Years ago, I was on Ortho Tri-Cyclen. The pill killed my libido, made me gain about 25 pounds, and I felt crazy all the time. Like PMS crazy, 24/7. But hey, no zits! Yeah, pretty puny bonus, considering.
My libido, figure, and attitude are all much happier now that I’ve changed to a mini. Well I changed boyfriends too, but I’m sure that had nothing to do with it.
I’d say she should give a mini a try, but give it a few months before she makes any decisions. Best of luck to the both of you!
Progesterone-only pills are not as effective as combined pills (93-97% effective, as opposed to 99.0-99.9% effective) have to be taken within a 3 hour window and they take a little while to work, so ideally you should wait a few hours after taking the pill every day, before you have sex. They’re not entirely free of side-effects (lowering of libido is still a possibility).
Because of the fussiness and the hassle of remembring when to take the pills, only about 1% of US women using hormonal birth control use the mini-pill. Other progesterone only methods like Depo-provera and Norplant are more effective and have less constraints on behaviour.
I switched to the patch because I got sick of the pill. I love it, but it is not available in a lower dosage so it might not help your wife. But my libido hasn’t really suffered. I had a bigger problem with this with the pill.
I tried various dosages of pills and had problems with all of them. I have been on Depo injections for years now and love it! I no longer have menstrual cycles, so I no longer have PMS!! (insert happy dancing smilie here) I was one of those unfortunate woman who suffered badly from PMS. Most women I know make others suffer when they have PMS. I would cry at the drop of a leaf, and be even more upset at my lack of control of my emotions. And it hasn’t affected my libido in a negative way at all!
I’m on Ortho TriCyclen Low, and it’s working well for me. I’ve definitely needed to be more disciplined about taking it at the same time every day, but the side effects have noticably decreased for me.
I’ll chime in with the other side on this one. Yes, it was great not having my period, but for the last 9 months while I was on Depo, I had NO libido. I’ve been off for a few weeks, and I am so much happier. I actually have an interest in sex again, and I just feel better about life overall. I couldn’t figure out at first why I was feeling so negative about everything. It took me a while to tie my lack of optimism with starting to take Depo.
It’s a great option for some people, and it really was great not having to worry about remembering to take a pill every day, but the side effects (for me) weren’t worth it.
I think she should try something else if the pill is snuffing her interest in sex. Last time I tried hormonal birth control, I became an-orgasmic. Isn’t that just freakin’ ironic? :rolleyes:
I don’t suppose you two are in a position to go the permanent route with one of you getting snipped, eh? I’m 39 and have zero interest in having kids, so I think I’ll be visiting my doctor to get a tubal soon (yes, I know it’s much easier for the guy, but I’ve been waiting almost four years now for my husband to work up the nerve, and it doesn’t appear to be happening.)
We are not in the position for anything permanent yet… we are planning of kids at some point sooner rather than later so we do not really want anything that has long term effects let alone permanent ones…
I’ve got the Mirena IUD that irishgirl mentioned. Love it. Loooove it. It’s still hormonal, but it delivers a much lower dose directly at the source, if you will. And, it has a happy side effect - it stops periods in a significant number of women (say 20%, maybe more - I forget the exact statistic). Since I had mine inserted last year, I haven’t had a one. Insertion can be a bitch, however.
The best part, to me, is that I never think about birth control. Ever. I don’t have to.
Promotional materials will say that it’s “the birth control for mothers,” which can be worrying if you’re currently childless. But talk to your doctor - mine had no problem inserting mine, even though I don’t have any children.
Has she tied simply switching brands? I spoke to my NP about my loss of libido on the pill I was taking (Ortho-Novum) and she switched me to a different brand – nearly every brand of pills has a different combination of chemicals and there are over 40 different brands. I have been very happy with the new pill (Lo/Ovral).
So, I think she should speak to her ob/gyn, explain her concerns and consider switching to another kind of combination pill. As already mentioned there are certain issues with the mini-pill (which she may be comfortable with, but I’m not). The patch and Nuvaring are also options, but these each come in only 1 formulation of hormones.
My wife is currently on Lo/Ovral and has the libido issues. She is going to see her NP on Monday to see what she has to say on whether they recommend the mini-pill or just switching brands. I always thought that if you had no libido on the regular pills that it didn’t matter if you switched brands because they all had the same two type of hormones but maybe that is an option she can try.
Yes it is. Or it was about 13 years ago. I still have the tubes in my arm, although I’m sure the medication went dead about eight years ago. Norplant lasts about five years, and you can have them removed at any time.
I never understand the benefit of this. Aren’t periods necessary? Don’t they “clean” your uterus?
I just have a sneaking suspicion the women who only have four periods a year are going to have some health problems down the road. Of course, IANAD, and I may be completely wrong in this.
I had a Minera IUD for all of about 4 months. I had horrible cramps (like can’t walk or stand up straight) for 3 out of 4 weeks in the month. Insertion was a tramatic experience. They dug around for about 45 minutes until they gave up and I had to come back the next day and get a local anesthetic to get it put in.
I have not had any children, and the doctor said that that may have been a contributing factor to the difficulty of getting it in (its harder to get things in if you have never pushed anything out) as well as my cramps.
Removing it, on the plus side, was easy and relatively painless (especially compared to putting it in).
I just wanted to put in my two cents because almost everything I hear talks about how wonderful Mirena is (which it is) and how it works for so many people. It did not work for me.
No, there are many different synthetic versions of estrogen and progesterone. They all react differently to every indivdual woman and it is by no means a one-size fits all situation. Some women switch 1, 2 or even three times before finding the combination of ingredients that works best for them. Just because Lo/Ovral worked for me does not mean it will work for your wife.
Just as an example of the different hormone types, Lo/Ovral contains the hormones Norgestrel and Ethynil Estriadol, while another low-dose pill, Yasmin, contains the hormones Drospirenone and Ethinyl Estriadol and a third, Ortho Tricyclen Lo contains the hormones Norgestimate and Ethinyl Estradiol
There is actually a nurses’ troubleshooting guide for switching between brands of BCP. My NP showed it to me once when I was having this very issue.
Actually there is some thought that having a monthly period is not necessarily healthy, or at the very least not typical for human females throughout the history of our species (for whom the majority of time would be spent pregnant, breastfeeding, or at a very low body weight).
I wonder something similar about hormonal bcp preventing ovulation (I mis-typed something that looked like “ovululation” first - the sound made by a woman with Mittleschmirtz? The sound of one egg falling? Anyway, I digress) - don’t you get menopause when you run out of eggs? If you are prevented from ovulating, does that mean that the eggs are stored up so you get menopause ten years later? I think I need to do some research on this.