Birth Control Pills

[ariella]

Hi

Years ago my cardio recommended not using birth control pills, being that my heartrate was so unpredictable. Is this in line with others here were told? Any kind ok in dyasutonomia?(if you know the actual drug name instead of the brand name, that would be the best, I'm not in the US and our drugs are named differently.

Thanks

Ariella

[MomtoGiuliana]

I could never tolerate bcps. They cause my POTS to be worse. They do seem to actually help others however. I have never heard that they are inappropriate for all POTS patients. I think many POTS patients on this board do take bcps.

Wish I could be of more help. It may be a period of trial and error for you to find what works best for you.

Katherine

[cnm1]

Hi, I am a nurse-midwife who is the charge clinician of a large gyn clinic. Autonomic dysfunction is not a contraindication for BCPS. My 17 year old duaghter has severe POTS. Actually, many MDs in this field recommend BCP. They many help some women retain fluid and they can even out the effects of the hormnne changes around periods. The only one I would not recommend would be yasmin. It has a progesterone that is similar to a diuretic. How you feel on BCPs can only be determined by trying them. I would recommend a monphasic BCP ( no weekly hormone changes). Also if you tend to feel worse around your period, it is easy to skip periods with monophasic BCPs. Skipping periods with BCPs is well researched and safe. Another possibly is the ortho evra patch or the nuva ring.

Louise

[Ernie]

Hi,

I only tried birth control pills when I was a young adult and it made me sick. I don't remember the name of it.

Ernie

[MightyMouse]

Louise, acutally, it can go either way... bcp's sent me into severe hypertension. However, for some it helps to stabilize them. The only way to know is to try. Apparently, for my subtype, progesterone and estrogen changes set off severe responses. Dr. Grubb, one of the primary experts in autonomic disorders, warned me that menopause would be very hard because of the hormonal changes.

Nina

[april abbott]

I have tried several different kinds and never could really tolerate them very well. The one that seemed to give me the least symptoms was Alesse. It is a very low dose monophasic pill. Right now I don't take them at all.

[Guest Julia59]

I took Birth Control pills when I was in my latel twenties. In my case it made me feel good---I stayed thin---never gained any weight, it cleared my mild acne----and never had one panic attack. That was the extent of my POTS symptoms then---just a racey heart, and hyper adrengic (diagnosed with MVP at the time)---no other symptoms. The BC pills completely took that away.

Little did I know I never needed them to prevent pregnancy---as I later found out I had virtually NO progesterone. I tried to get pregnant in my 30s in my second marriage, and couldn't as the low progesterone levels would cause early mis-carriges. I would always ask if the low progesterone levels could have been a partial cause of some of my symptoms. The Docs always blew me off----meaning the Doctors I had after the Doc that tried to help me get pregnant---(he was great), but he left his practice to go teach----he was getting older.....

I took progesterone to try and get pregnant, but it didn't help. The progesterone had no ill affects on me----in fact it had no affects at all. My levels were the same even with the added progesterone treatments.

But now at age 46------changes are happening---and I don't like it. My POTS and chiari symptoms are much worse near my period. It's a catch 22----with POTS you need fluids, but with chiari/or related conditions you don't want too much fluid retention as I have partial cerebral spinal fluid blockage that is highly aggravated when I near my period. It's tough---because I need volume to keep my heart and BP stabilized, but too much will cause problems with the chiari. I think near that time of the month---I just have excess retention about 5 days before---as I always feel so much better after.

Julie :0)

[cnm1]

Nina

I didn't mean that BCP would necessarily help women with POTS but just that there is no medical reason not to try them. Even for women without any medical problems, while most do well with them but there are many who just don't like how they feel on them, get high BP, etc. or require finding just the right one. Hormones are definitely not for everyone (what is!) but sometimes women only try 1-2 brands and think if they feel poorly on those then there is nothing they can take. There are alot of BCP formulas - it can take some searching. I hate to see women miserable with their periods (on top of their other medical problems) when there are usually ways to help them. Nina, what is your subtype? I know mostly about adolescents with POTS/CFS type stuff. It is always challenging when taking care of women with chronic illnesses and their birth control needs. Most MDs never talk to women about these issues ( or the impact of a pregancy or menopause).

