Study, 2001
Is taking sertraline every day or just before your period better for PMDD?
Taking sertraline every day is better tolerated than taking it only before your period. However, many women in both groups stopped the medication due to side effects.
What they did
267 women attending a gynecology clinic filled out forms about PMDD. Of the 162 women with PMDD, 94 agreed to take sertraline: 71 took it every day and 23 took it only during the phase before their period. Researchers followed them for 6 months to see who continued the medication.
What they found
60.7% of the 267 women had PMDD. Of the 162 with PMDD, 133 agreed to have a psychiatric interview, and 36 of those women (27%) had depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety, or related disorders. In the continuous group, 44 out of 71 women (62%) stopped due to side effects. In the intermittent group, 22 out of 23 women (96%) stopped due to side effects. At 6 months, continuous use was better tolerated than intermittent use.
What it means for you
If you have PMDD, taking sertraline every day may work better than taking it only before your period. However, many women in both groups stopped because of side effects, which matters when deciding with your doctor. The main limit is this was not a randomized controlled study, so the groups may have differed at the start.
60.7%
of 267 women with PMDD
27%
of those interviewed with depression or anxiety disorders
62%
of continuous group stopping due to side effects
About the study
- Original title
- Intermittent versus continuous sertraline therapy in the treatment of premenstrual dysphoric disorders
- Authors
- Alpay FB, Turhan NO
- Journal
- International journal of fertility and women's medicine
- Year
- 2001
- Study design
- Study
- Participants
- 267
- Read the paper
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11563834/
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