Mood, Sexuality, Hormones, and the Menstrual Cycle. II. Hormone Levels and Their Relationship to the Premenstrual Syndrome

Abstract

In women with premenstrual syndrome, negative changes start soon after ovulation, gradually increasing as the corpus lutem develops, and reach a maximum during the last 5 days of the luteal phase. They decline rapidly once menstruation starts, disappearing within 1 or 2 days of ovarian steroids reaching baseline levels. Positive moods are at maximum when preovulatory estradiol reaches its peak. A comparison of hormone levels in women with high and low degress of cyclical mood change showed no difference in progesterone, estradiold, testosterone or androstenedione.