Adverse effects of leuprolide acetate depot treatment.

One hundred two premenopausal women with uterine myomas were treated with LA depot. All women experienced adverse effects during GnRH-a treatment. The majority experienced symptoms attributed to a rapid and sustained decrease in circulating estrogen concentrations beginning 2 to 7 weeks after initiation of treatment. A smaller percentage of women experienced transient adverse effects due to the initial surge and subsequent rapid decline of gonadal steroids. The mechanism of other adverse effects (e.g., arthralgias) remains unclear. Only 6% of women terminated LA treatment before 12 weeks because of the severity of adverse effects.