There is a version of me that shows up about four days before my period (on cue, of course) who is not my best self. (OK, that’s an understatement — I barely recognize her.) She is irritable, overly sensitive, and likes to start fights with people for no reason. She also can’t concentrate and stares at her laptop with her head in a fog. Then my period starts and, overnight, I feel normal again. I know for a fact I’m not alone.
Premenstrual symptoms affect the majority of women at some point in their lives, and for nearly 1 in 5, they’re severe enough to interfere with work, relationships, and daily functioning (raises hand!). Yet PMS remains oddly minimized. For at least 5% of women, it escalates into premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), which can feel closer to cyclical depression. As most women know, treatments, like SSRIs, hormonal birth control, and lifestyle changes, exist, but they certainly don’t work for everyone, and many come with trade-offs. Often, people describe feeling dismissed by doctors or told to just pop some Motrin, use a heating pad, and eat a tub of ice cream (all very legitimate coping mechanisms, but not necessarily solutions to a wider issue).
So when I learned about a headband called Lutea that sends mild electrical currents into your brain to ease PMS symptoms like mood swings and cramps, I was intrigued — and also deeply suspicious. As a health and wellness writer, I see a flood of pseudoscientific product pitches in my inbox daily.
I tested Lutea for three months to see whether it could meaningfully change that demon version of me who shows up each month. Here’s how it went.
What Is Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation?
Transcranial direct current stimulation, or tDCS, is a form of noninvasive brain stimulation that’s been studied for decades. The devices essentially deliver a direct current of electricity from the scalp into the brain.
“Direct current is like what comes out of a 9-volt battery — it's a very sustained, continuous flow of energy,” says Marom Bikson, co-director of neural engineering at the City College of New York and a researcher who has studied the efficacy and safety of these devices. “You're trying to stimulate the brain. You're trying to affect change in it.”
This sounds a little scary, but these low-energy devices are considered very safe, Bikson assures me. Compared to products like pills, which release into the bloodstream, tDCS is much more localized and comes with fewer side effects. “The side effects are typically things like itching or tingling, but that goes away as soon as you stop the stimulation,” he adds.
This technology has been around in the medical world for 30 years, and is used as an off-label treatment in the United States. Recently, an at-home device was approved by the FDA for the treatment of depression.
Lutea is basically an at-home, consumer wellness device of that medical technology. It’s not classified as a medical device and not regulated by the FDA. “The key thing about Lutea is that it is bringing technology that's been around for so long, but just applying it to women's health specifically and making sure that it's designed for women and tested on women,” says Kate Ferguson, chief of staff at Samphire Neuroscience (the company behind Lutea). She argues that accessibility matters: not everyone has the time, resources, or diagnosis required to receive supervised brain stimulation in a clinical setting. That said, the device does cost $589, which, while certainly cheaper than medical procedures, will be a barrier for many women.
Why Does tDCS Work for PMS Symptoms?
According to Ferguson, the mood shifts some women experience before their period are linked to cyclical changes in how regions of your brain communicate — particularly in the prefrontal cortex, which plays a central role in emotional regulation and decision-making. “During ovulation, the left-hand side speaks really clearly with that ride-hand side with electricity,” says Ferguson. “As a woman is approaching her period, that left-hand side stops speaking quite so clearly. What that means is you get this drop-off and imbalance in the brain. And the brain loves balance.”
The Samphire team says they’ve observed these shifts in brain scans of people with premenstrual dysphoric disorder. The patterns resemble what’s seen in depression, except the changes are cyclical rather than constant.
Lutea targets two regions: the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, which is involved in mood regulation, focus, and decision-making, and the primary motor cortex, which plays a role in pain processing.
The theory is that repeated stimulation supports neuroplasticity — the brain’s ability to adapt and form new neural pathways — so that the premenstrual dip in connectivity is less pronounced. The effect isn’t permanent, which is why the device is used in the days leading up to your period each month. However, even short-term use can result in months-long changes. For example, if you use it for three months, you may feel the effects the next cycle even if you don’t use it.
My Testing Experience
I know I have it easier than some when it comes to period symptoms (I don’t experience debilitating PMDD), but since getting an IUD five years ago, I struggle a lot with emotional regulation, anxiety, and brain fog while I’m PMSing. Those were the issues that I hoped Lutea could relieve.
