Re: Can birth control pills cause endometriosis?
From: anonymous (anonymous@obgyn.net)
Tue Jun 23 23:31:39 2009
Thank you for posting this. I agree. I see many people post that
taking the pill ''helps'' them, but that's mostly the lessened bleeding
most likely. Taking the pill longterm depletes progesterone.
Progesterone helps keep endo symptoms down, so you do not want anything
that depletes your progesterone.
Can you tell us some of the naturopathic things helping you?
At Tue, 23 Jun 2009, anna wrote:
>
>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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