nicole
Topaz Member (30+ Posts)
Joined: 20 Jun 2008
Posts: 37
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| Has anyone actually seen *positive* effects from bcps? |
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Hi again, everyone.
So I'm trying to inform myself as much as possible before (finally!) getting to see a new/specialist obgyn about my cyst in two weeks. And I keep seeing a lot of people (here and elsewhere) being prescribed hormonal birth control as a treatment, yet anecdotally there seems to be very little improvement people report from this and tons of side-effects (including growth of new cysts/increase in existing cyst size!)
So I'm wondering if anyone's actually had any *positive* experiences with this or not. I'm not keen on going on hormonal birth control as I've stayed away from it my entire life, and actually am hoping to get pregnant in the not-too-distant future (at least once my current cyst problem is resolved.) If my new Dr. suggests bcps, I want to have good evidence to support why I don't want to go that route (I'm also a migraine sufferer and I know that that can be a counter-indicator for certain bcp as well.) |
Thu Jul 03, 2008 5:15 am |
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estria
Amber Member (250+ Posts)
Joined: 19 Nov 2007
Posts: 273
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Hello Nicole,
There are a lot of modern studies that show that the pill is ineffective at preventing or getting rid of ovarian cysts. I personally do not see how screwing around with your ovulation process is going to result in success. I also firmly believe that in some cases, the pill is actually responsible for the development of cysts. It is now know that women are still developing ovarian follicles (or cysts) while on the pill and if the pill prevents the hormonal surge that is responsible for normal ovulation (ie. when the follicle burst open to release an egg) it is not a far stretch that the follicles remain there unopened and even grow bigger during the next cycle.
Look at some of the older posts were we have discussed this and I reference a number of medical articles that say that the pill is ineffective. My doctors did not recommend the pill for reduction of my 8 cm cyst and when I asked them why some doctors recommend this and some don't, they told me that the modern trend at the moment is not to prescribe them for this reason.
You are absolutely correct about the migraine issue. Women who suffer from migraines should not be on the pill and this alone should be enough for your doctor. I have also recently learned that in addition to increasing your risk of blood clots and stroke, the pill increases by 40 times (!) you risk of contracting a rare type of liver tumour. Although this risk is still quite small, even while on the pill (1 in 25,000 as opposed to 1 in 1 million if not on the pill), if you are one of the unlucky ones, you can either experience the rupture of one of these tumours (they are filled with blood) or have to have surgery to remove them as they can turn cancerous. I have read many posts on the healthboards of ladies with this condition which was caused by birth control pills and most of them have had to have major surgery to remove the tumours and to resect their livers (a good part grows back but still). In addition, the jury is still out on the pill and breast cancer. There is one study that shows a slight increase in risk and as we get older our natural risk goes up as well (overall breast cancer risk has increased over the years and they still have to find out why). I am absolutely FURIOUS that a lot of these risks are not outlined on the pill insert. The long term side effect that I suffered was also not in the insert, resulting in my being terrified when I began to have heavy irregular bleeding (endometrial atrophy). My doctors said they see this ALL THE TIME and yet there is nothing written about this long term effect.
Take my advice with a grain of salt as I am a former pill user who now considers it her mission to advise people AGAINST use of this potentially dangerous drug. It's like playing russian roulette. If you are one of the unlucky ones you may experience horrible side effects and if you are not, then all is fine. And for what ?! Simple birth control ? Possibly controlling an ovarian cyst .. and there is no proof that this actually works and plenty of studies that show that it doesn't ..
Anyway, take a look at the older posts (around november december of 2007) and do some research. Print off the studies, especially the most recent ones, and take them to your doctor. It's about time the medical profession stopped treating us like mice and guinea pigs.
By the way, I also recently found out that some of the modern ultralow dose birth control pills are using a new type of progesterone component (levogenestrel is used in most of the previous generations) and this new drug has only been tested for 12 months on a small number of women before going on the market. For a drug that is meant to be used long term, I think this is VERY irresponsible behaviour on the part of both the drug companies and our governments. This new type of progesterone raises potassium levels in your blood and no one knows what this does long term. Inform yourself .. there are also some types of birth control pill which use a type of progesterone that after two years seriously compromises your bone density and bone mass .. nothing like trading effective birth control for osteoporosis (!).
Sorry about this rather one sided post but hopefully I have weighed in on your decision or at least gotten you to do more research before making a decision. |
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Thu Jul 03, 2008 7:11 am |
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estria
Amber Member (250+ Posts)
Joined: 19 Nov 2007
Posts: 273
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Hi again Nicole,
Take a look at the post entitled,"I'm Afraid" by Panda dated May 14th (under the "Help Me" topic, I believe). If you go down a little on the thread, I have listed the titles and info of a number of articles which address this issue of cysts and birth control pills. You can download a lot of these off the net so do a simply google search under the title and then find them and print them off for your doctor. I have also listed some quotes from the articles as some of them are rather long.
Hope this helps.
Estria |
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Thu Jul 03, 2008 7:42 am |
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