OK, this one is for any of you withg experience with birth control
pills.  My doctor recently put me on a two month regimine to contro9l
some bleeding trouble I'd been havin.  I happened to mention to a friendd
of mine that In was having some "interesting" symptoms.  That is,

I'm having all the sypmtoms I get in early pregnancy -- very tender
breasts, morning (and evening, and afternoon ;) ) nausea, slight
uterine twinges...that sort od thing.  I thought of it as a trip
down memory lane, not something to be alarmerd about.  After all,
that's how they act aspregnancy deterranents...
they convince your body it's already pregnant.  Right?

Well, this friend off the deep end and said that I had to stop
taking the pills immediately and see an ob/gyn right away because
thopse were some of th4 most dangerous signs of trouble.  


I will, of course, consult my doctor.  But has anyone else ever had
these symptoms from the pill?  Was it considered a problem?

83 responses total.

BTW, I think I'd refuse to be concerned at all, except that a) I've
had alot of female relatives have trouble after taking the pill.  (Flebitis,
fibroid tumours, etc.); the Doctor had never seen me before and 
prescribed the medication without examining me or running any tests,
and he fell asleep several times while taking my history.  (Narcolepsy,
I think).

Misti, please find yourself another MD who doesnt all asleep and in whom you
have confidence. But before that, call the doctor and ask about your symptoms. 
 How long have you been taking the pills?  I recall, when I was on them, that I
had many of the same symptoms for the first two weeks, then most of the
symptoms abated except the tender breasts.  But, please dont listen to anyone
else but your MD.

That doctor sounds scary, Misti.

I would run screaming into the night from that doctor.  
He or she is not out to make you better but to get you out 
of the office. (IMO.o' course)

I have a gyn/obyn I have used for over 10 years and in whom I have great
confidence.  If you'd like her name, email me and Ill send it your way.

has anyone tried the new iud's?
are they any good? how do they compare with the pill, cost and effectiveness?

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I didn't have any symptoms like those, any of the 3 times I
started taking the pill -- of course, those were 20-odd years
ago & the formulas have probably changed.

I have been taking the pills about a week now...not enough time to settle in
yet.  I did get a second opinion.  SAhe said that those were common, non-scary
things to have happen and she's not terribly concerned -- but I have an
appointment with her in a few weeks to have a complete physical.

Thanks for your input everyone.

Actually, if no one minds if the topic is broadened a little, I was
raised in a household, school, and community which gave me little (read
no) information about various birth control methods.  I've picked up
bits of data here and there, but the gaps in my knowledge are sometimes
problematic.  If any of you would be willing to discuss the various 
methods you use/have used (and in particular, any notable successes or
failures) the tips could prove very useful to me.

My best success for twenty years was with the birth control pill.  So far. no 
negative side effects (now it is ten years since I stopped needing them).

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I will have to seeif I can get my hands on  a copy (probably some time
after Christimas, when I have money again.)

Ditto popcorn's endorsement of OBOs--I read the book 20 years ago and it's
still one of the best.  I will give it to my daughter in a few years.
I was on the pill for many years with no ill effects, aside from some 
acne, which I still have even tho I'm off the pill for many years, so
maybe it wasn't from teh BC pill.   The pill was wonderful for my period,
too.

Well, each time I move to a new response, I find out more about you, simcha.
Now, I know you're a she.  8-).  

each time I move to a new response I find out that you've figured 
something out even tho I just answered you in the previous one, Audrey . . .
You seem to be a clever lady!

To add more to my comments on the pill, I know it can have many
side effects which is why monitoring by a dr. is important.  The current
doses are much milder than when I started with it, so are the risks of 
pregnancy if you forget just one pill.  And there was no AIDS in this
country before I was married, so using a condom for that reason whasn't
an issue.  I have one friend who was hospitalized for BC Pill induced
depression, after she tried to kill herself.  I always felt Great! on
the pill, and would go back to it but I seem to have been pregnant or 
nursing for the last decade.

If you smoke at all, stay off the pill.  

If you use a diaphragm, remember that it is fitted to your body, which
changes if you tend to gain and lose more than 10 lbs.  If so, you are
at risk of not only pregnancy, but birth defects from spermicides used.

