PMS Guide |

Since the early seventies, scientists have thought that the brain hormone prolactin might affect premenstrual syndrome, and for years they have been trying to uncover a connection between the hormone and the condition. They discovered that prolactin fluctuates from day to day but consistently peaks when a woman ovulates and remains higher in the second half of her menstrual cycle than in the first half.

Since there was some belief that prolactin might be responsible for fluid retention, studies were done to determine whether edema could be reduced when prolactin was suppressed by the drug bromocriptine. Results have been very confusing since bromocriptine was found to be effective in some cases, ineffective in others, and occasionally even detrimental. Dues to these conflicting results, some researchers have suggested that prolactin may play more of a part in psychological symptoms, in the depression and mood swings of PMS, than fluid retention.

It was found that prolactin occasionally contributes to PMS symptoms. The serum prolactin level should always be obtained at the time a doctor request on the battery of hormonal blood tests that make up a routine PMS investigation. If a patient with PMS has high prolactin levels, treatment with bromocriptine should be started either daily or in a cyclic fashion when PMS symptoms appear.