--- title: Does ulipristal acetate (a progesterone blocker) treat PMDD? | Niyora description: Yes. Women taking 5 mg daily improved by 41% versus 22% on placebo. Half achieved remission with the medication compared to 21.1% on placebo. url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/ulipristal-acetate-for-treatment-of-premenstrual-dysphoric-disorder-a-proof-of-2021/ --- - [Niyora](https://niyora.com/) - [Research](https://niyora.com/research/) - [Library](https://niyora.com/research/library/) - Does ulipristal acetate (a progesterone blocker) treat PMDD? Randomised trial, 2021 # Does ulipristal acetate (a progesterone blocker) treat PMDD? Yes. Women taking 5 mg daily improved by 41% versus 22% on placebo. Half achieved remission with the medication compared to 21.1% on placebo. Strong study design 95 women with PMDD ## What they did 95 women with PMDD took either 5 mg daily of ulipristal acetate or placebo during three 28-day treatment cycles. They recorded symptoms daily using a smartphone app. The main measure was change in total symptom scores. ## What they found The ulipristal acetate group improved by 41% on overall symptoms compared to 22% in the placebo group. For depression symptoms, improvement was 42% versus 22%. For anger and irritability, improvement was 47% versus 23%. Half of the ulipristal acetate group (50%) achieved remission compared to 21.1% of the placebo group. The medication did not significantly help physical symptoms. ## What it means for you This is a promising result for treating PMDD, especially mood symptoms. The main limits are that the study was relatively small and only lasted three 28-day cycles, so longer follow-up and larger studies are needed to confirm this works. The medication did not help physical symptoms as much as mood symptoms. 95 Women in study 41% Improvement on treatment 50% Remission rate with treatment ## About the study Original title Ulipristal Acetate for Treatment of Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder: A Proof-of-Concept Randomized Controlled Trial Authors Comasco E, Kopp Kallner H, Bixo M et al. Journal The American journal of psychiatry Year 2021 Study design Randomised trial Participants 95 What was tested Ulipristal acetate 5 mg daily Read the paper [doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2020.20030286](https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2020.20030286) ## 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/)[Irritability and anger](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-irritability-anger/)[Estradiol, progesterone and hormone therapy](https://niyora.com/research/topics/treatment-hormone-therapy/)[Apps and digital interventions](https://niyora.com/research/topics/treatment-digital-health/) 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, 2021 Does ulipristal acetate help premenstrual dysphoric disorder? Review, 1999 Is premenstrual dysphoric disorder a distinct clinical disorder? Systematic review, 2026 Can digital tools help diagnose PMDD? Randomised trial, 2025 Does taking an antidepressant only during the second half of your cycle reduce anger and aggression in PMDD? Survey study, 2022 What causes PMS and PMDD and what new treatments are being studied? Systematic review, 2014 Do estrogen and progesterone change how the brain processes emotions and decisions? Ask AI about this page Copy prompt ChatGPT ↗ Claude ↗ Perplexity ↗ Google AI Mode ↗ Grok ↗