Case report, 1998
Does progesterone help stop asthma attacks before the period?
Yes. In this one woman, progesterone injections stopped the drops in breathing that happened before her period and she needed much less steroid medicine.
What they did
Case report of a 39-year-old non-smoker woman with asthma. Her breathing (peak flow) dropped sharply 24 hours before her period, from 350 L/min to 200 L/min. She was given intramuscular progesterone injections at 75 mg daily along with her other asthma medicines.
What they found
The progesterone injections stopped the breathing drops before her period. Her daily steroid doses were reduced from 40 mg during her menstrual week to 5-10 mg overall.
What it means for you
A drop in progesterone before the period may cause asthma to get worse. Progesterone treatment may help prevent these attacks. This is one woman's experience, so we do not know if it works for other women.
350 L/min
baseline breathing (peak flow)
200 L/min
breathing 24 hours before period
75 mg daily
progesterone dose
About the study
- Original title
- Premenstrual asthma: report of a case with hormonal studies
- Authors
- Lam SM, Huang SC
- Journal
- Journal of microbiology, immunology, and infection = Wei mian yu gan ran za zhi
- Year
- 1998
- Study design
- Case report
- What was tested
- Intramuscular progesterone injections at 75 mg daily
- Read the paper
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10496158/