I have had it with my insides. (TMI, guys, you have been warned).

The BBQ Pit
1

So my doctor started me on new birth control pills three weeks ago. Why new ones? Because , unbeknowndst to me in the three years I’ve taken them, the regular pills with both estrogen and progesterone have a higher incidence of strokes in people with migraines. Since I get fairly frequent migraines, he decided that taking them probably isn’t a good idea.

So that eliminates a shitload of hormonal birth control - the majority of pills, the NuvaRing, and the patch. Well, hell. However, I have endometriosis, and am in a LOT of pain each month if I’m not on something.

So instead, he said he’d put me on a progesterone-only pill - the one they usually give to breastfeeding mothers. Sounds good, right?

Wrong.

I’ve been bleeding like a fucking stuck pig off and on for three months. I’ve had to bum tampons and pads off of co-workers like I was bumming a stick of gum. I went to a show on Sunday afternoon with a friend, only to discover that I was bleeding yet again, and had to scrounge for a quarter to get an old, stale tampon from the machine.

I have NEVER spotted with birth control pills before. They’ve always worked wonders at ending my cramps. Now, not only am I spotting, I’m cramping and it HURTS.

Oh, and did I mention that these pills are only 97% effective, compared to 99% with the ones I was originally taking? And they are the same pills my sister took while breastfeeding her first child - guess who came along nine months later? Her son. Considering she and I share a scaringly similar medical history, I’m a bit worried that Elza Junior may decide to make an earlier entrance. So that means we have to use backup methods, which I HATE. As much as I would love to be pregnant right now, my husband isn’t ready.

I also seem to be developing a bit of an attitude problem. I haven’t been very nice in speaking to my husband or my parents this week, but it’s not intentional.

I’ve got a call into my doctor and I’m going to BEG him to put me back on the stuff I’m used to taking. It doesn’t screw with my system, and I will NOT go on Depo. Even the risk of stroke is extremely small, and only goes up in smokers or older women. Errr…I don’t smoke and I’m only almost-thirty (in three days…ugh).

I’m just tired of getting a ‘surprise’ in the mornings after I take my pill (It seems to happen every other day - not every day). I’d like a normal reproductive system, please. The day Amazon offers that, I’ll be shelling out the bucks for overnight delivery.

E.

2

Here, here!

I have endo, and since estrogen aggravates my endo, I can’t take regular birth control. Progesterone only causes cysts. Sigh.

BTW, have you heard of Mirena? It’s an IUD, safe for women who haven’t had kids, has a low does of progesterone and the added benefit of lowering or reducing your periods. In Vancouver, the gyne was doing a trial study using it on women with endo for treatment. because the progesterone is released directly in the area, it is a much lower dose, doesn’t affect your mood as much.

3

My sympathies! I had stage 3 endo, among other things, and had to finally have the whole works removed. It’s not a good answer for eveyone but I have been so much healthier since my bdy had to stop fighting the endo, the cramps, the cysts, the growths and the FAB-ulous cramps 2 1/2 weeks out of 4.

My utmost sympathies!!

4

Well, it has that benefit for some people. In other people, it causes a lot of spotting and breakthrough bleeding. I knew one woman who bleed continuously for three weeks before finally having the thing taken back out. I’ve done wonderfully with mine (no real periods, just intermittent spotting, for a year and a half), but it’s not for everybody. If she’s responding this badly to the progestin-only pills, it seems likely that it’s not a real good option for her.

5

I’m also pretty terrified of an IUD, especially after all of the scare-tactic things I’ve read about them. Otherwise, I’d be interested in checking it out.

Still no call from my doc. Err…

E.

6

I hear that. The day my doctor told me that I had “the most unusual pelvis (he) had ever seen” was the worst day of my life. Only one fallopian tube, and it was literally tied in a knot. Both ovaries stuck together and huddled under and behind my uterus. Yup. So, hey. At least you can have kids.

7

I hear you Elza! Since I had a stroke on birth control pills, I won’t be able to take them anymore. My only other birth control options are diaphram, comdom, or wishing really hard. Why don’t male hormones have such dangerous side effects? Is nature sexist?

8

Hell, I’d pick it up in store!

Any interest in charting? Are your cycles regular enough off of a hormonal birth control pill for that? Chart for a few months, relying on barrier methods, then when you’ve determined your fertility pattern, continue to do so, picking what days to use barrier methods?

And then masso pain killers for the endo pain?

or laproscopy?

http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Endometriosis_treatment_options?open