Study, 1980
How should doctors choose medications to treat premenstrual syndrome?
Doctors should try older established drugs first. Newer drugs should only be used when standard treatments fail and symptoms are severe enough to justify potential risks. All medications should be given carefully with monitoring.
What they did
An expert discusses guidelines for selecting and prescribing medications for PMS based on drug type, how established the drug is, and severity of symptoms.
What they found
A framework for choosing PMS medications is outlined, prioritizing established drugs over newer ones. Careful and controlled administration is recommended for newer drugs, which should only be used when older options have failed.
What it means for you
These are expert recommendations for how to approach PMS treatment. The main limitation is this is based on expert opinion and clinical experience rather than original research data with patients, so the strength of evidence is very low.
About the study
- Original title
- Progesterone and Premenstrual Syndrome
- Authors
- Richard H. Lawson
- Journal
- The British Journal of Psychiatry
- Year
- 1980
- Study design
- Study
- What was tested
- None (prescribing guidance)
- Open access
- Yes
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1017/s0007125000045608