--- title: Does intermittent luteal phase medication help PMDD symptoms during the first days of menstruation? description: Yes. Symptom improvement from luteal phase-only medication continued into the first 2-3 days of menstruation with similar benefit to continuous treatment, and url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/luteal-phase-treatment-of-premenstrual-dysphoric-disorder-improves-symptoms-that-2005/ --- - [Niyora](https://niyora.com/) - [Research](https://niyora.com/research/) - [Library](https://niyora.com/research/library/) - Does intermittent luteal phase medication help PMDD symptoms during the first days of menstruation? Randomised trial, 2005 # Does intermittent luteal phase medication help PMDD symptoms during the first days of menstruation? Yes. Symptom improvement from luteal phase-only medication continued into the first 2-3 days of menstruation with similar benefit to continuous treatment, and abruptly stopping the medication did not cause withdrawal symptoms. Early or limited evidence 5 women with PMDD from two comparison studies ## What they did Symptom records from two previous studies with similar designs were compared. One used continuous sertraline 50-150 mg daily throughout the cycle, the other used intermittent sertraline 50-100 mg daily for 14-16 days before menstruation. Symptoms during the first 5 days of menstruation were compared between groups. ## What they found Improvement from baseline to treatment was similar for continuous versus luteal-only dosing on day 1 (effect size 0.73 vs 0.89), day 2 (0.40 vs 0.55), and day 3 (0.42 vs 0.44) of menstruation. Women who abruptly stopped sertraline had fewer withdrawal symptoms at day 3 (p less than 0.01) and no difference from placebo on days 4-5. ## What it means for you Luteal phase-only treatment works about as well as continuous treatment and does not cause withdrawal symptoms when stopped abruptly. This suggests women may not need to take medication throughout the month. Main limitations are the very small sample (5 women) and that this compares two older studies rather than a new controlled trial. 5 women analyzed 0.73-0.89 effect size on day 1 of menstruation ## About the study Original title Luteal phase treatment of premenstrual dysphoric disorder improves symptoms that continue into the postmenstrual phase Authors Yonkers KA, Pearlstein T, Fayyad R et al. Journal Journal of affective disorders Year 2005 Study design Randomised trial Participants 5 What was tested Sertraline 50-100 mg during luteal phase only, compared to continuous dosing Read the paper [doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2004.10.006](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2004.10.006) ## 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/) 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 Systematic review, 2024 What are the best treatments for PMDD and PMS? Review, 2024 What are the most effective treatments for PMDD? Systematic review, 2024 Do SSRI antidepressants help treat PMS and PMDD? Randomised trial, 2023 Does taking sertraline when PMDD symptoms start improve how well women function? Guideline, 2023 How are GnRH agonists used to treat PMDD that doesn't respond to standard medications? Review, 2022 What causes severe PMS and what treatments work? Ask AI about this page Copy prompt ChatGPT ↗ Claude ↗ Perplexity ↗ Google AI Mode ↗ Grok ↗