Re: Can birth control pills cause endometriosis?
From: anna (anonymous@obgyn.net)
Tue Jun 23 21:00:58 2009
Hi ALL,
I just wanted to leave a quick note to say that i too believe
endometriosis is either caused by or severely worsened by taking the
contraceptive pill. my experience is the following:
age 12 -16 moderate flow periods -moderate managable pain.
age 16 took the pill for contraceptive reason until approx age 20
from age approx age 18 i started to have increasingly painful periods
and sexual intercourse began to hurt alot.
age 21 had a laparoscopy and confirmed endo on the outside of uterus
fusing bowel wall to uterus. ( i also had frequent bowel pain going to
the loo) -removal of endo by a well respected professor.
did not take the pill after that and had pain free sex ever since :)
periods were still a little painful but manageable.
age 24 started naturopathic treatments for period pain and as a
precaution for endo -and im pleased to anounce I HAVE ALMOST NO PERIOD
PAIN!!!
bottom line: dont take the pill EVER -and definitely seek advice of a
naturopath to get some natural supplements to help balance your hormones
and you will be as right as day. (also i recommend having the
laparoscopy if the supplements dont shrink any existing endo then
continuing supplements to prevent further endo)
GOOD LUCK!! :)
At Thu, 21 Jun 2007, Jessica wrote:
>
>My boyfriend always brings this up. I always had bad periods from the
>age of 12. I just chalked it up to "it ran in the family" because my
>mother and aunt always had bad periods.
>When I say bad i mean painful(not always taken care of by Advil) and
>heavy, nothing compared to what I have now) Anyways I had bad periods
>and started birth control when I became sexually active at 17.
>Not until being on birth control for a little over 3 months did I start
>have excruciatingly painful periods. Then it went from just pain
>7-8days out of the week to everyday. I didnt put the two and two
>together untill my boyfriend brought it up. It makes perfect since to
>me. The only two changes in my life at the time were going on the birth
>control and having sex. Sex also did not hurt until about three months
>into taking the pill. I also have problems now with organs sticking
>together and endo all over my appendix that just gets worse.
>A women previosley said that birth control helps with the endo cells in
>the uterus but actual makes the endo growths on the outside worse which
>I def have.
>So i dont have any facts to back my theory up but i def think there is
>something to Birth control making endo worse.
>
>At Wed, 20 Jun 2007, Nisi wrote:
>>
>>Hi Andrea,
>>
>>I was so happy to read your post. In 2000 I was diagnosed with endo
>>after a laparoscopy. Prior to the lap I was put on the pill to ease the
>>pain I had. At the time I was 20 years old. My mom didnt want me to
>>take the pill because fibroids run in our family so neither she nor her
>>sisters were ever on the pill. Well it's been 8 years and I have been
>>on several pills, the patch, Lupron, and now the ring. I have been on
>>the ring for four years and I liked it until a year ago. My gyn wanted
>>me to take it continuously and ever since then my periods have been
>>irregular and unpredictable. Next month I am having a laparoscopy for
>>the second time. I am going to Dr. Cook in Los Gatos, CA. I plan to
>>tell him that I no longer want to be on any pill, ring, etc. I am not
>>sexually active and I want my body to get a "fresh" start after the lap.
>>I was concerned about the pain of having a period without being on a
>>pill. However today I woke up with horrible cramps and couldn't get
>>ready for work. So obviously the ring is not helping. Anyway, I was
>>happy to read your post because I felt that I had no option but to stay
>>on some type of pill since I have endo and the doctors have always
>>pushed that as a form of treatment.
>>
>>At Fri, 15 Jun 2007, andrea wrote:
>>>
>>>Hi Annie! I just found this message board about a month ago and love it.
>>>There is a lot of info and support on here. I enjoy sharing what I have
>>>discovered over the years to maybe help others save time, money and
>>>frustration that I had to go through to finally get help. I was on the
>>>pill for 17 years, because doctors kept telling me it was the only way
>>>to lessen my cramps and stop the ovarian cysts from forming. Bullshit.
>>>I bled less, but my cramps were much worse on the pill and I had ovarian
>>>cysts every 6 mos! I have been off the pill now for 4 years and feel so
>>>much better and healthier. Only 2 days of cramps instead of 4, no more
>>>nausea and hair always falling out!
>>>
>>>Being on the pill actually lowers your natural production of
>>>progesterone, which it did to me. If you are low in progesterone it can
>>>cause depression, chronic yeast infections, abnormal bleeding, which I
>>>was having. Getting off the pill and on natural progesterone was the
>>>best thing I ever did. It lessened more symtoms than any other drug I
>>>had tried over the last 20 years. My specialist told me that the pill
>>>slows the growth of endo INSIDE your uterus, that's why you bleed less,
>>>but the endo on the outside of the uterus reacts totally different to
>>>the estrogen in the pill, and grows like wildfire! Most people don't
>>>know that, and I just found that out. All those BC pills I took over 17
>>>years......just think how much the drug companies make off all of us
>>>from things we shouldn't be taking. I calculated that I spent $6000
>>>bucks over 17 years on BC pills and look at all the women that are on
>>>them! Now I worry that putting all those synthetic hormones in my body
>>>all those years may cause me to have cancer in the future, I hope to God
>>>not. I learned to not just trust any doctor and swallow just any pill
>>>anymore, you need to research it and make sure it is safe and that it is
>>>something you are comfortable taking. Now, I am on mostly herbal stuff
>>>and still take a few vicodin the first couple days of my period. If you
>>>have any other questions, feel free to ask! Take care, and good luck.
>>>Sincerely, Andrea :)
>>>
>>>At Thu, 14 Jun 2007, Annie wrote:
>>>>
>>>>Hi all, I'm new to the board. I learned I had ovarian cysts on both
>>>>sides a year ago, and had them removed six months later. One of them
>>>>was just a functional cyst, and the other was endometriosis. I had been
>>>>on and off (mostly on) Orthotricyclin-Lo for two years, first as birth
>>>>control and then for acne. I'd always had normal periods and no
>>>>reproductive problems, so I was surprised by the endo.
>>>>
>>>>My sister believes she has endo (she hasn't seen a doctor yet to
>>>>confirm, but she's been having bad pelvic pain for years), and is
>>>>convinced that it was caused by her having used birth control pills. I
>>>>have another friend who has ovarian cysts (she doesn't know what kind
>>>>yet), who used the ring for years, and believes that was the cause of
>>>>her cysts. So I'm starting to wonder if the pill could cause endo, and
>>>>I was wondering if anyone else had the same suspicions. I know that the
>>>>pill can do a lot of good for people who have hormonal imbalances, but I
>>>>just wonder if those extra hormones ever get channeled in the wrong
>>>>direction.
>>>>
>>>>I'm very eager to hear what everyone thinks about this.
>>>>
>>>>Thanks,
>>>>Annie
>>
>>--
>>Nisi
>>
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