---
title: Does mefenamic acid help premenstrual syndrome symptoms? | Niyora
description: Mefenamic acid showed overall improvement compared to placebo. However, it did not clearly help individual symptoms, except for gastrointestinal symptoms.
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/premenstrual-syndrome-in-cape-town-part-ii-a-double-blind-placebo-controlled-1986/
---

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- Does mefenamic acid help premenstrual syndrome symptoms?

Randomised trial, 1986

# Does mefenamic acid help premenstrual syndrome symptoms?

Mefenamic acid showed overall improvement compared to placebo. However, it did not clearly help individual symptoms, except for gastrointestinal symptoms.

 Moderate study design

30 women with premenstrual syndrome

## What they did

30 women with PMS were followed for 5 menstrual cycles. After one untreated baseline cycle, they received either mefenamic acid or placebo on days 11-26 of the next 4 cycles in a randomized, double-blind crossover design, with each woman acting as her own control.

## What they found

On subjective assessment, there was significant overall improvement on mefenamic acid compared to placebo. On daily symptom checklists, mefenamic acid was not significantly better than placebo for individual symptoms, except for gastrointestinal symptoms.

## What it means for you

Mefenamic acid may provide overall symptom relief, though evidence for specific symptoms is weak. The study was small and conducted in 1986, so findings may need confirmation in larger, more recent research.

30

women studied

5

menstrual cycles

4

treatment cycles

## About the study

Original title Premenstrual syndrome in Cape Town. Part II. A double-blind placebo-controlled study of the efficacy of mefenamic acid Authors Gunston KD Journal South African medical journal = Suid-Afrikaanse tydskrif vir geneeskunde Year 1986 Study design Randomised trial What was tested Mefenamic acid versus placebo taken on days 11-26 of the menstrual cycle Read the paper [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3526590/](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3526590/)

## Topics

[Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)[Diuretics and other drugs](https://niyora.com/research/topics/treatment-diuretics-other-drugs/)

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