---
title: What medications work best to treat premenstrual dysphoric disorder?
description: Several types of medication show promise for treating PMDD, but there is not strong evidence yet for which works best because studies used different methods a
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/pharmacological-management-of-premenstrual-disorder-1995/
---

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- What medications work best to treat premenstrual dysphoric disorder?

Systematic review, 1995

# What medications work best to treat premenstrual dysphoric disorder?

Several types of medication show promise for treating PMDD, but there is not strong evidence yet for which works best because studies used different methods and measurements. More standardized research is needed to say which treatments help most.

 Strong study design

Studies from more than 30 years of published research on premenstrual treatments

## What they did

A systematic review of all studies written in English about premenstrual treatments published over 30 years. The reviewers focused on double-blind studies where patients were diagnosed before treatment started.

## What they found

More than 300 articles were found, but only about one-third described double-blind studies. Just 41 of those double-blind studies involved patients who were prospectively diagnosed. Many different medications were tested, but the studies could not be compared directly because they measured results differently and did not all check for other mental health conditions that could affect how people respond to drugs.

## What it means for you

Although some medications may help PMDD, we cannot yet say which ones work best for which symptoms. The main limit is that studies were too different from each other to compare. Research needs to use the same definitions and measurement methods so that results can be compared across studies.

300+

Articles retrieved

41

Double-blind studies with prospectively diagnosed patients

1/3

Proportion that were double-blind studies

## About the study

Original title Pharmacological management of premenstrual disorder Authors Altshuler LL, Hendrick V, Parry B Journal Harvard review of psychiatry Year 1995 Study design Systematic review What was tested Various medications for premenstrual disorders Read the paper [doi.org/10.3109/10673229509017143](https://doi.org/10.3109/10673229509017143)

## Topics

[Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)[Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pmdd/)[Menstrual cycle and mood](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-cycle-mood/)[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.

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