Suppression of estrogen-withdrawal headache with extended transdermal contraception.

Author(s): LaGuardia KD, Fisher AC, Bainbridge JD, LoCoco JM, Friedman AJ

Affiliation(s): Clinical Affairs, Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical, Inc., Raritan, New Jersey 08869, USA. klaguard@ompus.jnj.com

Publication date & source: 2005-06, Fertil Steril., 83(6):1875-7.

Publication type: Multicenter Study; Randomized Controlled Trial

A randomized clinical trial was conducted with 239 women at nine clinical research sites to compare bleeding profile, headache frequency, and subject satisfaction with the transdermal contraceptive, ORTHO EVRA (norelgestromin/ethinyl estradiol transdermal system) used in an extended regimen (84 days) with a traditional, 28-day cyclic regimen. In a majority of women studied, compared with cyclic use, extended use of transdermal norelgestromin/ethinyl estradiol delayed menses and reduced the total incidence of mean headache days during the hormone-free interval.