Re: attn: female patients who are currently taking and not taking birth control pills

[Guest guest]

My only comment here, would be that they are deciding that, when

going through menopause, that the HRT (hormone replacement therapy)

may not be so good for everyone due to the heart risks it may give. I

do take HRT, but am gradually trying to decrease the dose and then go

off completely due to the grave warnings they've been putting out. As

with anything regarding medications, be sure to check with your

doctors first, and take into consideration any other medications you

are taking.

Love Lana

[Guest guest]

I too skip periods (I have 1 every 4 months as my symptoms are a LOT

worse during my period) to do this I use a high dose monopasic pill

(monophasic pills are the type where there is only 1 dose of pill +

the placebo's we also have the triphASIC PILL which is the kind with

3 doses per month +placebo and I think there may be a biphasic pill

as well but I have only tried the mono and tri). the m0ono is more

conducive to skipping periods due to the continuos levels of hormones.

The pill I take as i said is a high dose monophasic pill called

mycrogynon 50 and contains (15mcg Levonorgestrel and 50mcg

Ethinyloestradiol) and it hasn't affected my laxity that i have

noticed.

Sharon

> Yes, the hormone Relaxin released during pregnancy and menstruation

causes

> increased joint laxity in all women. The hormone is being used to

treat

> fibromyalgia, scleroderma, and psoriasis. Relaxin has also been

linked to

> increased rates of injury in female athletes. Essentially, the

increased

> joint laxity in women during their menstrual cycle makes them more

prone to

> joint injury at this time of the month. Pregnant women are also

more

> susceptible to back pain and joint injury because of relaxin. For

some

> people with EDS, the relaxin during menstruation causes symptoms of

EDS to

> worsen.

>

> Birth control pills do vary in terms of the level of synthetic

hormones and

> the " half life " of those hormones. Half-life refers to how long the

> hormones stay in your system. For example, a pill may have a half-

life of

> 18-24 hours, but the generic version of the same pill may vary by

20%, so

> the generic half-life could be as much as 14 to 29 hours. For some

women,

> the lower half-life of some brands of pills will cause spotting and

will

> make it difficult to skip periods, especially if the pills aren't

taken at

> exactly the same time every day.

>

> Another important factor in choosing a pill for skipping periods is

whether

> or not the pills have a consistent level of hormones throughout the

cycle or

> if they are varied from week to week. Ortho-Novum 7/7/7 has a high

dose the

> first week, a medium dose the second week, and a low dose the third

week.

> This low dose in the third week tells the body that it is supposed

to have a

> period in week 4. Because of the cycling down of the dose over the

month,

> it is difficult to skip periods on this brand of pills and any

other brand

> that has gradient dosing. Ortho-cept on the other hand, maintains

an equal

> dose of hormones for 3 weeks straight, followed by no hormones in

the 4th

> week. It is easier to skip periods with a consistent dose during

the whole

> month.

>

> Skipping periods takes time for your body to adjust to. Most women

can only

> skip one period at first. Over time, you can decrease the

frequency of

> periods, but you have to do it gradually. My ob/gyn advised

starting with

> just skipping 1 period at first, so take 6 weeks of pills, then

have a

> period. If that works, then the next time you go 9 weeks and have

a period.

> If that works, go 12 weeks and have a period. And then 15 weeks

and 18

> weeks and so on. She pointed out that most women are incapable of

going

> beyond 4 months without a period. If you have break-through

bleeding or

> spotting, maintain at the same frequency for another 2 cycles and

try again

> the next time.

>

> The FDA has now approved a new birth control pill specifically

designed for

> women who skip their periods. It's called Seasonale.

> http://www.seasonale.com Seasonale is a 3 month pack that gives a

> consistent dose for 12 weeks, followed by placebo pills for 1

week. The

> regular pills containt 0.15 mg of levonorgestrel (synthetic

progestin) and

> 0.03 mg of ethinyl estradiol. I switched from Ortho-Cept to

Seasonale on

> January 26 and so far so good.

>

> Ortho Tri-Cyclen and Ortho-Cyclen both contain Norgestimate and

Ethinyl

> Estradiol. Ortho-Cyclen contains 0.25 mg Norgestimate and 0.035 mg

Ethinyl

> Estradiol. Ortho-Tri-Cyclen containts 0.035 Ethinyl Estradiol and

a varying

> dose of Norgestimate - 0.15, 0.215, and 0.25. Ortho-Tri-Cyclen is

not a

> good pill for switching periods because of the varying dose of

Norgestimate.

