---
title: Does medroxyprogesterone acetate help premenstrual syndrome, and does taking a higher dose work better?
description: Yes, medroxyprogesterone acetate helps premenstrual syndrome. Taking a higher dose does not work better than a lower dose.
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/therapy-of-premenstrual-syndrome-with-medroxyprogesterone-acetate-in-various-1996/
---

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- Does medroxyprogesterone acetate help premenstrual syndrome, and does taking a higher dose work better?

Study, 1996

# Does medroxyprogesterone acetate help premenstrual syndrome, and does taking a higher dose work better?

Yes, medroxyprogesterone acetate helps premenstrual syndrome. Taking a higher dose does not work better than a lower dose.

 Early or limited evidence

Women with premenstrual syndrome (the abstract does not state how many women were studied).

## What they did

Doctors gave women with premenstrual syndrome one of two doses of medroxyprogesterone acetate (a synthetic progesterone-like hormone): either 20 mg per day or 40 mg per day. They gave it between day 15 and day 26 of the menstrual cycle. They measured how well it worked using a premenstrual syndrome index.

## What they found

After 3 months of treatment, 67% of symptoms disappeared in both groups. The higher dose of 40 mg per day did not work better than 20 mg per day. Taking the medicine for longer than 3 months did not make symptoms disappear more, but it did help prevent symptoms from coming back.

## What it means for you

Medroxyprogesterone acetate at 20 mg per day appears to be enough to help premenstrual syndrome, at least for 3 months. If you want to keep symptoms away longer, you may need to continue treatment. The main limitation is that this study did not include a control group of women who took nothing, so we cannot be completely sure the improvement was from the medicine rather than other factors.

67%

Symptom relief after 3 months

20 mg

Recommended daily dose

15-26

Days of cycle for treatment

## About the study

Original title [Therapy of premenstrual syndrome with medroxyprogesterone acetate in various dosages] Authors Szántó F, Hörömpöli C Journal Orvosi hetilap Year 1996 Study design Study What was tested Medroxyprogesterone acetate at 20 mg/day or 40 mg/day given from day 15-26 of menstrual cycle. Read the paper [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8757088/](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8757088/)

## Topics

[Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)

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