PCOS and Birth Control

kenzietate

Hey Ladies,

Have any of you been on BC to control your PCOS? If so are you still on it and if I get off of mine what can I expect? Before they put me on BC my periods were really irregular but more like 3 months in between and then 3 in a row a week apart all year. It was kind of a mix between not at all and way too much! I was very active, ate very well (my mom is the queen of grinding her own wheat and grains for homemade bread) and not at all over weight at the time and it was still really bad. I am worried that if I go off the BC now when I am trying to eat right and get more active again that I won't be able to get everything back on track correctly. Do you have an comments?

WifeofPJ

I never had the issues with my cycles I just had extreemly heavy cycles. They were not as heavy when I was on birth control but then when I went off of the Nuva Ring (I have high blood presure and did not know at the time that I had PCOS) my cylces became 40 day cycles. And stayed that way until last month which was my first period since being on Metformin.

mazmataz

They put me on Dianette for my PCOS, which is a really old form of the contraceptive pill. It was horrible. It did help clear my skin up but also gave me huge, painful boobs and severe depression. It's also supposed to help with excess hair, but I didn't notice any difference.

Now I have the implant, which I can't recommend enough. NO periods and absolutely no side effects (for me at least), plus it's the most effective form of contraception out there.

Qfrump

I started taking bc pills at age 20 and stopped at 28. I had slight irregularities with my cycle when I started (and as far as my mom is concerned...is the only reason I started taken them). When I came off of them to start TTC, my underlying high testosterone reared it's ugly head and I had hair loss and extreme acne.

Not overweight, either. I exercise and eat...reasonably. At least you'll know what is happening when you stop taking them. The PCOS came as a surprise to me!

Good luck!

CharRicho

I'm on Yasmin, and have been for 3.5 years. Before that I was off BC for about 5 years and before that I was on Tricyclen for 5ish years.

I'm 100% regular and PCOS symptoms are minimal while on the pill, but I don't get my period AT ALL when off it. And that was even before I first went on the pill when I was 17, and I was quite skinny back then.

I'm going to be coming off the pill in about 2/3 months because we're going to TTC, and I'm pretty worried about the symptoms coming roaring back. It is not fun being off it.

I read something about "weaning off" the pill (taking half a pill a day for a cycle or 2 instead of a whole pill) but I'm not sure what a doctor would have to say about that. I don't have a good doctor so I don't know, but I plan to go talk to a naturopathic doctor before doing anything.

pland54

I have tried 6+ types of birth control pill over the past 10 years. I had major side effects with every single one, but they were all different. Finally sick of it, I ditched the pill last July and got a copper IUD. A few months later, I found out I have PCOS. After I got off the pill it became really, really obvious.

I'm not overweight and never have been, which possibly contributed to it taking so long to get a diagnosis, because there is a lot of misinformation out there and doctors still expect every woman with PCOS to be overweight and insulin resistant, but the truth is that we vary a lot! We also vary so much with the pill, and like everything else with PCOS it is always trial and error. :grumble:

I think you should be prepared for some symptoms to worsen when you get off the pill. But that doesn't mean it's not worth doing, if that's what you want. Just work with your doctor to make sure what you're doing on your own is enough to keep everything in check....for example I had to get back on the pill because my ovaries grew a lot and the doctor said I could risk them failing if I didn't do something about it. There are other medications besides the BC pill that might be able to help as well. Good luck!

piety633

Until now, BC was the only med used to help control my PCOS. I have been on it for the last 10 years. I have severe problems when I don't take it, including heavy dysfunctional bleeding. I am on the NuvaRing because I have issues with pills and allergic the the glue on the patch. I skipped a month in December of being on it and my period lasted for 2.5 weeks with severe pain. I rarely get cramps, so this was new. Before BC, I have very irregular periods. I have had two in the same month. I used to be dead set against BC for me, but once my gyno told me it was either BC or keep having random periods, including the one that lasted 183 days ... Obviously my answer was BC PLEASE!