 BCPs and Thyroid
Just one little "two-cents" warning from me...
I used to sing the praises of BCP, and argue with people who said PCOSers shouldn't take them, because BCPs were the only way I could have periods. I've changed my mind, though, and I'll tell you why.
Now, I'm not saying that what happened to me will be true for you. Everyone has to make her own choices, and different women react different ways. I just want to tell you what I do know, so you'll have more info to use when deciding.
I was on BCP for several years. I stopped them when DH and I decided to TTC. A couple of months after stopping, I developed Hashimoto's Thyroiditis and am now on meds for hypothyroidism. I didn't think about any possible connection to BCP, but as I was reading about thyroid disease, I read about how estrogen affects the thyroid. Estrogen binds to thyroid hormone, making it unavailable for use, and sets off a reaction that eventually can cause your thyroid to stop working properly.
The connection between hypothyroidism and PCOS is only just now being studied, but it's been known for a while that PCOSers seem to be at higher risk for hypothyroidism. It *is* known that the thyroid reacts to other estrogen effects. For example, some women become hypothyroid in the early stages of pregnancy. Some women have thyroid problems relating to soy intake, since soy acts like estrogen. I asked my mom if when she had to change her thyroid meds dosage, was it right after she stopped taking hormones for menopause, and she said yes.
So, no doctor has told me this, but I have talked to lots of other PCOSers who had the same thing happen to them, and I do believe that taking the pill for so long and then stopping it is what triggered my thyroid disease.
YMMV, and take my story with a grain of salt, but I wanted to put it out there.
Melinda |