---
title: Does exercise, rest, or vitamin B6 help PMS symptoms? | Niyora
description: Yes. Exercise, rest, and keeping a symptom diary helped over 80% of women who tried them.
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/treatment-of-premenstrual-symptoms-in-wellington-women-1989/
---

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- Does exercise, rest, or vitamin B6 help PMS symptoms?

Survey study, 1989

# Does exercise, rest, or vitamin B6 help PMS symptoms?

Yes. Exercise, rest, and keeping a symptom diary helped over 80% of women who tried them.

 Early or limited evidence

1826 women in Wellington, New Zealand with recent periods and PMS symptoms

## What they did

1826 women in Wellington completed a survey about their PMS symptoms and what they tried for them, including self-help and medical approaches.

## What they found

1456 women had a recent period, and 85% reported PMS symptoms. About 990 tried self-help and 416 got medical help. Half of women had tried exercise, rest, or vitamin B6. Exercise, rest, and keeping a written diary of symptoms were helpful for over 80% of those who tried them. There was a marked placebo response. Different groups of women benefited from different self-help measures. Four types of PMS were suggested: breast type, bloat type, irritable type, and various.

## What it means for you

Exercise and rest are simple approaches that helped most women who tried them. Keeping a symptom diary also helps. The main limit is that women recalled what helped after the fact, and there was no control group to compare to.

1826

women surveyed

85%

had premenstrual symptoms

over 80%

found exercise, rest, or diary helpful

## About the study

Original title Treatment of premenstrual symptoms in Wellington women Authors Pullon SR, Reinken JA, Sparrow MJ Journal The New Zealand medical journal Year 1989 Study design Survey study What was tested Self-help measures (exercise, rest, vitamin B6) and medical treatments (vitamin B6, diuretics, oral contraceptives, mefenamic acid) Read the paper [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2919018/](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2919018/)

## Topics

[Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)[Oral contraceptives and drospirenone](https://niyora.com/research/topics/treatment-hormonal-contraceptives/)[Psychotherapy, counselling and education](https://niyora.com/research/topics/treatment-psychotherapy/)[Exercise and yoga](https://niyora.com/research/topics/treatment-exercise/)[Vitamin B6](https://niyora.com/research/topics/treatment-vitamin-b6/)[Diuretics and other drugs](https://niyora.com/research/topics/treatment-diuretics-other-drugs/)[Adolescents and young people](https://niyora.com/research/topics/life-area-adolescents/)

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.

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