Louise

[MightyMouse]

I have have autonomic problems since birth, was misdiagnosed as CFS/CFIDS, then diagnosed at age 32 with POTS/NCS. It is believed that I have Ehlers Danlos III, which is a collagen disorder. Essentially, my autonomic system is intact, but working in overdrive because of blood pooling in veins and arteries that have too much "stretch" and not enough patentcy to push blood effeciently against gravity.

I was trialed on loads of different birth control pills, which sent my bp into the stratosphere, even on the very low dose versions. I also am WAY more symptomatic just before and during my period, and have a long history of migraines 48 to 24 hours before my period--it's like my alarm clock to remind me to pack propper items in my purse. Based on my sensitivity to hormonal shifts, and the rest of my medical history, two EP cardiologists and my neurologist have warned me of how difficult menopause would be.

Additionally, my neurologist and my gp did NOT want me to try lupron (see my thread on that topic if you want more info), but in order to stop being bounced from one doctor to another I decided to just do it. Like I said, live and learn. No win for me on this one, other than to say my lower abdominal pain is probably gi pain, not gyn.

Nina

[Sunfish]

for me BCPs are an instrumental part of my current meds. i've been on them for several years & they've been nothing but positive for me aside from a few days of very mild nausea when i first started them. i'm on them solely for the stability they provide me in terms of BP/HR/fainting (in other words nothing to do with birth control). i tried to stop them once when i was doing relatively well for a stretch...b/c i wanted to be off as many meds as possible...and it was NOT a good thing. i have never had painful or otherwise unpleasant periods since mine started at a super young age....and i was very regular until my POTS diagnosis in 2002 (prior to that i was primarily an NCS/fainter who felt decent on many days)....when the extreme irregularity started i would know that my period was on its way b/c i would start blacking out a few days in advance. this wasn't too grand to say the least. dr. grubb in consult with my family doc/gyn had me start on levlite continuously, i.e. only getting a period every several months. it has definitely been a positive for me. i had some abnormal ovarian cysts this past year at which time i was switched to seasonale....a bit higher dose of what i had been taking....and had no problem with the switch.

good luck!

:-)melissa

[Poohbear]

Others have already offered good input here... the main bottom line is that unless you have other risk factors that would make trying bc pills an unwise option, you may need to try them and see how your body reacts.

My only suggestion would be to try the pill or the nuva ring. I would not recommend the shots or patches that work for longer periods of time. If you react to the shots then there is no way to get it out of your system quickly wheras the pills you COULD stop taking if they gave you too much trouble.

Good luck with whatever you decide to try.

[shelby]

Well my experiance with BC has been a good one. I started when I was 16 for endometriosis reasons. A few years ago I was diagnoised with Fibromyalgia and I would be in so much pain when I had my period that I would have to lay in my bed on a heat blanket for a while. My dr recommended the shot so it would stop my periods. There are many positive and negitve side effects for the shot. I have been on it for about 3 years and have experianced none of these. I am planning on starting a family sometime in the future and the only thing they reccomoned is to go on the pill and not just go off the shot. It gives your body time to get back on schedual.

Hope you have the answer you were seeking.

Shelby

[Ling]

I used the pill for many years. My body just decided a few years ago that it does not want to be on the pill any more. No matter what the doctors tried my body did what it wanted to any way. I love being off the pill and will not go on to it in a hurry again. My husband can take medication next. I have had my turn. The pill is great for Endometriosis but no good for the rest of my life. Compared to the rest of my life Endometriosis is miner and I live with the problems it gives. Plus the best part about not being on the pill is your intimacy in a relationship. That part of you life goes from Good to Great. Hope that it explains it as politically correct as possible .