moderate PMS, the first approach should be diet, exercise, and nutritional supplements. For severe cases, medications like danazol, estrogen implants, or progesterone at 300 mg per day can be tried, though evidence for some is still limited.

Early or limited evidence Women with mild to severe premenstrual syndrome

What they did

This was a review of medication treatment options for different levels of PMS severity.

What they found

Progesterone alone did not work better than placebo in most studies, except one study using oral micronized progesterone at 300 mg per day. Other options with some evidence include danazol, estrogen implants, depomedroxyprogesterone acetate, and prostaglandin inhibitors.

What it means for you

Treatment should match symptom severity. A major limitation is that much evidence comes from small studies and some treatments need further testing by other researchers.

300 mg/day

Dose of oral micronized progesterone that showed benefit in one study

About the study

Original title
Indications for drug therapy in premenstrual syndrome patients
Authors
Chihal HJ
Journal
The Journal of reproductive medicine
Year
1987
Study design
Review
What was tested
Various medications including progesterone, danazol, estrogen, and others

Topics