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.
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
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