---
title: Do women with rapid-cycling bipolar disorder have worse PMS symptoms?
description: Yes. Women with rapid-cycling bipolar disorder had more severe forms of PMS. Those with both conditions also tended to cycle more frequently.
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/premenstrual-tension-syndrome-in-rapid-cycling-bipolar-affective-disorder-1986/
---

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- Do women with rapid-cycling bipolar disorder have worse PMS symptoms?

Survey study, 1986

# Do women with rapid-cycling bipolar disorder have worse PMS symptoms?

Yes. Women with rapid-cycling bipolar disorder had more severe forms of PMS. Those with both conditions also tended to cycle more frequently.

 Early or limited evidence

25 women with rapid-cycling bipolar affective disorder and 25 normal control women

## What they did

Researchers evaluated PMS symptoms in 25 women with rapid-cycling bipolar affective disorder and compared them to 25 normal control women.

## What they found

Women with rapid-cycling affective disorder had an increased tendency to have more severe forms of PMS. Patients with rapid-cycling disorders who also had more severe forms of PMS tended to cycle more frequently.

## What it means for you

This suggests a possible link between rapid mood cycling in bipolar disorder and severe PMS, possibly through shared brain chemistry. The main limitations are the small sample size and cross-sectional design, which cannot prove cause and effect. This mainly applies to women with both bipolar disorder and PMS.

25

women with rapid-cycling bipolar disorder

25

normal control women

## About the study

Original title Premenstrual tension syndrome in rapid-cycling bipolar affective disorder Authors Price WA, DiMarzio L Journal The Journal of clinical psychiatry Year 1986 Study design Survey study Participants 25 What was tested Observational comparison study, no treatment tested Read the paper [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2874129/](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2874129/)

## Topics

[Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)[Anxiety and tension](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-anxiety/)[Bipolar disorder](https://niyora.com/research/topics/comorbidity-bipolar/)

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Calm down, see it another way, and decide what to say, with a PMS and PMDD app built by a doctor.

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