---
title: Does removing the uterus stop PMS symptoms? | Niyora
description: No. One woman continued experiencing PMS symptoms even after having her uterus removed. Her mood and physical symptoms still worsened in the second half of he
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/the-premenstrual-syndrome-before-and-after-hysterectomy-1988/
---

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- Does removing the uterus stop PMS symptoms?

Study, 1988

# Does removing the uterus stop PMS symptoms?

No. One woman continued experiencing PMS symptoms even after having her uterus removed. Her mood and physical symptoms still worsened in the second half of her ovarian cycle.

 Early or limited evidence

1 woman, age 37, with PMS

## What they did

Tracked one 37-year-old woman's mood and physical symptoms daily for 6 months before hysterectomy (surgical removal of the uterus) and for 6 months after. They recorded 6 ovulatory cycles in each period.

## What they found

Before hysterectomy, the woman's mood scores increased by 225 and physical symptom scores increased by 4.42 in the last 5 days of her cycle. After hysterectomy, mood scores increased by 182 and physical symptoms by 4.32. These increases were similar before and after surgery.

## What it means for you

Removing the uterus doesn't stop PMS symptoms. This suggests that PMS symptoms come from hormonal signals from the ovaries rather than the uterus. The main limitation is that only one woman was studied.

1

woman studied

6 cycles

tracked before and after surgery

31.8 days

average cycle length before surgery

## About the study

Original title The premenstrual syndrome before and after hysterectomy Authors Mary G. Metcalf, James Livesey, Stephen M. Hudson Journal Journal of Psychosomatic Obstetrics & Gynecology Year 1988 Study design Study What was tested Hysterectomy (surgical removal of the uterus) Read the paper [doi.org/10.3109/01674828809030948](https://doi.org/10.3109/01674828809030948)

## Topics

[Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)[Menstrual cycle and mood](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-cycle-mood/)[Irritability and anger](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-irritability-anger/)[GnRH agonists and ovarian suppression](https://niyora.com/research/topics/treatment-gnrh/)[Surgical menopause](https://niyora.com/research/topics/treatment-surgery/)

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Calm down, see it another way, and decide what to say, with a PMS and PMDD app built by a doctor.

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