Differences in Cortisol, a Stress Hormone, in Women with Turmoil-type Premenstrual Symptoms

Abstract

BACKGROUND: A significant number of American women of childbearing age are troubled by premenstrual symptoms, but the underlying cause is not understood, resulting in inadequate therapy. OBJECTIVES: To use basal levels of cortisol to differentiate women with low symptom (LS) patterns of turmoil-type premenstrual symptoms from women with premenstrual symptom (PMS) patterns and from women with premenstrual magnification (PMM) patterns of turmoil-type premenstrual symptoms. METHOD: Symptom and cortisol patterns of women were monitored for three consecutive menstrual cycles. Three distinct groups of women were identified based on symptom patterns and types. RESULTS: Significant differences in symptom severity among groups were observed during the follicular (F = 203; df= 2, 24; p < .0001) and luteal phases (F= 51.3; df= 2, 24; p< .0001) of the cycle. There were no statistically significant differences in cortisol among groups for the follicular phase, but there were during the luteal phase (F= 4.0; df= 2, 24; p= .03). CONCLUSIONS: Altered regulation of the stress axis may be involved in mediating turmoil-type PMS.