---
title: Is it better to take paroxetine every day or just during your luteal phase for PMDD?
description: Both daily paroxetine and luteal-phase-only paroxetine improved symptoms in women with PMDD over six months. However, this was an open-label study where women
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/six-month-paroxetine-treatment-of-premenstrual-dysphoric-disorder-continuous-2008/
---

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- Is it better to take paroxetine every day or just during your luteal phase for PMDD?

Randomised trial, 2008

# Is it better to take paroxetine every day or just during your luteal phase for PMDD?

Both daily paroxetine and luteal-phase-only paroxetine improved symptoms in women with PMDD over six months. However, this was an open-label study where women knew their treatment, with a small sample size, so larger blinded studies are needed.

 Early or limited evidence

36 women with PMDD in an East Asian population

## What they did

36 women with PMDD took paroxetine 20 mg daily for two cycles to confirm it worked. They were then randomly assigned to take it either continuously every day or only during the luteal phase for four more cycles, for a total of six months.

## What they found

All women showed significant improvement. Response rates in the continuous group ranged from 50% to 78.6%, while in the intermittent group they ranged from 37.5% to 93.8%. Benefits lasted throughout all six treatment cycles.

## What it means for you

Both ways of taking paroxetine can help PMDD symptoms. However, this was an open-label study with a limited sample size. Daily paroxetine appeared more consistently effective, but larger blinded studies are needed to fairly compare the two approaches.

36

Total women enrolled

50-78.6%

Response rate in continuous group

6

Months of follow-up

## About the study

Original title Six-month paroxetine treatment of premenstrual dysphoric disorder: continuous versus intermittent treatment protocols Authors Wu KY, Liu CY, Hsiao MC Journal Psychiatry and clinical neurosciences Year 2008 Study design Randomised trial Participants 16 What was tested Paroxetine 20 mg, continuously or during luteal phase only Open access Yes Read the paper [doi.org/10.1111/j.1440-1819.2007.01785.x](https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1440-1819.2007.01785.x)

## 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/)[SSRIs and antidepressants](https://niyora.com/research/topics/treatment-ssri/)

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