The pill causes pcos?!

[justkitty]

I spoke to my acupuncturist moaning I am sure I had regular periods when I was a teen and my sister said we regulated. My acupuncturist said I'm not the only one and she believes the pill causes pcos.

Apparently the pill came about for women who had families and wanted to stop having kids and it's only recently been used as a lifestyle choice to prevent pregnancy until you wan kids. So there hasn't been long term research done like this.

Also there is an increase in fertility issues and overweight\obese women. So I think there is a link. It's annoying. I reckon I'm never going on the pill again. I just wish there was more evidence either way.

 

[littlebird18]

After my 16th birthday my mother decided to put me on the pill. I took it religiously for years, now off and married I was diagnosed with PCOS last year. Doc told me she strongly believes it was caused by the hormones I pumped into my body for all those years.
Been off the pill for a year now and apparently there's been improvements in my condition. I rather dislike the idea of the pill now that I look back but hey, stuff happens, life goes on.

 

[MariaF]

Did for me too and for another good friend. Both of us had PCOS symptoms when we were in our teens but we both had regular periods.
After 10 years on the pill I don't have natural periods at all - now, how can any dr claim the pill is not to blaim?!

My accupuncturist said exactly the same. She said most of her pCOS patients say they were regular before the pill.
Its true that in the past it was for women who didn't want more kids. Now they say they refined to hormonal contents of the pill so anyone can take them. And for many women their periods go back to normal as soon as they stop taking it.
But think about it - how can it not have an impact when you've been pumping your body with hormones and basically shutting down your ovaries for years?!

What I find really bad is young girls nowdays are not warned about it. GPs prescribe the pill right, left and centre and when you're 15 you are not gonna think 10 years ahead! I believe everyone shud be warned about the very real consequences!

 

[Dee_Dee]

Hi there, i came across this thread via google so i registered here to reply.
I have been on the pill for roughly 5 years. Last year had a break (periods were fine coming back etc) and after the break i went on a different pill (cerazette) for 3 months but came off that one in January this year and haven't had a period since. So had a blood test and then a ultrasound which said i had PCOS. I don't have any other symptoms, before the pill my periods were regular, even when I came off my previous pill (yasmin) my periods were fine. I am sure that Cerazette caused this PCOS.
I am finding this really hard to accept

I must agree with MariaF. I was 16 when i went on the pill, they didn't warn me of the long term effects. I am now 21 years old and still with the same person (been together 6 years). So I am struggling to accept this.

 

[MariaF]

Dee-Dee, welcome to the forum!

What's worse is that my poor Mum is blaming herslef too now She said although I was a 15 year old kid, she was a grown woman and shud have researched it better before letting me take it...

In your case I find it bizzare that your periods stopped after just 3 months on Cerazette! I have heard that Yasemin is the mildest/best pill out there. Super fertile women even manage to get pg on it!

You could try to take some herbal supplements like Angus Castus (get it from holland and barratt) or evening primrose oil + starflower oil. They are meant to regulate your cycles.

I would say if you are not TTC now, just give your body time. I'd say that even without treatments my body probably starting to get back to normal, regular cycles after 18 months after stopping the pill. But because we were ttc already it seemed like an eternity so if you can be patient, I would just wait and see what nature does in the next year!

 

[miniusnumber1]

I will be furious if this is the case when it comes to the pill but it makes sense

I went on the pill (Cilest) when i was 15/16 and don't remember having any problems before it with periods or PCOS symptoms etc. Never had any problems whilst on the pill, great skin, weight has always been fine...

Since i've come off the pill...my periods have got more irregular although they're still all managing to stay under 40 days. My skin has got awful! has never been this bad in my whole life and it's really getting me down! Also noticed hair on my upper lip and belly has got a darker/thicker.

Went up the doctors to ask to be tested for it - did a blood test which was normal so apparently i don't have it...like that's proof. They wouldn't offer me scans or anything so i've been well and truly fobbed off

The fact i've been trying to get pregnant for a year now with no luck only adds to it all

 

[wantanerd]

I think it could be a factor but I was diagnosed with PCOS two years before I ever went on the pill. They actually wanted to put me on the pill, b/c back in 2001, it was considered a treatment for it. I resisted and was put on glocophage for two years before I went on BC.
But B/c could cause some forms of PCOS, I happened to be blessed with the insulin resistant form.

 

[MrsRH]

just a thought...... if the pill causes PCOS why is dianette (a brand of the pill) a NHS recognised and recommended treatment for hirsuitism (facial hair) and acne caused by PCOS??

????

 

[kazzab25]

I too agree that the pill could be the cause of PCOS.

I was regular before the pill and after i came off the pill my periods were and are totally irratic!

I also had the implant at one stage and one dr said to me this could have been the cause!

Knowone told me that before giving it to me!

 

[MariaF]

just a thought...... if the pill causes PCOS why is dianette (a brand of the pill) a NHS recognised and recommended treatment for hirsuitism (facial hair) and acne caused by PCOS??