However, when I started diving deeper into brand research, I became hopeful. Lutea is similar to Samphire’s U.K. device — Nettle — which is registered as a medical device. Many reviewers say it has been game-changing for managing PMDD symptoms, and it has 4.7 stars on Trustpilot. Lutea stimulates the same brain regions with the same amplitude as Nettle.
When I got the headband, I downloaded the app and entered data from my period tracker. It generated a schedule for sessions in the days leading up to my projected period. The idea is to start before symptoms fully kick in — to get ahead of the dip rather than react to it.
Setup was straightforward. You insert pads into the electrode slots and spray them down with saline water until they’re fully saturated. I learned quickly that “fully” means wetter than you think. When you press the headband onto your scalp, saline should almost drip down your forehead. If it’s too dry, the session won’t run properly. Pro trip: The brand markets the sponges as one-time use, but I reused them for multiple sessions with no problem. That way, you’ll need to order replacements far less often.
The first session, I won’t lie, I wanted to rip it off my head. It felt like my scalp was being pricked by tiny needles. The itching was intense and lasted the full 20 minutes. Ferguson described this as skin sensitization — your brain registering a new sensation and interpreting it as a potential threat before adapting. “Over time, your brain basically says, we’ve had this before and nothing happened,” she told me. “And then it stops happening. Not everyone experiences it.”
I didn’t notice any immediate symptom relief. If anything, halfway through I felt more anxious. I had a mild headache and a strange flattened feeling, similar to the first time I took a low-dose anti-anxiety medication before flying. I felt numb but calm. No thoughts going through my brain. I wanted to take a nap.
The next morning, though, I woke up with unusual clarity. Even though I felt slightly dazed for a few hours immediately after the session, my head felt clearer than it normally does during that premenstrual window. During the session on day two, the pins and needles were still intense but at least I knew what to expect. I tried to stay busy and make food while the session was going on. (Bikson says that some people practice mindfulness during the session, which I will try next time.)
Over the rest of that first cycle, I felt noticeably more emotionally stable. I’m usually prone to snapping during PMS, but I handled difficult conversations without escalating them. I think this is because I wasn’t nearly as sensitive or irritable as I usually am during this time of the month — my usual rage subsided. The second month went similarly, except the headband was much more comfortable to wear.
The third month was the most telling. I started PMSing earlier than the app predicted. Four days before my expected period, I had heavy brain fog and felt sad for no clear reason. I could barely focus on work. I used the headband around 8 p.m., and within an hour I felt more mellowed out. I still had some of the same thoughts that would usually lead to irrational sadness, but without any weight attached to them. It almost feels like you’re turning the volume down on your emotions. Usually, when the PMS sadness creeps up, I lash out at the people closest to me. Instead, when I felt emotional this month, I sent a measured text explaining why I felt off instead of exploding at the guy I’m dating over a minor inconvenience. I’m sure my loved ones appreciate the device just as much as I do.
Some people find that Lutea also helps with pain relief. My period cramps are generally pretty mild, and I still experienced them throughout this time.
Also, important to note: while my period is regular, Ferguson also says that the app has features for people with irregular periods. You can log symptoms and the app will create a personalized schedule for sessions based on that input. It’s also safe to use beyond your cycle — Ferguson uses it five days a week to manage her endometriosis.
The Verdict?
I had a really positive experience with Lutea, which is more than I can say for a lot of wellness devices. I’m aware that this is the kind of product where placebo probably plays some role — you’re strapping a device to your head and honing in on exactly how you feel. That alone can change how you experience symptoms. Maybe I just managed my mood better because I was more aware of the changes that I was about to endure.
But I also can’t ignore that across multiple months of wearing the headband for five days before my cycle, I felt more emotionally regulated during PMS than I have since I got my IUD put in. I also have felt less foggy and more capable of focusing on my work. I’m absolutely going to keep wearing it, and I’ve already raved about my experience to a bunch of girlfriends.
For women who have sought relief from severe PMS symptoms but haven’t found anything (or those who want to give a drug-free treatment a try), I think this device has a lot of potential.
