Recovery of bone density in women who stop using medroxyprogesterone acetate

Abstract

We recruited 54 women (50 of European origin, four of Maori origin. Group 1 comprised 14 women who had used depot medroxyprogesterone acetate for at least three years; they were studied while taking the drug and after having stopped it. Group 2 comprised 22 long term users of the drug, who were studied while they were taking it. The control group, group 3, comprised 18 women who had never used the drug. The age range in the groups was similar, but a higher proportion of women who had ever used the drug were cigarette smokers. While using the drug all the women had amenorrhoea. Of the women in group 1, 12 resumed menstruation within 2-24 (median 8) months, and two remained amenorrhoeic. Their plasma concentrations of gonadotrophins and oestradiol indicated that oestrogen production had been restored; thus all had become oestrogen sufficient.