Women were apprehensive about taking Prozac because of its multitude of side-effects. However, they were told that Sarafem is not the same as Prozac, despite it being the same drug, and they became more than willing to take it when prior to its introduction and PMDD's addition to the DSM these symptoms were considered normal. Sarafem is now discontinued. 

History of Sarafem

Eli Lilly, the pharmaceutical company that introduced Prozac, was moving towards the end of its patent. This means other companies would be able to create generic versions of Prozac and Eli Lilly would lose money. In order to renew the patent, the company would need to prove that it could treat another disorder. Prozac was then rebranded as Sarafem (the drug was exactly the same) and was reported to treat PMDD, legitimizing the disorder. 

New York University

In the 1950s doctors started noticing that women would complain with a number of symptoms prior to menses. These symptoms eventually were added to the DSM 3 as premenstrual syndrome or PMS. This addition was met with many controversies and finally removed with the DSM 3-R. This phenomenon or symptoms before menses hadn't left the medical community and PMS was eventually rebranded as PMDD. However, it was only accepted as a legitimate disorder once Prozac or Sarafem was approved by the FDA to treat it.

PMDD History

Chrisler, J. C., & Gorman, J. A. (2015). The medicalization of women’s moods: Premenstrual syndrome of premenstrual dysphoric disorder. In The Wrong Prescription for Women. M. McHugh and J. Chrisler, Eds. New York: Praeger

The medicalization of women’s moods: Premenstrual syndrome of premenstrual dysphoric disorder

Sarafem and Prozac in Relation to PMDD

PMS came with tremendous negative connotations and was used as a weapon of sorts to push women down. After it was added to the DSM 3 millions of women wrote in with complaints and it was eventually taken down with the introduction of the DSM 3-R. 

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