Each woman somehow knows when exactly her menstruation is coming. The bloating, the breast tenderness, the "munchies," and swings of mood are common for this event and typically tolerated due to the fact that the symptoms are quite mild for the vast majority of women. However, for approximately 5 per cent of all women, the time of menstruation is real agony.
Fortunately, relief from suffering can be easily found, surprisingly enough, in the form of a type of antidepressant medication. Prozac is one of good examples of medications in this category. It is recognized as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs. However, there are also some other SSRIs that have appeared to be successful.
In the latest research, British scientists have discovered that patients suffering from severe PMS observe considerable relief from their symptoms. The research was a review of a few major studies and was reported in the journal The Lancet. Among more than nine hundred patients involved in the research, those on SSRIs were almost seven times as probable to observe relief as those receiving a placebo.
"We reviewed fifteen top-quality trials, which revealed that SSRIs are effective for both physical and behavioral symptoms connected with PMS," lead author Paul Dimmock, PhD, tells WebMD. Dimmock is an investigator in obstetrics and gynecology at Keele University and North Staffordshire Hospital in Stoke-on-Trent, England.
How do you actually know whether your premenstrual syndrome is severe? According to Diana L. Dell, MD, it could be, if you experience the following conditions:
* You experience at least five of the problems mentioned below within the week before your menstruation: depression, anxiety, irritability, or rapid mood swings; reduced interest in usual activities and in socializing; tiredness; a sensation of feeling overwhelmed; food cravings; changes in sleep patterns; physical symptoms such as breast tenderness, headaches, or bloating
* You have encountered these symptoms within most cycles in the previous year
* These symptoms considerably interfere with your quality of life
* The symptoms come to an end when your period begins, or shortly thereafter
* You have kept a diary of your symptoms and confirmed whether they appeared premenstrually
* Your healthcare provider has ruled out other medical conditions
According to Dell, an assistant professor of ob-gyn and psychiatry at Duke University in Durham, N.C, if the first three conditions are met, you may want to consult your physician.
However, claims Dell, a lot of healthcare providers prescribe these medicines for severe PMS - also known as premenstrual dysphoric disorder - only within the last two weeks of the menstrual cycle. Due to the fact that the dose necessary to treat this condition is lower than that for depression, the majority of women taking SSRIs for this reason do not observe any side effects.
As far as Meir Steiner, MD, is concerned (who wrote an editorial accompanying the article), there is not yet much information on the use of medications for PMS in two relevant groups of women: those who take birth-control pills and women below the age of eighteen. Steiner is a psychiatrist who is a professor of both psychiatry and ob-gyn at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, where he is a director of the Women’s Health Concerns Clinic at St. Joseph’s Hospital.
Should you be concerned about insurance hassles if your healthcare provider prescribes a medication normally used to treat depression? That risk is less probable now that severe PMS is a distinct medical condition, David C. Fein, MD, tells WebMD. "Insurance companies may be less prone to flag such patients as being at-risk due to the fact that they get [an antidepressant] prescription," claims Fein. He works as an ob-gyn in private practice in Dallas and has additional training in treating mood disorders.
Dell and Steiner have served as speakers for a number of companies that produce SSRIs; neither has any other financial interest in these companies.
