PCOS Messages for February, 2002: Re: BCP's, Was: Visited with my endocrinologist

Re: BCP's, Was: Visited with my endocrinologist

From: Sonnet (anonymous@obgyn.net)
Mon, 18 Feb 2002 17:23:36 -0600 (CST)

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There is a LOT of information about the use of bcp's with PCOS on this forum, a quick search of the archives should help. Many women here think they shouldn't be used under any circumstances, some think that in combination with Metformin they can be used to control certain symptoms. As far as hormones etc go, ESPECIALLY for a tri-phasic pill like youv'e been on - which are the worst for PCOS - this is from a medical journal article at http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/nov16/kidson/kidson.html

"A recent uncontrolled study of 16 non-diabetic hyperandrogenic women treated with a combined oral contraceptive containing 150 µg of desogestrel and 30 µg of ethinyloestradiol demonstrated a significant deterioration in glucose tolerance over six months, with two women developing frank diabetes.38 This raises doubts about the short and long term safety of ovarian suppression in polycystic ovary syndrome with oral contraceptives. The effects of individual oral contraceptives on glucose tolerance will now need to be studied specifically in polycystic ovary syndrome before their use can be advocated.

The use of a "triphasic" combined oral contraceptive should be avoided as the early cycle ethinyloestradiol dose is often too low to inhibit dominant follicle selection and hence follicular development,39 theoretically having the potential to increase, rather than reduce, the number of ovarian cysts."

In english, this means that bcp's can reduce your sensitivity to glucose and insulin, even leading you into full bown diabetes. Because PCOS is caused by insulin problems in the first place, bcp's actually have the potential to make it worse. As far as tri-phasic pills go (like OrthoTriCyclen) the amount of estrogen can be low enough in the early phase that in women with PCOS, it can actually make the cysts worse. Cysts are a symptom of the disease, but it's all a feedback loop and they can make your other symptoms worse as well.

Hope this helps you make some decisions!

At Mon, 18 Feb 2002, Jessica wrote: >
>Hi all,
>
>It's me again. Just wanted to say that I am back from my endo's
>appointment and she prescribed 25mg spiro 2x a day and some minocycline
>for me. I am to take this and see her in 2 months.
>
>She also told me something that surprised me. I told her that my gyn
>gave me ortho tri cycline for pcos and she told me that she has a lot of
>pcos patients and that bcp's are definitely not the way to go for me b/c
>my estrogen levels are normal, only my testosterone levels are
>elevated...and that too much estrogen in the body would be converted
>into testosterone as well! She also measured my blood pressure and it
>was high due to the ortho. she said that my cholesteral probably went
>up too and that i should stop taking bcp's immediately. Does anyone
>know about this?
>
>--
>Jessica
>

--
Email always welcome: sonnet@pcosupport.org

Next message: Jessica: "Re: Visited with my endocrinologist"
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