Guaifenesin as a Treatment for Primary Dysmenorrhea

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Figure 1.
Mean pain scores for usual analgesic baseline, unmedicated baseline, and treatment cycles 1, 2, and 3. In each cycle, the data points are the for the first 2 hours, from 2 to 12 hours, from 12 to 24 hours, the second day, and the third day of the menses. The table at the bottom lists the number of surveys received for each cycle to highlight the study dropout rate.
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Figure 2.
Mean constitutional and menstrual blood flow scores for usual analgesic baseline, unmedicated baseline, and treatment cycles 1, 2, and 3. In each cycle, the data points are for the first 2 hours, from 2 to 12 hours, from 12 to 24 hours, the second day, and the third day of the menses. The table at the bottom lists the number of surveys received for each cycle to highlight the study dropout rate.
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Figure 3.
Mean gastrointestinal scores for usual analgesic baseline, unmedicated baseline, and treatment cycles 1, 2, and 3. In each cycle, the data points are for the first 2 hours, from 2 to 12 hours, from 12 to 24 hours, the second day, and the third day of the menses. The table at the bottom lists the number of surveys received for each cycle to highlight the study dropout rate.

Table 1.

Characteristics of Enrolled Subjects and of Subjects Returning the First Treatment Survey

Subject Characteristics	Enrolled Initially^*		Returned Survey 1^*
	Guaifenesin	Placebo	Guaifenesin	Placebo
Total subjects	18	16	13	12
Age, mean years (SD)	32.3 (7)	32.2 (7.1)	32.3 (7.4)	33.9 (6.5)
Menarche, mean years (SD)	12.2 (1.9)	12.6 (2.2)	11.8 (2.0)	13.2 (2.1)
Menstrual cycle length, mean days^† (SD)	28.1 (4.3)	26.6 (3.7)	27.0 (4.0)	27.4 (2.3)
Weight, mean pounds (SD)	178.3 (41.5)	156.5 (34.9)	176.3 (42.5)	152.7 (35.8)
Mean gravidity (SD)	1.8 (1.5)	1.4 (1.1)	1.6 (1.3)	1.4 (1.0)
Infertility problems	5 (28%)	3 (19%)	4 (31%)	2 (17%)
Bilateral tubal ligation rate	0.5	0.3	0.4	0.3
Age pain onset, mean years (SD)	18.2 (7.7)	18.6 (6.8)	19.2 (8.8)	19.2 (6.4)
Work loss taking usual medication, mean days^‡	0.5	0.25	0.31	0.25
Work loss taking no medication, mean days^‡	1.11	1.03	0.92	1.13

* No significant differences between drug and placebo groups using the t test (two-sample assuming equal variances).
† Used middle number of range they chose.
‡ Prestudy.

Table 2.

Nonstudy Analgesic Use Reported by Sample

* No reported nonstudy analgesic medication used.
† Nonstudy analgesic use reported to be no more than 800 mg/day of ibuprofen, 300 mg/day of naproxen, 1250 mg/day of acetaminophen, or an equivalent combination of analgesics.
‡ Nonstudy analgesic use reported to be any combination of more than 800 mg/day of ibuprofen, 300 mg/day of naproxen, or 1250 mg/day of acetaminophen.

Table 4.

Response Ratio of Subjects with ≥50% Decrease in Lower Abdominal Pain Score from Medicated Baseline Menses at Each Study Time Interval

Time from Onset of Menses	Trial 1		Trial 2		Trial 3
	Guaifenesin Ratio (%)	Placebo Ratio (%)	Guaifenesin Ratio (%)	Placebo Ratio (%)	Guaifenesin Ratio (%)	Placebo Ratio (%)
Hours 0 to 2	6/12 (50%)	2/12 (17%)	3/10 (30%)	4/10 (40%)	1/7 (14%)	3/9 (33%)
Hours 2 to 12	6/12 (50%)	2/11 (18%)	4/10 (40%)	3/9 (33%)	2/7 (28%)	1/8 (13%)
Hours 12 to 24	6/11 (55%)	4/10 (40%)	5/10 (50%)	2/9 (22%)	4/7 (57%)	1/8 (13%)
Second Day	5/12 (42%)	4/10 (40%)	5/10 (50%)	2/8 (25%)	5/7 (71%)	1/8 (13%)
Third Day	5/12 (42%)	4/10 (40%)	3/10 (30%)	4/8 (50%)	3/7 (43%)	2/8 (25%)