opiates and irregular menstrual cycle?

[maddy42]

my buddy has been using norco that she gets from a friend. she takes it one (occasionally two) times every or every other week and has been doing so for about 4 months now. she missed her period for at least a month during the third month of her use, when her tolerance went up from 15mg to 25mg (really 30-40 probably to get the same buzz, but she isn't sure because still only takes 25, just enough to dull her back pain.) she's not pregnant, got her period last week, and has gotten a clean bill of health from the gyno. she has read that heavy opiate/heroin use can effect the menstrual cycle, but she is wondering how that works, or if its even relevant because she has been using such low doses.
she use to do a decent amount of pain pills back in high school, but can't remember if this happened to her back then.
this stuff really helps her pain, a long with being pretty fun, but she doesn't want to keep using it or using it as much if this can do significant harm to her menstrual health or whatever.
mostly though, she's just super curious how opiates can effect the menstrual cycle. doesn't make any sense to her.
sorry if this has been asked or if i'm just being dumb and missing shit on google, i'm super new to forums and stuff.

anyway,
thanks!

 

[T. Calderone]

I don't think light opiate usage would mess with your cycle that much. It's usually associated with weight loss/malnutrition that comes with a heavy habit. That's what happened to me anyway. You didn't say her age or if she takes the pill but I don't think it's anything to worry about.

 

[St3ve]

Opioids occuring naturally in the brain have the effect that they inhibit the release from hormones in the anterior pituitary gland. The menstrual cycle is dependent on the release of gonadotrophin releasing hormone, which is needed to produce luteinising hormone and follicle stimulating hormone. With chronic abuse of opioids the production of these hormones is decreased and can cause irregularities in the menstrual cycle, as well as messing with a lot of other hormonal functions!

I'd imagine this would only occur with continued daily use and not from 1-2 uses a week, even if those were high doses. Still, if this keeps occurring you might want to tell your friend to take a break from the opiates and see if her cycle returns to normal.