Hi all-
I don't know if this will help/affect anyone, but I really felt the need to share this info. I was put on Symbicort as a daily preventative for my asthma a couple of years ago. At the time my GP put me on Symbicort, I was told that there were zero side effects and that it was completely safe. While it has done a good job of controlling my asthma, I had weird, irregular bleeding for most of last year and I recently noticed that my menstrual cycle seemed to be getting longer. I had the flu a couple of months ago and was taking my Symbicort twice a day - that's when I realised a direct correlation between the drug and my menstrual cycle, which went up to 35 days!
I stopped using the Symbicort this last cycle, just to see if it was affecting my menstruation, and I've gone back to my normal cycle length. Plus, getting my AF this month felt much better. I didn't have such bad PMS symptoms or AF cramps as I've had in recent months.
Of course, please don't come off the Symbicort unless you're absolutely sure that it's safe for you. I'm still going to have to wait and see whether my asthma will remain under control without it. But I am positive that the Symbicort has been doing something to my reproductive cycle. I'm not sure whether this is a factor in our inability to conceive thus far, but just to be safe I'm hoping to be able to stay off it. When I talked to my OBGYN last week, he said that Symbicort was a mild steroid and they do prefer for women to not be taking it, if possible, since it affects the whole body.
Anyway, wanted to share this info. Especially since a few months ago I was freaking out, thinking that the increasing length of my menstrual cycle might be signs of premature menopause!
I don't know if this will help/affect anyone, but I really felt the need to share this info. I was put on Symbicort as a daily preventative for my asthma a couple of years ago. At the time my GP put me on Symbicort, I was told that there were zero side effects and that it was completely safe. While it has done a good job of controlling my asthma, I had weird, irregular bleeding for most of last year and I recently noticed that my menstrual cycle seemed to be getting longer. I had the flu a couple of months ago and was taking my Symbicort twice a day - that's when I realised a direct correlation between the drug and my menstrual cycle, which went up to 35 days!
I stopped using the Symbicort this last cycle, just to see if it was affecting my menstruation, and I've gone back to my normal cycle length. Plus, getting my AF this month felt much better. I didn't have such bad PMS symptoms or AF cramps as I've had in recent months.
Of course, please don't come off the Symbicort unless you're absolutely sure that it's safe for you. I'm still going to have to wait and see whether my asthma will remain under control without it. But I am positive that the Symbicort has been doing something to my reproductive cycle. I'm not sure whether this is a factor in our inability to conceive thus far, but just to be safe I'm hoping to be able to stay off it. When I talked to my OBGYN last week, he said that Symbicort was a mild steroid and they do prefer for women to not be taking it, if possible, since it affects the whole body.
Anyway, wanted to share this info. Especially since a few months ago I was freaking out, thinking that the increasing length of my menstrual cycle might be signs of premature menopause!
