Randomised trial, 1999
Does adding estrogen and progesterone to a GnRH agonist drug improve PMS treatment?
No. Adding estrogen and progesterone actually reduced the benefit of the GnRH agonist alone for severe PMS.
What they did
Double-blind placebo-controlled study of 60 women aged 20-45 with severe PMS. Three groups received: placebo implant plus placebo, goserelin 3.6 mg implant plus estradiol 2 mg daily with norethisterone 5 mg on days 21-28, or goserelin plus placebo. Treatment lasted 6 months, with PMS scores measured at 2, 4, and 6 months.
What they found
Goserelin plus placebo significantly improved PMS scores at 2, 4, and 6 months compared to both baseline and placebo plus placebo. Goserelin plus estrogen and progesterone showed less improvement and no significant improvement compared to placebo plus placebo.
What it means for you
For severe PMS, the GnRH agonist alone works better than when combined with added estrogen and progesterone. Adding these hormones may interfere with treatment. However, this was a small single-center study of specialist clinic patients.
60
women
3.6 mg
goserelin dose
6 months
treatment duration
About the study
- Original title
- The treatment of severe premenstrual syndrome with goserelin with and without 'add-back' estrogen therapy: a placebo-controlled study
- Authors
- Leather AT, Studd JW, Watson NR et al.
- Journal
- Gynecological endocrinology : the official journal of the International Society of Gynecological Endocrinology
- Year
- 1999
- Study design
- Randomised trial
- Participants
- 60
- What was tested
- Goserelin with or without estrogen and progesterone
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1080/09513599909167531
Topics
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