Combined oral contraceptive use is associated with both improvement and worsening of mood in the different phases of the treatment cycle-A double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized trial

COC use is associated with small but statistically significant mood side effects in the intermenstrual phase. These findings are driven by a subgroup of women who clearly suffer from COC-related side effects. However, positive mood effects are noted in the premenstrual phase and the proportion of women with clinically relevant mood worsening did not differ between treatment groups.