10+ years of BCPs, quit or not?

[jiggygrl]

Hi there, I am 33 years old, 5'8", 145 lbs, and have been on 2-3 different forms of BCPs for over 10 years(currently jasmine). Any Dr I have ever been to has advised me to stay on the BCP unless I am trying to get pregnant. Even though pregnancy is not a goal right now, but the long term effects of the pills have been on my mind. So does anyone have any suggestions? should I be off or on the pill? I was thinking of going off and measuring my hormone levels after 2-3 months.

workout: 2-4 times a week
eat healthy 80% of the time
blood pressure, glucose and cholestrol in check.

[melee18]

it might not be a bad idea to get off the pill for a bit and see how your body responds. for me it took about 8 months to really start to notice a difference. basically my periods kept getting longer and longer apart. 9 months off i skipped a period. a year off and the acne is back full force. ir seem to be setting in along with minor hair growth in odd places. the ir seemed to set in with the pill. although i'm never quite sure because i did drink a lot of beer in college.

i think if i went back on the pill today, the acne would clear up and the hair would stop growing. not sure about the weight though. i'm planning on going back on the pill once i get another steady boyfriend. but this time around i want to make sure i'm able to balance the ir symptoms as well.

good luck!

[jiggygrl]

Thanks for your comment Melee18, how old are you?
I will update everyone once I start doing this.

[melee18]

I'm 23 - went on the pill when I was 19, went off when I was 21.

[jlmoon0]

Hi - I don't know if you are still looking for an answer, but I am 30 and went off the pill two years ago. I didn't know of my having PCOS when I went off the pill - I stopped because I knew a couple of friends who had blood clots. I went off the pill to "improve" my health. But then the symptoms started. Weight gain, hirsutism, acne, etc. I didn't think much of it until the symptoms got so bad I sought medical advice. My advice is (if you have PCOS) to stay on the pill only because your body is probably pretty stable. I just went back on the pill 2 weeks ago - after resisting for so long. That is really the last thing I wanted to do. I tried met first, as well as spirnolactone (sp?). Neither did the trick....so I caved. Let me know how it goes.

[cravingachild]

i'm 27 years old.
I started BC when i was 16...
(first a pill i can't remember the name of, then lo orval, then ortho cyclen, then nuvaring). I went off the pill when i turned 18, b/c i had broken up with my hsbf. well...i didn't get my period for months, thought i was pregnant (I wasn't), I gained weight, never really hair excess hair issues, but i also got acne--mostly on my back. my gyn's at the time didn't know anything about PCOS, and never diagnosed me...but i knew something was wrong, and i thought it had to do with my hormones and how everything was outa wack. I knew back then that it would be difficult to get pregnant (but not because anyone told me that....it was just a hunch, so i wasn't surprised when i got my diagnosis)...
ok...my gyn thhn put me back on a "lower" dose of bcp......I then switched then b/c my insurance didnt cover it....and went to a generic version of ortho cyclen...and within months my feet swelled up and my bp went thru the roof. I then went on the ring (was on it for a year). stopped the ring August of 06. within 5 months i gained 20 pounds, and got the acne back. then i started getting my periods periodically...not at all on schedule....until this year. i got 4 periods almost exactly 28 days apart, and on the 4th month, I got pregnant.

soooo....here is my viewpoint. if your cycles were regular prior to getting on bc (mine were) it MAY take time for it to go back to normal.
I never tested POS for IR, but my testosterone levels were 2x my progesterone levels just a couple of months after goin off bc...........unfortionatley, i'll never know what my levels were prior to going on bc to know if it contributed to my pcos.

[cravingachild]

wow..i'm sorry i just realized i went off on a rant and never straight anwsered your question.
I have advised my friends to not be on bcp. the lasting effects are not known, and from my experiance not worth it. you can instead just use condoms.

[ccyling]

I'm 30 and started BC at about age 17. I wanted to get off it for years because, like others, I just knew there was something else. I rarely, if ever got AF though without BC. I talked to my gyn several times about getting off - I just didn't like the idea of being on it forever. Well she just said that it's safe and to stay on it. (I was only recently formally dx with PCOS even though she and others had casually mentioned over the year that I have cysts).

