Study: Birth Control Pill May Help Severe PMS
FDA Analyzing Trial Results
UPDATED: 8:45 a.m. EST January 28, 2004
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CLEVELAND -- Thousands of women experience the agony of a severe form of premenstrual syndrome.
But help in on the way, thanks to drug trials currently going on in Cleveland.
For two weeks out of every month, Wanda Peterson suffers from premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD).
"Usually, a week or 10 days before each period, she feels worse and worse until she feels she's almost losing control," said study investigator Dr. Wulf Utian. "Some women actually say they will lose control."
Peterson's severe PMS prompted her to enroll in Utian's trial to see if taking a certain birth control pill would help.
She was on the pill for four months, and kept a detailed journal that is now in the hands of the Food and Drug Administration for analysis.
Peterson feels sure the FDA will find that the pills work.
"I was very happy with the results," said Peterson.
Peterson is also pleased that women like her are finally having their symptoms validated, because for years, PMDD was a mystery.
"Most of all, I don't think that men understand it because they don't go through it, I think other women do," said Peterson.
And with the help of other women, places like Rapid Medical Research in Cleveland will continue to hold clinical trials in hopes of solving a problem that for years was thought to be only imaginary.
"Those women with the real PMDD are really suffering and there a reason -- there's a chemical reason in the brain," said Utian.
It could be several months before anything is heard from the FDA, or about the clinical trial in which Peterson took part.
But there is another PMDD trial starting in March to test a lower dose of birth control pills.
For more information, call (888) 460-2275 or visit Rapid Medical Research online.
But help in on the way, thanks to drug trials currently going on in Cleveland.
For two weeks out of every month, Wanda Peterson suffers from premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD).
"Usually, a week or 10 days before each period, she feels worse and worse until she feels she's almost losing control," said study investigator Dr. Wulf Utian. "Some women actually say they will lose control."
Peterson's severe PMS prompted her to enroll in Utian's trial to see if taking a certain birth control pill would help.
She was on the pill for four months, and kept a detailed journal that is now in the hands of the Food and Drug Administration for analysis.
Peterson feels sure the FDA will find that the pills work.
"I was very happy with the results," said Peterson.
Peterson is also pleased that women like her are finally having their symptoms validated, because for years, PMDD was a mystery.
"Most of all, I don't think that men understand it because they don't go through it, I think other women do," said Peterson.
And with the help of other women, places like Rapid Medical Research in Cleveland will continue to hold clinical trials in hopes of solving a problem that for years was thought to be only imaginary.
"Those women with the real PMDD are really suffering and there a reason -- there's a chemical reason in the brain," said Utian.
It could be several months before anything is heard from the FDA, or about the clinical trial in which Peterson took part.
But there is another PMDD trial starting in March to test a lower dose of birth control pills.
For more information, call (888) 460-2275 or visit Rapid Medical Research online.
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