Potential strategies to avoid progestogen-induced premenstrual disorders

Lucy J Baker, Patrick O’Brien, P M S O'Brien
Menopause international · 2012 · vol. 18(2) , pp. 73–76 · doi:10.1258/mi.2012.012016 · PMID:22611226 · W1963997264
review OA: closed CC0 ⤵ 1 in-corpus citation
View on OpenAlex View on PubMed View at publisher
⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-07 ⓘ

This paper discusses progestogen-induced premenstrual disorder, a condition where progestogen therapy causes PMS-like symptoms, and explores potential management strategies beyond current limited evidence.

One-sentence paraphrase of the abstract; not a substitute for reading it. No clinical advice. How this works

Abstract

Non-hormonal approaches to premenstrual syndrome (PMS) treatment such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors are by no means effective for all women and frequently we must resort to endocrine therapy. During many of the hormonal approaches, PMS-like symptoms can be introduced or re-introduced during the necessary cyclical or continuous progestogen component of the therapy. This is seen with combined oral contraception, progestogen only contraception, progestogen therapy for heavy menstrual bleeding and endometriosis, sequential hormone replacement therapy and any therapeutic strategy for premenstrual syndrome where it is necessary to provide endometrial protection, including estrogen suppression of ovulation or add-back during gonadotrophin releasing hormone suppression. The link to progestogen is very often missed by health professionals. When the pattern of symptoms mimics the cyclicity of PMS, it is termed progestogen-induced premenstrual disorder. The need to use progestogen to protect the endometrium from the proliferative actions of estrogen can pose insurmountable difficulties in managing premenstrual disorders. In the absence of any really useful evidence, nearly all practice in this area depends on clinician experience. We cannot afford to wait for adequate research evidence to be produced - it never will - and so we must rely on empirical findings, clinical experience, theoretical strategies and common sense.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Condition tags

endometriosis

MeSH descriptors

Premenstrual Syndrome Premenstrual Syndrome Progestins Contraceptives, Oral, Hormonal Contraceptives, Oral, Hormonal Dose-Response Relationship, Drug Estrogens Estrogens Female Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone Hormone Replacement Therapy Hormone Replacement Therapy Humans Hysterectomy Menstrual Cycle Premenstrual Syndrome Progestins Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors

Citation neighborhood (sparse)

Too few in-corpus citations on either side for a chart; here are the lists.

Cites (2)

Cited by (1)

References (29)

Cited by (1)

Source provenance

europepmc
last seen: 2026-06-16T06:07:01.518242+00:00
openalex
last seen: 2026-06-04T00:00:01.174412+00:00
pubmed
last seen: 2026-05-13T22:16:11.197438+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK