Treatment
The primary goal of treatment is to reduce the patient's suffering and the disruption to her social relationships.
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) have emerged as first-line therapy. Several randomized, placebo-controlled trials in women with PMDD have clearly demonstrated that the SSRIs have excellent efficacy and minimal side effects. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved four SSRIs for the treatment of PMDD: Fluoxetine (available as generic or as Prozac or Sarafem), sertraline (Zoloft), paroxetine (Paxil) and escitalopram oxalate (Lexapro).
Lifestyle changes such as regular exercise and a well balanced diet may ameliorate some of the effects of PMDD. L-tryptophan, a serotonin precursor, was found in two studies to provide significant relief when supplemented daily in a large dose. There is some evidence that vitamin B6 can alleviate symptoms.
Read more about this topic: Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder
Famous quotes containing the word treatment:
“Our treatment of both older people and children reflects the value we place on independence and autonomy. We do our best to make our children independent from birth. We leave them all alone in rooms with the lights out and tell them, “Go to sleep by yourselves.” And the old people we respect most are the ones who will fight for their independence, who would sooner starve to death than ask for help.”
—Margaret Mead (1901–1978)
“A regular council was held with the Indians, who had come in on their ponies, and speeches were made on both sides through an interpreter, quite in the described mode,—the Indians, as usual, having the advantage in point of truth and earnestness, and therefore of eloquence. The most prominent chief was named Little Crow. They were quite dissatisfied with the white man’s treatment of them, and probably have reason to be so.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Any important disease whose causality is murky, and for which treatment is ineffectual, tends to be awash in significance.”
—Susan Sontag (b. 1933)