Re: b/c continuously - tara
From: D (anonymous@obgyn.net)
Sun Jan 7 11:09:43 2007
Tara -
I think I see where some of my confusion is coming from - endometriosis
is specifically when you have endometrial tissue growing in the pelvis
and elsewhere outside of the uterus. Not all women who have
endometriosis have problems with the endometrial tissue inside their
uterus, which is what it sounds like you are experiencing? And not all
women who have heavy periods and other uterine-related problems have
endometriosis.
In any case, increasing estrogen will help stop the bleeding but it can
cause migraines. I don't think one week of estrogen would be long
enough to stop the bleeding - and it sound like it didn't. But your
doctor also stopped the hormones to give your natural estrogen a chance
to build up your uterine lining so it can stop bleeding (that's the
idea, at least). It's the progestin that makes you bleed, basically.
Different kinds of pills have different progestins as well as different
amounts of estrogen (which is always the same kind - estradiol), and
sometimes you have to try a few to find the one that works for you.
Personally, I have good luck with pills that have levonorgestrel but all
of the others I've tried have given me bad side effects.
Here's a site that has lots of BCP info:
http://www.wdxcyber.com/bc_home.html
Have you considered seeing an endometriosis specialist? If your pain is
from endo you should have gotten relief if it was removed effectively -
it concerns me that you are still having such problems!
Good luck!
D.
At Sun, 7 Jan 2007, Tara wrote:
>
>D,
>Thats interesting--of course most of my information comes from my
>doctor. Yes the b/c pills are suppossed to help, but it still cause
>some problems..ie side effects. I didn't know that about estrogen, I
>will definitely talk to my doctor about that!! I tried not taking breaks
>but I have continuous break through bleeding and the cramping, nausea,
>etc I talked about. The way it was described to me is that the hormones
>can sometimes make women with endo levels "off" unless a break is taken
>from the pills. What happens is the lining of the uterus is at an
>in-between stage, which is different than what women without endo go
>through with their menstral cycles. I did have the surgery, and it did
>help a lot but I'm still having a lot of pain and problems. Thanks for
>the info!
>
>At Sat, 6 Jan 2007, D wrote:
>>
>>Hi Tara,
>>
>>I've never heard that women with endo "normally" get pms, nausea, etc.
>>from taking birth control pills - at least not any more than women
>>without endo. The pill is supposed to help with those problems! Women
>>with endo often do have those problems, but they are more commonly
>>caused by the disease itself and perhaps exacerbated by the BCPs.
>>
>>I'd be careful about increasing the hormones - the estrogen in BCPs can
>>cause migraines. It's not necessary to take a break from the pills
>>every 2-3 months, and since the breaks seem to bring them on maybe you'd
>>feel better without any breaks at all?
>>
>>Have you had surgery to remove your endo? I feel a bit like a broken
>>record, but having your endo excised by a specialist is the most likely
>>to bring lasting relief. Birth control pills help some women to some
>>degree, but few get excellent results - I sure didn't.
>>
>>Best,
>>D
>>
>>At Fri, 5 Jan 2007, Tara wrote:
>>>
>>>Hi all,
>>>I'm having the exact same problem that Erica has..its very intense all
>>>over pain, cramping, bloating, headaches, aching, ect. I usually can't
>>>work in this state when I have to take a break from the b/c pills. Again
>>>according to my doctor, this is normal in women with endo to have
>>>constant pms side effects, nausea, bowel related problems, cramping, and
>>>break through bleeding while on the pills. My doctor suggested going on
>>>a higher dosage of the b/c pills to solve the problem, so next month I
>>>am going to try that. Does anyone take pain medications to help with
>>>the pain? I also have severe migraines throughout the month, and its
>>>intensified when I have to take a break every 2-3 months and have my
>>>period. Curious if anyone else has that same problem. I've been on b/c
>>>pills for 6 1/2 years now. I was also just curious if anyone else has
>>>tried the higher dosage of b/c pills and if it helped. My doctor also
>>>put me on estrogen for a week to try to help with the severity of the
>>>side effects. Has anyone else done that? I'm not sure if it worked yet,
>>>because I was only on it for a week, and the break through bleeding
>>>didn't stop, so I'm on a "break" from all hormone pills right now--and
>>>paying the price!
>>>
>>>Thanks,
>>>Tara
>>>
>>>At Thu, 4 Jan 2007, Erica wrote:
>>>>
>>>>I was previously on cbcp for about a year. Yes I did have side effects.
>>>>I was frequently nauseous from time to time while on them. The bloating
>>>>I attribute more to the endo and bowel related problems. Breakthrough
>>>>bleeding was a big problem for me. I could usually go about 3 months
>>>>before I would start to bleed. An infertility specialist I was seeing
>>>>told me that this is very common that women often need a break about
>>>>every 3 months from the pill to have a period so the bleeding will stop
>>>>on its own. My problem was that when I did that my period was
>>>>excrutiating. I thought I dont' know if I could do that every 2-3
>>>>months b/c I was having to miss work the cramps and bleeding were so
>>>>bad. Then again everyone is different and you may not experience it to
>>>>that degree. Good luck.
>>>>
>>>>--
>>>>Erica
>>>>
>>>>At Wed, 3 Jan 2007, Shannon wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>I am 48,and have endo..have been on the bc pill continously for 3
>>>>>months...are there any side effects that anyone knows of??? such as
>>>>>continous cramping..bloating...breakthrough bleeding... am really
>>>>>wanting to know..thanks..please someone reply...
>>>>
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