????

Most Pills will help with PCOS symptoms and this is one of the main reasons youg girls are so keen to take them.
The trouble is that that the Pill (whatever brand of it) merely masks the symptoms by shutting down your normal cycles.
Then, after 10 years, when you finally stop the pill the body "forgets" how to function on its own.
For most women the cycle comes back right away but for some it doesn't.

HOWEVER, and I think I am an example of this, the Pill can take a very long time to come out of your system. Some people say up to a year - my experience says up to 2 years.
If all women had that expectation when ttc, I suppose it would help. But when I stopped the pill all I knew from my GP is that the Pill is out of your system within 24 hours!
It's only after Ive not had a period for 4 months the same GP suddenly changed her story and told me about it taking several months for it to leave your body!!!

 

[kazzab25]

I got my first natural period after being off the pill for 20 months

 

[snd80]

I STRONGLY blame the depo shot for some of my problems and now PCOS!!!! I was on it from age 15-18, then switched to the "pills" given from the health dept. from 18-21. I stopped taking them in 2001 when we started trying for a baby. My cycles were all over the place and have just now got back on track within the last year or two... I heard a few years ago that there was a class-action lawsuit against the depo shot, but don't know if it is true or not. I was way thinner back in the day, but I remember like it was yesterday that after I took my first shot of depo, I gained 30 lbs. in 3 months and haven't stopped since!!!! Effing depo!

 

[lovelymskerr]

Hey Girls!
I can understand exactly how you feel. I was diagnosed with PCOS 6 months after taking Brenda, all through my teens i was healthy and had regular periods. I only went on it because i was 18 and didnt wanna fall pregnant when i lost my virginity, I went through the ultrasounds, was working out 3 hours a day, I was seeing a dietician and a personal trainer and joined a gym, my weight went from 66.2kg to 105kgs in 2 years I was very upset and miserable. I changed my pill 6 times to different brands and nothing worked. I endlessly tried, I fell pregnant on Yasmin and had a miscarriage, I didnt even know i was pregnant that was last year. I could've killed for that baby. I decided after a long time to give up so i hid away and gave up trying to work out and everything else so this year i decided to give my body a break after my moods when up and down on Brevinor. I lost 5kgs the first week off the mark without dieting or exercising just having a happy outlook on life and noticed the changes drastically and am now 15 kilos off my original goal weight before my birthday in Feb. I went to the doctor and found out my cysts had died away and im back to regular periods but having trouble concieving because ive only been off it for 4 months now. I wish you all the best of luck with concieving but yes I feel like PCOS is caused due to the pill I wish doctors would tell people the risks we undertake, my mother told me anything that stops you from having a natural period mustn't be good for the body and i guess she was right. I will be going back to the doctor eventually to find out if i can concieve coz trying has been hard my heart goes out to you all in hopes that whatever your doing comes true

 

[Gingersnaps]

I have seen many many people who have had irregular periods and years ttc after being on Depo... I think it should be discontinued. People do not know what they are getting into.

 

[VJT]

I too am beginning to feel that the pill will increase your chances of getting PCOS. I was on the pill for 13 years (Microgynon 30 for 6 years and Yasmin for 7), have been ttc for a year but not had a period for the last 4 months now due to hormone imbalance & unfortunately not pregnant. My GP thinks PCOS is likely and am now having second set of blood tests to attempt to diagnose it. However, it seems diagnosis is not straight forward and may take some time.

I will never go back on the pill as I feel that it has messed about with my body and wish I had been told of the possible complications after coming off the pill. In fact I was told by my GP that it is perfectly ok to stay on the pill your whole adult reproductive life. Women are also told it is not harmful to stay on the pill for many years but clearly this is not the case. As several people have already mentioned, pumping your body with fake hormones for years can't be a good thing but the pill is encouraged which makes you think it must be 'ok'.

So many women take the pill for years, come off it as they are ttc, expecting to get pregnant easily enough and then nothing, or no periods. It's also very straining emotionally to think that you may have caused your own infertility by taking the pill.

 

[dodgercpkl]

I do NOT think that the pill causes PCOS. They are finding more and more information to show that PCOS has ties to genetic inheritance. However BCP DOES suppress the bodies ability to process needed things like folate, B6 and B12 which can lead to a ton of other problems. And anytime you are taking something hormonal, you have a likelihood of throwing your hormones out of whack.

I was diagnosed with PCOS after I stopped BCP, but my cycles and facial hair and weight issues happened long before BCP. I was pretty much regular in my cycles though they varied in length, but the BCP threw off the tenuous balance that my body had been maintaining.

There are a lot of things to blame the pill for and honestly I wish no one would ever take it, but I don't think the blame for PCOS has anything to do with the pill other then the pill uncovering problems that already existed.

 

[tamithomas]

I stayed on the pill for a whole month in my life.. didn't like it, i had too many side effects so i decided to do the strongest form of birth control which i wish more teens would use these days which is simply no sex. I'm so sorry for those whom it has cause PCOS.