Review, 2019
What causes PMDD and which treatments actually help?
This review explains that PMDD likely comes from an unusual brain response to normal hormone changes, involving serotonin and a brain receptor called GABA-A, and it says serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are the first choice of treatment, with other options available if those do not work.
What they did
The authors wrote a review summarising current understanding of what causes PMDD and what treatments are used, based on existing research rather than a new trial of their own.
What they found
Women with PMDD seem to respond differently to normal hormone fluctuations than other women. This may involve the serotonin system, changes in how sensitive the GABA-A receptor is to a hormone-related substance called allopregnanolone, and differences in brain circuits involved in emotion and thinking. SSRIs are described as the first-line treatment. Second-line options mentioned include birth control pills containing drospirenone, other methods that stop ovulation, calcium, chasteberry, and cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT).
What it means for you
For someone with PMDD, this suggests SSRIs are usually tried first, and if they do not help enough, there are several other options worth discussing with a doctor, including certain birth control pills, calcium, chasteberry, or CBT. The main limit is that this is a review piece, not a clinical trial, so it does not give specific success rates or numbers for how well each treatment works.
About the study
- Original title
- Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder
- Authors
- Lanza di Scalea T, Pearlstein T
- Journal
- The Medical clinics of North America
- Year
- 2019
- Study design
- Review
- What was tested
- SSRIs first-line; drospirenone pills, ovulation suppression, calcium, chasteberry, CBT second-line.
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1016/j.mcna.2019.02.007
Topics
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