I went off BC in June 2007 since DH and I are TTC. I've really noticed some symptoms over the past year - like 10lb weight gain (which feels like a lot when I was 120lb to start with), mild acne came back, wonderful hairness, and moodiness/mild depression. Once, if we ever, get a BFP then I will seek out more advice on how to handle my PCOS. I used to race competatively as a triathlete and cyclist but now (I feel because of the PCOS and wacky hormones) I can barely train and haven't raced in over a year.

I would seek out another specialist maybe - I've had to see 3 different dr's recently to finally find someone who would listen since I don't fit the typical PCOS model. I just found out that I'm IR and am a little freaked about that that (again since NO ONE ever bothered to test for that before) and will be starting met soon. I've heard that can help some of the PCOS symptoms - that may be an option for you, but again that's taking daily medication. Whatever you do - just be aware of any changes in your body and how you feel.

Good luck and from what I've learned so far - if you feel your concerns or wishes aren't being listened to - find someone who will listen.

[katt_:)]

What is IR? and some of these other symbols for?

[katt_:)]

This is an exerpt from the Oct. 30, 2007 PCOSA newletter:

Oral contraceptives are commonly prescribed to women with PCOS, regardless of whether they are overweight or of normal weight. However, using oral contraceptives in women with “lean PCOS,” as it is termed, may increase the risk of weight gain in this population and put them more at risk for insulin resistance or other negative effects on insulin and glucose metabolism.

This explains the 100lb+ weight gain I had over the course of 15 years on the pill.

[cravingachild]

Katt,
That article is VERY interesting to me!!!!
IMHO I think a lot of doctors think of BCP as a band-aid.....unfortionatley that never helps you out and you don't learn what your body needs to overcome PCOS....

[MarianneUnfaithfull]

Hi - I don't know if you are still looking for an answer, but I am 30 and went off the pill two years ago. I didn't know of my having PCOS when I went off the pill - I stopped because I knew a couple of friends who had blood clots. I went off the pill to "improve" my health. But then the symptoms started. Weight gain, hirsutism, acne, etc. I didn't think much of it until the symptoms got so bad I sought medical advice.

That's what happened to me. I spent 3 years trying to get my body back in balance, with quite a bit of success, but i still longed for the hairless, spotless and very slim body I had before i was on the pill (Dianette).
So I went back on it and it didn't really work this time. Crap eh.
I'm still on Dianette now and have had to add Spiro to control the symptoms that didn't clear up properly on Dianette alone.
So coming off the pill is a tricky decision to make, just incase it doesn't work the second time round.

[katt_:)]

Katt,
That article is VERY interesting to me!!!!
IMHO I think a lot of doctors think of BCP as a band-aid.....unfortionatley that never helps you out and you don't learn what your body needs to overcome PCOS....

Definitely the truth. I'm anti-bcp just because of what it did to my life and my body. It was really scary and to be honest I'm lucky to be alive after having been on them the amount of time I was. I stopped taking them and the pcos symtoms returned so I went on metf. It's made my life better. I'm still looking for an answer like so many others. I still have depression and anxiety but I'm learning what I can and can't do to make it better. Here's hoping to a cure!!

[jlecool]

Hi all, thought I would share another point of view with regards to BCP. I got my period at 12 and by the age of 13 was bleeding so heavily that I had to go on BCP (got my period 6 different times in 7 weeks, lost a TON of blood, etc). I recently (jan 08) went off BCP at age 26 as we are ttc and have noticed acne that I never had on bcp. I am currently on 500mg met twice daily and thinking about uping to 500 3xday if I can tollerate it. However, a low dose bcp can help greatly with the symptoms of pcos. Eating a balanced, healthy diet and daily low impact activity has also helped me as I am off bcp and looking for ways to deal with the acne that I have never had before - I finally invested in cover up today while out shopping.

Here's to more answers and more understanding about our bodies and finding a way to take metformin without the side effects!!!

[cravingachild]

JLEcool,
I had simular symptons first going off BCP--personally, it took about a year for my body to normalize itself.