Query: Ortho Tri-Cyclen

Bearcat · 06-14-2003, 11:12 PM

Here's a question that has affected me again: SoulCysters, Help!

I went to the doctor this month after no AF cycle for four months. Not the first time have I gone so long without AF, but I thought I was pregnant. At the time, I thought it was 'fortunate' that I wasn't. My doctor listened to my tale of woe and decided to run a thousand-and-one tests. Regardless, sha allowed me to go back on Ortho-Tri Cyclen and after 2 weeks I have an AF.

I get my "official" diagnosis on Tuesday (my OB/GYN already told be about PCOS over the phone...and Tuesday we talk about more tests and recommendation for maintenence care and conception options).

But the bleeding finally started -- at the very wrong time in the pack -- after only two weeks of Ortho. Incidentally, the hormone influx has wreaked havoc on my emotions as well.

So, since the BCP I am currently on causes all this bleeding at the 'wrong' time, should I ask for a different pill? Perhaps something of a lower dosage? I will tell my doc this Tuesday, but this certainly has shaken me up more than a bit.

I understand that PCO and the pill is very much like fine-tuning wiht a HAM radio. Is this common with this pill? I mean, have YOU had this experience? What course of action did you take?

Thank you for any help. This isn't my first post, but it's great to have found this place this week.

Thanks!

happycapri · 06-15-2003, 02:09 PM

Hi and welcome. I am relatively new to this too, and my DX is still unofficial, but we are doing the BCPs as a first step. I was on Ortho-tricyclen for almost 6 months and just stopped it.

On the good side for me: it regulated my cycles (no, I didn't have the strange bleeding on it) and it helped with the extra hair

On the bad side for me: as soon as I started it, I lost my sex drive. A few months later, I lost my sanity and sunk into depression (which I have had before and am predisposed toward)

Many women here like this pill, but for me it was not good. AF just arrived and then I am switching to another. I like your radio analogy-- I know it may take me a while to find the right drug, but in the meanwhile, I am just having all my buttons pushed!

I am sure others will post their experiences.

Bearcat · 06-15-2003, 03:12 PM

Thanks for the welcome! When I started AF (about age 9), it's always been irregular for me. I went on Desogen when I was 18, and that was a grat help, but that was WAY before my diagnosis. I'm going to see if a lesser dosage of BCP can help, because a couple of times I have found myself in *such terrible* moods -- from happy to cranky to locking myself in the ladies' room at work so I could have a good cry. But there's no "trigger" -- no incident, just a gradual sorrow when that comes on.

Digressing, I have always had a very high libido. My ex would say he was scared to see me when I was 40 or so because if I was this bad now, he would be wore out later, LOL! But on Ortho, my own sex drive has been greatly reduced. I figured out why I was so predisposed to wanting sex so much, and it wasn't purely psychological. The hormone that causes secual excitement in women is: Testosterone!

Since the Ortho binds to testosterone, reducing the testosterone also reduces sex drive in women.

According to a website more geared toward sexual dysfunction, "Reduced testosterone levels, in particular...can lead to a "sudden or gradual" decline in libido. Ironically, the conventional hormone replacement regime of estrogen and progesterone given to relieve menopausal symptoms can make matters worse, because estrogen increases a protein (called steroid hormone-binding globulin) in the blood that binds to testosterone, causing it to become less available to the body. " (http://health.discovery.com/fansites...ypoactive.html)

Looking further, you may want to stay with this pill if you're not having any othre problems and your sex drive should come back.

According to Dr. Seth, an OB/GYN in California, "Your increase in sex drive should be coming. [Loss of libido] is a common side effect and is due the "first liver" pass of oral contraceptives inducing the liver to produce elevated levels of a substance (SHGB) which binds to testosterone and leaves less available to support your libido and the effect of the oral contraceptive reducing the production or ovarian testosterone." (http://www.increasesexdrive.com/qa8.html)

Unfortunately, Dr. Seth doesn't say how long this 'first pass' is. I'm sure that it's subjective to each woman, and I haven't found a good resource to mention an average adjustment time here.

Regardless, I hope this works out for you and please let me know if you still switch the pill. If you go to a lower dosage, will your PCO Symptoms reassert themselves with a proverbial vengeance, though your sex drive comes back?

X O X O X O

mellymel · 06-30-2003, 04:23 AM

I went on ortho tri to stop bleeding that seemed to last forever.
I was discouraged at first cause my period didnt go away the first month on the pill.I decided to let it kick in and now everything is regular.For once i feel normal to get af on time and for it not to last for months.
I havent had any unusal side effects either so Im happy about that

hope this helps