Can Pepcid Ease Severe PMS Symptoms? Experts Weigh In On TikTok Claim

There’s an sudden resolution for extreme premenstrual signs, in accordance with some TikTok customers: taking the widespread heartburn remedy Pepcid AC. 

TikTokers declare that the over-the-counter drug can alleviate signs related to premenstrual dysphoric dysfunction, or PMDD. The situation, which impacts as much as 8% of girls, is a extra critical type of PMS involving excessive psychological signs like lasting anger and bouts of unhappiness, in addition to extra typical bodily issues, comparable to bloating and complications.

Pepcid AC reduces abdomen acid, and it’s not permitted to alleviate premenstrual signs.

But in a single video that has greater than 4 million views, TikToker Nina Pool means that Pepcid will alleviate PMDD signs. “PMDD is a beast,” Pool mentioned. “And for those who take [Pepcid AC] as soon as a day throughout that point—don’t take all of it month, you don’t want all of it month—that is going to just about do away with it.”

One other individual with PMDD mentioned that taking Pepcid AC made them into “a brand new individual” and that they now “really feel the identical all month.”

Whereas social media creators tout the drug as a miracle remedy, you may be inquisitive about what consultants take into consideration the urged remedy. Can a medicine designed to cut back abdomen acid actually assist with PMDD? Right here’s what to know.

The pattern appears to stem largely from the concept that Pepcid AC can counteract a purported wrongdoer of PMDD: histamine intolerance.

Histamine intolerance is a proposed dysfunction brought on by an incapability to interrupt down histamine, which could be present in objects like alcohol, salami, and aged cheeses. It’s additionally produced by mast cells within the immune system when combating an allergen or an infection.

An increase in estrogen, which usually occurs every week or so earlier than an individual’s interval arrives, may also enhance histamine ranges.

Although “histamine intolerance” is controversial and isn’t broadly accepted by the medical group, some laypeople speculate that it will possibly trigger gastrointestinal and different signs and play a task in sure situations, comparable to PMDD. As of now, there’s little analysis to again that up. Although the trigger isn’t totally understood, consultants imagine the situation might be defined by the physique’s response to shifts in hormones, comparable to serotonin, all through the menstrual cycle. 

On TikTok, Pepcid AC seems to have emerged as a attainable resolution to the issue as a result of it suppresses the consequences of histamine, blocking the receptors discovered within the abdomen lining.

To this identical finish, some creators with PMDD say they take antihistamines comparable to Benadryl or Claritin to alleviate their signs. These drugs goal histamine receptors that produce the signs related to allergic reactions.

Whereas TikTokers could swear by Pepcid AC for PMDD, consultants mentioned the science doesn’t again up customers’ claims.

Fomatadine, the energetic compound in Pepcid AC, lowers abdomen acid manufacturing by binding to histamine receptors. This works to stop or scale back heartburn, which is burning or ache within the chest or throat brought on by abdomen acid touring up the esophagus.

However there’s no analysis exhibiting that Pepcid AC is “efficient or worthwhile” for managing PMDD signs, Polina Teslyar, MD, the interim division director for ladies’s psychological well being and reproductive psychiatry at Brigham and Girls’s Hospital, advised Well being.

There’s additionally no proof that histamine ranges affect PMDD signs, she added. Social media customers are leaping to conclusions, she mentioned. “They might be proper, however we don’t know.”

Courtney Jackson Blair, MD, a board-certified allergist and immunologist in personal observe in northern Virginia, agreed that there’s little analysis into the connection between histamine and the situation. “I’m not conscious of any allergy literature discussing…the position of mast cells in relationship to [PMDD],” she mentioned. 

That mentioned, Pepcid AC is usually protected—and if it eases your signs, Teslyar mentioned that taking it for a few week every month is “in all probability not going to harm.” Nevertheless, the remedy does have recognized unintended effects, comparable to complications, dizziness, and constipation, and she or he recommends that individuals eager about making an attempt Pepcid for PMDD seek the advice of a physician beforehand.

“From a psychiatric remedy, the gold commonplace remedy for PMDD is an SSRI,” or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, Teslyar mentioned. In contrast to these affected by common generalized nervousness and main depressive dysfunction, Teslyar says PMDD victims can take a low-dose SSRI simply the week earlier than their interval, “and it’s nonetheless efficient.” That’s as a result of the SSRI is interacting not with the serotonin receptors in your mind however with the estrogen, she defined.

Your physician may additionally recommend over-the-counter ache relievers comparable to aspirin or prescription contraception tablets containing drospirenone and ethinyl estradiol to raise temper and ease some bodily signs. There’s some proof that acupuncture may also assist, Teslyar mentioned. 

Lastly, individuals might even see some reduction by tweaking their life-style habits. Some analysis reveals that rising train or including extra protein and carbohydrates—whereas lowering their consumption of sugar, salt, caffeine, and alcohol—can alleviate some signs.