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Interesting.  In the past few weeks I've met three or four women, about to
have tubal ligations, who said they'd used a diaphram quite happily until
just recently.  Supposedly, the manufacturers have started adding a new
chemical which kills HIV and lots of women are finding the new product
tends to burn and leads to vaginal yeast infections. 

Whatever it is, I find that nonoxynol-9 makes me bleed from every
mucous membrane it touches.  No baby is *that* much of a disaster!
Sheesh!  And if you hear of anything, Valerie, I'd love to know.  I've
been toying with the idea of using the one every three months shot.
My Doctor doesn't like the idea, but I'm at wits end about where else
to turn.

I tried Depo-Provera (The Shot) and stayed on it for about 9 months before
going back to the pill... I gained sixty pounds during that time (although
my gyno _swears_ that it wasn't from the shot *yeah right* and had breakthrough
bleeding after every time I had sex (not from the penetration so much, I think,
as from cervix-twitching during orgasm, if that is actually what happens)  I
went back to the pill and have had no problems.  After 9 months, the post- sex
bleeding has finally stopped.  *Whew*  I'll never go off again!

I've been using Depo-Provera shots for 8 months now, and I LOVE it.
I had problems with the pill (mood swings, facial hair, weight gain),
and all have disappeared since I started getting the shots.  I have't
lost weight, but I haven't been gaining either.  The price is actually
a little less than what the pills were costing me, and the biggest
benefit of all is that I don't have periods with the shots.

facial hair? i get a crop of about 5 or 6 chin hairs before every period.
i pluck them.. i didnt realize any other women got that.
i did have that problem even before i went on the pill. my dr at thetime
said it was genetic.. i took it to mean i had maybe a smuge more
testosterone in me than other women. i dunno..
anyone else get a few hairs? i mean, that are willing to admit it...;-)

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i found that yanking them out by their roots seems to work best for me.

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I get none on my chin ... so far.  But I have one Loooong one that sprouts
out of my upper lip.  Kinda looks like a proto-moustache.  I also have
a rel
relatively heavy down along the sides of my cheeks and jaw.

I think, in my case, it's age.

I was getting 2 chin hairs in the same spot before each period.  Since
I wasn't on the pill, I know it was age.  Tweezing doesn't hurt, valerie!

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yes, that is true.
tweezing hurts me only a little. if it hurt  too much i wouldnt do it.

re 28...tweezing does pull it out by the roots.  New hairs came
in in the one spot.  (Now that I'm pregnant, they aren't any more...
must be hormonal).

Hmm...pregnancy as a solution instead of tweezing/cutting???

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Oh no, anoher dead item. Me. I've been on the mini-pill for almost 2 years.
It seems this would mess me up after a while. I wsa put on them because I was
way irregular. I'd skipfor 3 months, get my period twice in one month. It's
been great regulating it, but how long is too long?

ref #25 et al: I have a friend who uses Anbesol locally before tweezing. She
says it works great. FWIW.

i am considering going on the pill, but what you guys are saying sounds
nasty... hair growth and all... how likely are these possibilities??

The best guage is to ask your female relatives.  Especially on your mother's
side.  That seems to be a pretty good way of finding out how likely *you* are
to have trouble.

That's pretty unlikely...i don't talk to my mom about stuff like that
and all my aunts are on my dad's side...
well, i will see what i ca find out from the doctor tomorrow...

Here's a general question, is anyone out there able to talk to their mothers
about "stuff like this"?   (i.e. The Pill, contraception in general, sex in
general)

I don't even tell my mother that some of my friends are on The Pill, in partial
fear she will say they are bad influences and try to stop me from hanging out
with them.

Well, yes, I do.  But my mother hates it.  (But then, I'm 37.  When I was 17
it was a whole lot harder.)

My mother is a devout Roman Catholic.  I'm a pagan.  My mother is convinced
that women should bear as many children as "God wants to give" them.  She's
convinced that abortion is the root of every social problem in the world
today.

I believe in zero population growth and that every child deserves to be a
wanted child.

Nonetheless, though I know she doesn't want to know what I think or that
I think *very* differntly than she does, when the subject comes up, I'm 
painstakingly honest.  (Gentle, though.)

On the other hand, come to think of it, I haven't in 14.5 years ever come up
with a good reason to tell her that my kids have different fathers.  Maybe
I'm not always real open with her...

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