Caffeine Abstinence During The Menstrual Cycle:An Evaluation Of Mood, Somatic, Cognitive, And Psychomotor Effects Of Withdrawal

Abstract

Women frequently report the occurrence of various symptoms that occur during the phases of the menstrual cycle. The factors affecting this symptomatology are not yet fully understood, but there is reason to believe that one widely consumed drug, caffeine, may impact these symptoms. In the present study, the effects of caffeine withdrawal across the menstrual cycle on several aspects of menstrual symptomatology and cognitive function were assessed in healthy young women. A repeatedmeasures design, examining caffeine intake and withdrawal symtomatology in 48 college age women used daily diaries of caffeine intake, premenstrual symptoms, and caffeine withdrawal effects, and each participant also did a daily LH surge test. In the laboratory, computerized cognitive tasks were administered in order to assess the cognitive effects of caffeine abstinence during the follicular and luteal phases of the menstrual cycle. Data analyses focused on withdrawal symptom ratings and performance on the cognitive tests one day during the follicular phase and one day during the luteal phase of the cycle after 24 hours of caffeine abstinence. Caffeine withdrawal significantly impacted self-report symptom ratings during select days of abstinence, as compared with days of non-abstinence, during both follicular and luteal phases. Withdrawal did not, however, impact cognitive performance across the menstrual cycle.