Birth Control Pills and uterine fibroids

[Guest guest]

Through the research I have done on the net, I was under the

impression that Birth Control Pills increase your chances of having

uterine fibroids. Some of the messages I have read lately seem to

suggest they are a cure for fibroids and can actually shrink them.

Which is true?

[Guest guest]

I think some women are taking birth control pills (BCP) to avoid

having their monthly cycles so they aren't bleeding regularly. I

would assume, but they could confirm, that they are on continuous

cycling.

I am not an expert on BCP but I know that some contain sythetic

progestins, some contain estrogen/s, and many contain a mixture of

hormone or hormone like compounds. I know that many women when they

go on BCP sometimes have to try several brands before finding the

combination that works for them.

[TOTAL SPECULATION ON MY PART]

Why BCP might shrink fibroids could do with whether they were adding

hormones that you were lacking or blocking hormonal action of

whichever hormone was causing your fibroid to grow. If you problem is

with progesterone causing growth then I imagine that progestins might

help block the action of progesterone on your fibroid. If you have

too much estrogens then again progestin might be useful. If you have

low progesterone though progestins might make things worse since you

would end up with still not enough of the right progesterone hormone

in your body and have your estrogen/progesterone balance out of wack.

I was thinking of this analogy yesterday about hormonal imbalance...

If you forget to add the salt you may or may not notice it. But if

you forget to add the sugar then then cake won't taste nice.

Forgetting to add the sugar and salt have different affects, some

worse than others. You can't fix the lack of salt by adding sugar or

even adding extra sugar.

If you make a cake and add too much salt then that cake won't be

good. You can't add enough sugar to make up for the extra salt in the

cake, the cake is messed up.

Hormones are more complex than this, estrogen primes progesterone

receptors for instance, but it points out to me why too much of

something or too little of something else will cause problems. I've

also started thinking through this analogy -- maybe it will get

better with time -- but please ignore if you think I'm not making

sense

Ann

> Through the research I have done on the net, I was under the

> impression that Birth Control Pills increase your chances of having

> uterine fibroids. Some of the messages I have read lately seem to

> suggest they are a cure for fibroids and can actually shrink them.

> Which is true?

[Guest guest]

I think some women are taking birth control pills (BCP) to avoid

having their monthly cycles so they aren't bleeding regularly. I

would assume, but they could confirm, that they are on continuous

cycling.

I am not an expert on BCP but I know that some contain sythetic

progestins, some contain estrogen/s, and many contain a mixture of

hormone or hormone like compounds. I know that many women when they

go on BCP sometimes have to try several brands before finding the

combination that works for them.

[TOTAL SPECULATION ON MY PART]

Why BCP might shrink fibroids could do with whether they were adding

hormones that you were lacking or blocking hormonal action of

whichever hormone was causing your fibroid to grow. If you problem is

with progesterone causing growth then I imagine that progestins might

help block the action of progesterone on your fibroid. If you have

too much estrogens then again progestin might be useful. If you have

low progesterone though progestins might make things worse since you

would end up with still not enough of the right progesterone hormone

in your body and have your estrogen/progesterone balance out of wack.

I was thinking of this analogy yesterday about hormonal imbalance...

If you forget to add the salt you may or may not notice it. But if

you forget to add the sugar then then cake won't taste nice.

Forgetting to add the sugar and salt have different affects, some

worse than others. You can't fix the lack of salt by adding sugar or

even adding extra sugar.

If you make a cake and add too much salt then that cake won't be

good. You can't add enough sugar to make up for the extra salt in the

cake, the cake is messed up.

Hormones are more complex than this, estrogen primes progesterone

receptors for instance, but it points out to me why too much of

something or too little of something else will cause problems. I've

also started thinking through this analogy -- maybe it will get

better with time -- but please ignore if you think I'm not making

sense

Ann

> Through the research I have done on the net, I was under the

> impression that Birth Control Pills increase your chances of having

> uterine fibroids. Some of the messages I have read lately seem to

> suggest they are a cure for fibroids and can actually shrink them.

> Which is true?

[Guest guest]

I think some women are taking birth control pills (BCP) to avoid

having their monthly cycles so they aren't bleeding regularly. I

would assume, but they could confirm, that they are on continuous

cycling.

I am not an expert on BCP but I know that some contain sythetic

progestins, some contain estrogen/s, and many contain a mixture of

hormone or hormone like compounds. I know that many women when they

go on BCP sometimes have to try several brands before finding the

combination that works for them.

[TOTAL SPECULATION ON MY PART]

Why BCP might shrink fibroids could do with whether they were adding

hormones that you were lacking or blocking hormonal action of

whichever hormone was causing your fibroid to grow. If you problem is

with progesterone causing growth then I imagine that progestins might

help block the action of progesterone on your fibroid. If you have

too much estrogens then again progestin might be useful. If you have

low progesterone though progestins might make things worse since you

would end up with still not enough of the right progesterone hormone

in your body and have your estrogen/progesterone balance out of wack.

I was thinking of this analogy yesterday about hormonal imbalance...

If you forget to add the salt you may or may not notice it. But if

you forget to add the sugar then then cake won't taste nice.

Forgetting to add the sugar and salt have different affects, some

worse than others. You can't fix the lack of salt by adding sugar or

even adding extra sugar.

If you make a cake and add too much salt then that cake won't be

good. You can't add enough sugar to make up for the extra salt in the

cake, the cake is messed up.

Hormones are more complex than this, estrogen primes progesterone

receptors for instance, but it points out to me why too much of

something or too little of something else will cause problems. I've

also started thinking through this analogy -- maybe it will get

better with time -- but please ignore if you think I'm not making

sense

Ann

> Through the research I have done on the net, I was under the

> impression that Birth Control Pills increase your chances of having

> uterine fibroids. Some of the messages I have read lately seem to

> suggest they are a cure for fibroids and can actually shrink them.

> Which is true?