What BCP are you on?

Posts: 102 Member
I have taken so many and hated every single one, but my endo wants me back on bc of my high testosterone. I *think* I had better luck with monophasic pills but I dont remember. Let me know what you're on or have been on and why you like or dislike it. Thanks!

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Replies

  • Posts: 11 Member
    All pills gave me one sort of trouble or another. I have Mirena and LOVE it.
  • Posts: 39 Member
    I just recently went off of them but I was on the generic of Yasmin and was able to lose 40 pounds on it. I didn't mind it at all.
  • Posts: 96 Member
    I was taking Ortho Tricyclen, or the generic version of it, but went off bc about 3 months ago. I never had any problems with it though.
  • Posts: 5,600 Member
    All pills gave me one sort of trouble or another. I have Mirena and LOVE it.

    Second this. I'm thinking of trying Paragard (the copper, non-hormonal IUD) when I get the Mirena taken out next year, though.
  • Posts: 102 Member
    If you need to be on bcp for the hormones, wouldnt mirena or paraguard be counterproductive? I am leaning towards Loestrin or Yaz because theyre monophasic. Ortho tri made me psycho. I felt like I was bipolar.
  • Posts: 5,600 Member
    If you need to be on bcp for the hormones, wouldnt mirena or paraguard be counterproductive? I am leaning towards Loestrin or Yaz because theyre monophasic. Ortho tri made me psycho. I felt like I was bipolar.

    It kind of depends on how your hormones are screwed up. Most doctors put PCOS women on The Pill, because it appears to regulate the cycle. That's actually not true, and since most BCPs are estrogen-based, and most PCOS women have estrogen dominance, it can actually make matters worse.

    In my opinion, there are better ways to balance the hormones than throwing birth control pills at people (what happens if/when you want to get pregnant? You can't rely on the BCP then, and have to figure out how to balance them, anyway, so why not just do it to begin with?), but if you're going to be on birth control, anyway, then I'd say either a low-dose (Mirena), hormone-free (Paragard), or progesterone-based (Yaz) option is the best bet, as they don't interfere as much, and may actually help bring the progesterone more on par with estrogen. From that perspective, then no, Mirena or Paragard aren't counterproductive.

    Of course, throwing medication at symptoms is, in general, a bad idea, in my opinion. Find the underlying reason (besides "PCOS") for the elevated testosterone. There are two typical underlying causes -- too much insulin and not enough Omega-3 fats. In both cases, you can fix the underlying issue by minimizing sugar and starchy carbs, and increasing your intake of fish, pastured eggs, and/or grass fed beef and/or supplementing with flax seed or a high-quality fish oil.
  • Posts: 102 Member
    So endo called in Minastrin 24 Fe for me. This is a good one for two reasons, 1. the inactive iron pills since Im iron deficient and taking an iron supp daily. 1. monophasic so I dont have a surge of hormones at any given point.

    Ive been on Loestrin before, and this is the replacement for that so I should have a good experience on it. They did say I need to monitor my BP though since its already a little high and the BCP can raise it.
  • Posts: 38 Member
    I was on Yaz and it worked well, and I didn't have any complaints besides forgetting to take it sometimes. My doctor thought it was keeping my triglycerides high and suggested switching to Mirena would be a good idea. She said it carries less vascular risk as well. I got it about a year ago. I gained a little weight initially, but looking back that was probably due to eating poorly and not exercising. The scale recently started going down again. I'm happy with the Mirena now. It's nice to not have to mess with the pill every day and have lighter less frequent periods (maybe 1 every 2-3 months for 3 days).

    I also take 1000mg Metformin + 50mg Spiro
  • Posts: 96 Member
    My favorite was Yasmin - I had a terrible time when I was switched to the generic Ocella and requested to be put back on Yasmin. Then all the law suits happened and my friend had an embolism from being on it. Another friend works for a pharmaceutical company and kept trying to get me to stop taking it. My insurance doesn't cover it now anyway and I was put on Zhara (sp?) which I also hated. I was on a bunch of others briefly but they kept getting discontinued so I don't even remember what they were called. I'm on Aviane now which I feel normal on (like Yasmin made me feel) but my periods only last like two days so I'm going to talk to the nurse pratctitioner next week about different birth control. My gyno says they're all the same (LIES) but she's on vacation so I figured I'd ask the NP.

    As other women have said, bcp tends to be the go to for PCOS and not always the best thing. Everyone's different so what works for some people won't work for everyone. I like it because it helps alleviate my symptoms and getting regular periods (I was only getting four a year) helped with the horrible cramps - I don't have to call out of work anymore when I get my period.
  • Posts: 36 Member
    my fav is portia - some of the other ones gave me crazy mood swings. It also gives me the most on time start and stop. Even with bc my period will fluctuate up to three days after i'm suppose to start or go for more than a week.
  • I've been on Dianette but I came off it because I ended up in hospital after AF came for a whole month. I was then put on Yasmin and it was great, cleared up my skin etc, I had periods again, but when I came back to my hometown from uni my doctor there took me off it because I smoked.

    I quit smoking in June last year and immediately went on Microgynon and I love it :)
  • Posts: 982 Member
    None. Partly because after I had my daughter and she was weaned by blood pressure was too high to go back on my usual BCP. During the breastfeeding months I took a minipill(not sure what brand it was long time ago now, my daughter is turning 11 in a few weeks) and that was the last bcp I took. Was on it almost a year. Then I went with diaphragm and charting to prevent pregnancy. But since her father and I separated I don't need any birth control. ;)

    I don't think I'd go back on though I do miss the option to only have a period 4 times a year or so. I dunno if I want to play around with my hormones. They are wrecked enough.
  • Posts: 982 Member
    My favorite was Yasmin - I had a terrible time when I was switched to the generic Ocella and requested to be put back on Yasmin. Then all the law suits happened and my friend had an embolism from being on it. Another friend works for a pharmaceutical company and kept trying to get me to stop taking it. My insurance doesn't cover it now anyway and I was put on Zhara (sp?) which I also hated. I was on a bunch of others briefly but they kept getting discontinued so I don't even remember what they were called. I'm on Aviane now which I feel normal on (like Yasmin made me feel) but my periods only last like two days so I'm going to talk to the nurse pratctitioner next week about different birth control. My gyno says they're all the same (LIES) but she's on vacation so I figured I'd ask the NP.

    As other women have said, bcp tends to be the go to for PCOS and not always the best thing. Everyone's different so what works for some people won't work for everyone. I like it because it helps alleviate my symptoms and getting regular periods (I was only getting four a year) helped with the horrible cramps - I don't have to call out of work anymore when I get my period.

    So let me see if I understood that right you want to speak to your gyn because your pill only gives you two days of period. Man I'd be happy about that.

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