Mini Pill-Progesterone BC, need advice?

[saved777]

Hi everyone. I’m hoping someone has some advice they can impart on me. I’m (37) this year & other than in my teens & brief time about 3 years ago (think about a 6 month span) I’ve hardly been on birth control. I used to suffer from migraine headaches (knock on wood) they are no longer an apparent issue, I have cerebral palsy. I went on Lo Loestrin FE about 3/4 years ago for a 6 month span, & i generally liked it. It eliminated most of my heavy bleeding, I was diagnosed with endometriosis in my teens & am bed bound for at least 4-5 days a month. But I was also on pain medications & migraine preventative medication at the time & I think the combo of all sent my body into a whirlwind. I got off the Lo Loestrin & my body & heavy periods went back to normal after 6 months, (6 months of taking it & then 6 months after coming off.)

Now, any doctor will only prescribe me an IUD (which scares me because I’ve heard it can cause heavier bleeding & cramps) or a progesterone only mini pill. In y’all’s experience, does the mini pill work as effectively in eliminating monthly periods & heavy bleeding? At this point in my life, I’m done having kids & taking birth control is not just for an obvious reason but more medically for me. Should I be open to trying the mini pill? If any of you have had experiences like mine I’d love to know & maybe what to expect or look out for.

Thanks

 

[timothykurnia]

@saved777 Hey dear!

I would encourage you to be open to that option if a knowledgeable doc offered it to you.
POP are known for their side effect to prevent “menstruation” (withdrawals) at all after a certain time of taking them.
There are several options to choose from, there is one that contains dienogest only and it’s specifically approved for treating endometriosis (in some countries).
Also POPs are usually easy to use as longterm treatments, you may use them for 6 months at a time and then take your sugar pills/break once and have another 6 peaceful months after that again.

You may want to cross check with a neurologist and endocrinologist to not take any extra risks regarding your cerebral palsy.

 

[saved777]

@timothykurnia Thank you so much for the reply! I’ve actually gone ahead & cleared it with my doctors previously & they had been the ones to mention the mini pill as an option since it doesn’t contain estrogen. With my endometriosis, I’m literally bed bound for 5 days straight each month & I was hoping it would help with that like when I was on Lo Loestrin, be it without all the unwanted side effects. I’m at the point where skipping my period each month is more about comfort & my health. I didn’t even know they had an OTC birth control now, OPill which is pretty much in the same realm. For some reason I always feared the mini pill because I thought it wouldn’t work the same as the combo but from what I’ve read, it seems like it’s not the case at all. If my doc offers it to me, I’m definitely willing to try it & give it an honest go to see if it can help.

Thank you for your advice! It’s helped me a lot in deciding if I should take the plunge. I know bc can be a game of cat & mouse & figuring out what works for you, but my options are already so limited & an IUD is just not on my list since I’ve heard way more horror stories than good.

 

[timothykurnia]

@saved777 Happy to help! If you don’t mind I’d be happy about a hopefully positive update

 

[saved777]

@timothykurnia No problem! I’d be happy to So, I ended up seeing someone at planned parenthood, I tried using Nurx but I decided to go in person to someone who could access my history face to face. They were absolutely wonderful, I gave them a lot of my history beforehand & they too felt more comfortable (at least for now) starting me only on a POP. They wanted to prescribe me Slynd but unfortunately my insurance did not want to cover it until I tried other less expensive options first, which I mentioned to them & told them that my insurance usually isn’t great about pre-auths & fight you so they started me on Norethindrone first. I just started it last night but I’ll also update here again soon they also mentioned to give it about 3 months. They did mention that some women either stop having their periods, or it’s much lighter & more manageable which I told them was my goal. They let me know there are other options if I decide (they mentioned the Depo-Vera) & degesterel moving forward & wanted to see how my body tolerated this first.

I’m a little scared because I’ve heard mixed things about Norethindrone, but I’m hopeful since last time I was on BC even though I was on a combo pill, I was in the majority who tolerated it & it stopped my period almost completely..I do know that POPS sometime are less stable in stopping ovulation & I might bleed still but I’m crossing my fingers I’ll update in about a week or two then next month when I’m due to start my period thank you for your encouragement. I’m in a house full of boys & it’s nice to have a place to vent