>

> I couldn't find Nortel, but I think you may have meant Nordette

which

> contains 0.15 mg Levonorgestrel and 0.03 mg Ethinyl Estradiol.

Another one

> I found was several brands containing the progestogen Norethindrone.

>

> The difference between these pills is the synthetic progestin.

Each type of

> synthetic progestin has different potency and so an equal dose of

one type

> of progestin is not the same as an equal dose of another. For

example, 1 mg

> of Levonorgestrel is equal to 5.3 mg of Norethindrone in terms of

> progestational activity (stopping bleeding). 1 mg of Norgestimate

is equal

> to 1.3 mg of Norethindrone in terms of progestational activity.

From

> weakest to strongest, you have Norethindrone, Norgestimate, and

> Levonorgestrel.

>

> In your case, switching from the weaker Norgestimate to a much

stronger

> Levonorgestrel is likely to be what caused you to have problems.

In this

> case, you would probably want to avoid pills with Levonorgestrel or

> Desogestrel as these are very strong synthetic progestins.

Seasonale, which

> I am taking, is a Levonorgestrel pill and would likely cause you

the same

> problems as the Nordette/Nortel.

>

> The Ortho-Tri-Cyclen won't let you skip periods because it is a

variable

> dose. You may be able to gradually build up to skipping multiple

periods

> over time using the Ortho-Cyclen. You could also try a pill with

ethynodial

> diacetate (1.4), drospirenone (1.5), or dl-norgestrel (2.6). These

three

> are stronger than Ortho-Cyclen, but not nearly as strong as

Levonorgestrel.

>

> In my personal experience, skipping periods has been very

beneficial to my

> overall joint laxity, but it took a lot of trial and error before

we got it

> right. My first doctor put me on Ortho Novum 7/7/7 because that is

the pill

> I had been on previously. She had no clue that 7/7/7 was

inappropriate for

> skipping. I couldn't manage to skip periods and would just have my

period

> during the first week of the next cycle.

>

> I changed doctors (for other reasons) and the new doctor switched

me to a

> different pill that had a continuous dose. Sorry, I don't remember

which

> one this was. That pill worked okay for the first couple months,

but my

> insurance company forced me to take the generic of the same pill.

The

> generic had a shorter half-life. As a result, I had a period for

18 days

> because I had been 8 hours late on a pill one day. The period

would not

> stop until I had gone off the pills and just let it happen. I

became weak

> and sick as a result of all the blood loss.

>

> Last August, my doctor referred me to an ob/gyn (his wife) at my

request.

> She and I spent over an hour going through the various pill options

as well

> as other methods that may help me stop my periods. After much

research, we

> agreed on ortho-cept. She made sure to specify on the Rx, no

generic and

> " continuous " so my insurance would actually pay for it. That

worked well

> for me, but I have had hassles every 3 weeks with the insurance

refusing to

> pay for it. Sadly, both my regular MD and the ob/gyn moved out of

state and

> I had to get a new doctor last September. The insurance company

doesn't

> like the fact that I take 3/4 of the Rx and throw away a week of

pills. The

> doctor has to put " continuous " on the Rx, and if he forgets, they

refuse to

> let me pick it up in time. It got to where every I was in the

pharmacy

> every other week between the 3-week bcp and my 30-day Rx for

thyroid pills.

> The insurance would never let me just pick up both Rxs at the same

time

> because I have to wait until I am down to 7 pills remaining on the

current

> Rx before they give me more. That's the main reason I switched to

> Seasonale. In my case, I went from Ortho-Cept (desogestrel) which

is a very

> strong progestin to a weaker progestin with Seasonale

(Levonorgestrel). I

> am apparently not very sensitive to the higher-dose progestin as it

never

> bothered me to be on the strongest progestin available.

>

> Good luck to you in finding the right pill for you. Here are some

sites I

> referred to in writing this email and in doing my own research on

which pill

> was right for me last month.

>

> Which Oral Contraceptive Pill is Best for Me?

> http://www.wdxcyber.com/ncontr13.htm

> This site has good reference tables for the different synthetic

progestins.

>

> Rx List

> http://www.rxlist.com/

> This site is good for looking up each Rx to find out the dosages

>

> WebMD

> http://www.webmd.com/

> Good basic info on bcp in general

>

> -Barb