Twin Cities Endo Support Group - anyone welcome
23 Members
Created by Amy Cullen

Birth Control

I've decided to go off my birth control.

I've been on BC for 10 years now and have learned that the estrogen in it may be helping my endo grow.

Has anyone else heard of this before?

12 months ago
Tagged
Results 1 - 7

  • Amy

    I've heard of it.  I went off for 3 years, and felt amazing.  I'm one of the 1% that get's depression (among other things) as a side effect of bcp.  Unfortunately my endo grew back to stage 4 and I had to have another surgery for the removal and my doc convinced me to try bcp again.  I've only been on it for 2 weeks, it's been a rollercoaster. 

    Are you doing anything else to manage the growth besides bcps?

    12 months ago

  • Genny

    I know in my case any time I'm on bcp with estrogen my symptoms get worse. So I'm on provera oral which is similar to depo provera but can be taken oral. On the oral dosage you can more control your dosage, but it also comes with side effects. Progesterone gel or Mirena could also be options that follow this same train of thought.

    12 months ago

  • Amber

    I have definitely heard that before and my doctor takes this into consideration when she prescribes my birth control so no i am trying loestrin at least until i tire of it....i just really hate meds so i try to do everything else to not have to take them

    12 months ago

  • Lauren

    I was on the NuvaRing of late but no matter what BCP I was on, my symptoms never improved.

    I've gone gluten free since I've read in "Living Well with Endometriosis" that women who eliminated gluten from their diet had decreased pain, and it was in 80% of the women. So I've done that and it seems to help between periods. I've also reduced my dairy and I try to not binge on caffine. I've been contemplating accupuncture but haven't made any decisions yet.

    12 months ago

  • wiffle

    Usually they put people on that to try to supress the endo, but if it has estrogen in it that would make sense... weird....

    12 months ago

  • christine

    Yes!!! i had endo on my bowel and every pill Id get on within 3 days of taking it was crippling me.  Bent over in pain, having to use the bathroom frequently and just terrible pain. I tried a total of 6 different BC's in less than 2 years. My diet was the same and every time Id get on the pill Id be terribly ill. Finally I went and had my second Lapex and found out I DID have it on my bowel and the estrogen was feeding it and it was kinda making it feel like it was squeezing my colon. Hurt so bad!!!!

    11 months ago

  • Anna


    Were you on it continuously?  If not, it would make it worse.  For some people, being on it continuously is enough suppression- at least for awhile but for others, it is inadequate suppression.


    11 months ago

Sign In to leave a comment.