--- title: Does ulipristal acetate help premenstrual dysphoric disorder? description: Yes. After 3 months, women taking ulipristal acetate had 41% improvement in symptoms versus 22% with placebo, and 50% achieved full remission versus 21% with url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/progesterone-modulator-may-offer-pmdd-relief-2021/ --- - [Niyora](https://niyora.com/) - [Research](https://niyora.com/research/) - [Library](https://niyora.com/research/library/) - Does ulipristal acetate help premenstrual dysphoric disorder? Randomised trial, 2021 # Does ulipristal acetate help premenstrual dysphoric disorder? Yes. After 3 months, women taking ulipristal acetate had 41% improvement in symptoms versus 22% with placebo, and 50% achieved full remission versus 21% with placebo. Moderate study design 95 women aged 18-46 with premenstrual dysphoric disorder ## What they did A randomized controlled trial of 95 women aged 18-46 with PMDD. Participants took either 5 mg of ulipristal acetate daily or placebo for 3 menstrual cycles. Symptoms were measured using the Daily Record of Severity of Problems scale. ## What they found Daily Record of Severity of Problems scores for the 5 days before menstruation fell 41% in the ulipristal acetate group versus 22% in placebo. Half the women taking ulipristal acetate achieved full remission (no symptom above a score of 3) compared with 21% in placebo. Women taking ulipristal acetate reported greater improvements in depression, anger, and fatigue. ## What it means for you Ulipristal acetate may help PMDD symptoms, especially depression, anger, and fatigue. It could be an option for the roughly 40% of women who do not respond to SSRIs. However, the study was relatively small and only tested the drug for 3 months. 41% vs 22% Symptom improvement with ulipristal acetate versus placebo 50% vs 21% Women achieving full remission with ulipristal acetate versus placebo 95 Total study participants ## About the study Original title Progesterone Modulator May Offer PMDD Relief Authors Nick Zagorski Journal Psychiatric News Year 2021 Study design Randomised trial Participants 95 What was tested Ulipristal acetate 5 mg daily or placebo for 3 menstrual cycles Read the paper [doi.org/10.1176/appi.pn.2021.1.29](https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.pn.2021.1.29) ## Topics [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/)[Anxiety and tension](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-anxiety/)[Irritability and anger](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-irritability-anger/)[SSRIs and antidepressants](https://niyora.com/research/topics/treatment-ssri/)[Estradiol, progesterone and hormone therapy](https://niyora.com/research/topics/treatment-hormone-therapy/)[Neurosteroids (allopregnanolone)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/treatment-neurosteroids/)[Work and productivity](https://niyora.com/research/topics/life-area-work/)[Students and academic performance](https://niyora.com/research/topics/life-area-education/) 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 Randomised trial, 2023 What does research show about PMDD neurochemistry? Study, 2026 What are premenstrual syndrome and premenstrual dysphoric disorder? Randomised trial, 2017 Does Sepranolone reduce symptoms of severe premenstrual syndrome (PMDD)? Case-control study, 2007 Does progesterone activate the part of the brain that handles fear and emotion? Review, 1999 Is premenstrual dysphoric disorder a distinct clinical disorder? Randomised trial, 2023 Does a smartphone app for heart rate variability biofeedback reduce premenstrual and depressive symptoms? Ask AI about this page Copy prompt ChatGPT ↗ Claude ↗ Perplexity ↗ Google AI Mode ↗ Grok ↗