--- title: Does a birth control pill reduce negative emotions, food cravings, and water retention in women with PMDD? description: Yes, the pill significantly reduced all three symptom clusters compared to placebo in all three treatment cycles. The greatest improvements happened in the fi url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/premenstrual-dysphoric-disorder-symptom-cluster-improvement-by-cycle-with-the-2011/ --- - [Niyora](https://niyora.com/) - [Research](https://niyora.com/research/) - [Library](https://niyora.com/research/library/) - Does a birth control pill reduce negative emotions, food cravings, and water retention in women with PMDD? Randomised trial, 2011 # Does a birth control pill reduce negative emotions, food cravings, and water retention in women with PMDD? Yes, the pill significantly reduced all three symptom clusters compared to placebo in all three treatment cycles. The greatest improvements happened in the first cycle. Strong study design 449 women in the United States with confirmed PMDD ## What they did Subanalysis of a Phase III double-blind randomized trial in the United States. 449 women with confirmed PMDD were randomly assigned to the birth control pill ethinyl estradiol 20 micrograms/drospirenone 3 mg in 24/4 regimen or placebo for 3 cycles. They recorded symptoms daily. ## What they found All three symptom clusters improved with both pill and placebo (p<.0001). However, the pill significantly outperformed placebo for negative emotions, food cravings, and water retention in all three cycles (p≤.0001). Greatest improvements were in cycle 1, with smaller continued improvements in cycles 2 and 3. ## What it means for you The pill effectively treats the main symptoms women recognize in PMDD, working fastest in the first cycle. Placebo also helped substantially, which is common in PMDD studies. This was a subanalysis, meaning the original study aimed to answer a different research question. 449 women studied 3 symptom clusters measured Cycle 1 showed greatest symptom improvements ## About the study Original title Premenstrual dysphoric disorder symptom cluster improvement by cycle with the combined oral contraceptive ethinylestradiol 20 mcg plus drospirenone 3 mg administered in a 24/4 regimen Authors Marr J, Niknian M, Shulman LP et al. Journal Contraception Year 2011 Study design Randomised trial Participants 449 What was tested Ethinyl estradiol 20 micrograms/drospirenone 3 mg in 24/4 regimen Read the paper [doi.org/10.1016/j.contraception.2010.10.010](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.contraception.2010.10.010) ## Topics [Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)[Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pmdd/)[Low mood and depression](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-depression-mood/)[Appetite and food cravings](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-food-cravings/)[Bloating, breast tenderness and physical symptoms](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-physical-symptoms/)[Oral contraceptives and drospirenone](https://niyora.com/research/topics/treatment-hormonal-contraceptives/) Research tells you what helps on average. Niyora helps on the day it hits. Calm down, see it another way, and decide what to say, with a PMS and PMDD app built by a doctor. ## Related studies Randomised trial, 2002 Does the birth control pill Yasmin help women with PMDD? Study, 2022 What are the symptoms, causes, and treatments of PMS and PMDD? Systematic review, 2026 Does vitamin D supplementation help PMS symptoms? Systematic review, 2012 What medications work best for PMDD? Review, 2009 What causes PMDD and what are the treatment options? Randomised trial, 2008 Does drospirenone with ethinyl estradiol birth control help PMDD? Ask AI about this page Copy prompt ChatGPT ↗ Claude ↗ Perplexity ↗ Google AI Mode ↗ Grok ↗