--- title: Do hormonal contraceptives reduce PMS symptoms? | Niyora description: Hormonal contraceptives are linked to lower risk of some PMS symptoms, including cramps, fatigue, and depression, but not others like mood swings and bloating url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/association-between-hormonal-contraceptive-use-and-prevalence-of-premenstrual-2016/ --- - [Niyora](https://niyora.com/) - [Research](https://niyora.com/research/) - [Library](https://niyora.com/research/library/) - Do hormonal contraceptives reduce PMS symptoms? Survey study, 2016 # Do hormonal contraceptives reduce PMS symptoms? Hormonal contraceptives are linked to lower risk of some PMS symptoms, including cramps, fatigue, and depression, but not others like mood swings and bloating. Moderate study design 1048 women aged 20-29 from multiple ethnic backgrounds in Canada ## What they did Survey of 1048 women aged 20-29 from multiple ethnic backgrounds about their PMS symptoms and whether they use hormonal contraceptives. ## What they found The most common PMS symptoms were cramps (75%), bloating (74%), and mood swings (72%). Women using hormonal contraceptives had lower rates of some moderate or severe symptoms including cramps, fatigue, depression, anxiety, desire to be alone, confusion, and clumsiness. Hormonal contraceptives were not linked to differences in acne, mood swings, bloating, increased appetite, headache, insomnia, nausea, or changes in sexual desire. ## What it means for you Hormonal contraceptives may help with some PMS symptoms but not others. The decision whether to use them should consider which symptoms bother you most, since they will not help with all PMS problems. 75% prevalence of cramps 74% prevalence of bloating 1048 women studied ## About the study Original title Association between Hormonal Contraceptive Use and Prevalence of Premenstrual Symptoms Authors Alicia Caroline Jarosz, Joseph Jamnik, Ahmed El‐Sohemy Journal The FASEB Journal Year 2016 Study design Survey study Participants 1,048 What was tested Hormonal contraceptive use compared with not using hormonal contraceptives Read the paper [doi.org/10.1096/fasebj.30.1_supplement.1247.5](https://doi.org/10.1096/fasebj.30.1_supplement.1247.5) ## Topics [Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)[Low mood and depression](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-depression-mood/)[Anxiety and tension](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-anxiety/)[Mood swings and emotion regulation](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-emotional-regulation/)[Sleep and insomnia](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-sleep/)[Fatigue and energy](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-fatigue/)[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/)[Pain and headache](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-pain/)[Libido and sexual function](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-sexual-function/)[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, 2018 Does swimming reduce premenstrual syndrome symptoms? Survey study, 1982 How common are premenstrual symptoms in American women, and what factors affect them? Randomised trial, 2021 Does hypnotherapy reduce pain and emotional distress in women with PMDD? Survey study, 2026 How common is PMDD in Russian medical students, and what are its symptoms? Survey study, 2017 Are PMS symptoms linked to mood disorders and personality? Non-randomised trial, 1983 Do drugs that block prostaglandins help PMS? Ask AI about this page Copy prompt ChatGPT ↗ Claude ↗ Perplexity ↗ Google AI Mode ↗ Grok ↗