Body weight and cycle control of injectable contraceptives

Five long-acting progestogens were tried as injectable contraceptives in 1,363 women for one to three years. A total of 22,304 woman-months were studied. The first injection was given either within five days of the onset of the menstrual cycle or during the postpartum phase (330 women). The different factors that may influence cyclicity were analyzed. Among these factors, the following may be important: potency and dose of progestogen, addition of long-acting estrogen, pretreatment menstrual pattern, duration of therapy and body weight of users. The incidence of amenorrhea was higher in overweight than in underweight or normal subjects. The causal relationship can be explained by the storage of the absorbed progestogen in the adipose mass.