---
title: Does blocking serotonin bring back PMDD symptoms in women treated with fluoxetine?
description: Yes. Women whose PMDD improved on fluoxetine had symptoms return within 24 hours of taking a drug that blocks serotonin. Healthy women had no mood changes, sh
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/effects-of-metergoline-on-symptoms-in-women-with-premenstrual-dysphoric-disorder-2002/
---

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- Does blocking serotonin bring back PMDD symptoms in women treated with fluoxetine?

Randomised trial, 2002

# Does blocking serotonin bring back PMDD symptoms in women treated with fluoxetine?

Yes. Women whose PMDD improved on fluoxetine had symptoms return within 24 hours of taking a drug that blocks serotonin. Healthy women had no mood changes, showing serotonin is key to how fluoxetine helps PMDD.

 Moderate study design

Women with PMDD whose symptoms improved on fluoxetine, plus healthy comparison women

## What they did

Women with PMDD who had improved on fluoxetine and healthy comparison women received either metergoline (a serotonin blocker) or diphenhydramine (active placebo) in a double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover study.

## What they found

Women with PMDD experienced a return of symptoms 24 hours after metergoline but not diphenhydramine. The healthy comparison women experienced no changes in mood with either treatment.

## What it means for you

This supports the idea that altered serotonin is key to how SSRIs like fluoxetine help PMDD. The main limitation is that the abstract does not report the sample size.

24 hours

time to symptom return

## About the study

Original title Effects of metergoline on symptoms in women with premenstrual dysphoric disorder Authors Roca CA, Schmidt PJ, Smith MJ et al. Journal The American journal of psychiatry Year 2002 Study design Randomised trial What was tested Metergoline (serotonin receptor antagonist) versus diphenhydramine (active placebo) Read the paper [doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.159.11.1876](https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.159.11.1876)

## 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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