I'm 38 and after a trial with progesterone cream bad side effects which I still don't know answers as to why I'm really thinking of trying the BCP for HRT.

My main issues now are mental torture with daily ups and downs of depression, anxiety, anger, rage, fear, panic...it's endless and on an hourly basis now. I really feel I need something to help calm these ups and downs or I don't know how much more I can deal with. I know the controversies with HRT and then those that prefer BHRT to HRT but right now I need to try something to help ease these symptoms because I really feel like I'm losing it mentally.

Has anyone had any success with the BCP suppressing the fluctuations of peri atleast to the extent that life is bearable? I would love for a miracle to actually feel myself again but at this point I'm really just hoping for some kind of balance. I can't express how I've been mentally deteriorating ...I feel being on nothing and trying to suffer through is what is going to be the death of me and like many of you already have said I'd much rather live a shorter life with quality and some happiness than suffer countless years of this mental anguish.

I'd really like to hear from those who had a good or bad experience with the pill helping suppress the fluctuations and I guess then my next puzzle will be which one to take. I guess bad meaning can the pill make the fluctuations even worse or will they even do any good if your hormones are surging/plumetting too much?

As of now I'm inclined to try Ortho-cept or Ovcon as suggested by Vliet and other books I've read with the higher E to help depression/anxiety and a bit stronger to suppress the peri fluctuations. Any personal experiences and ideas of BCPs would be appreciated and yes I know I might have to try different ones but as a starter wondering which might be good.

I am using Seasonique. It's a tricycle pill. I've been using it a year and half. It does help balance me, but, not completely. I, too, wish there was a magic pill, but sadly there is not. I still have moments of high anxiety, but then have weeks where I feel calm. That didn't happen before the bcp's. The hot flashes are very minimal now, but I still have hot moments, just my body feels warmer. Spotting occurs alot in the beginning, alot, and of course I thought I was abnormal but no, it is common. The spotting now happens more during the last 4-5 weeks before the actual period is due, but not much. Every now and then. Our bodies still fluctuate, so nothing from what I understand can keep up with all of it, we change moment to moment during this phase, but I saw a dramatic difference in myself. I am not without anxiety though, it still catches me off guard every now and then and stays for a week or so, but I can manage with the help of friends here and of course, xanax. I am not proud of it, but for me, it works.

I hope this has helped you and feel free to pm me with any more questions. I am happy to help if I can.

Dear'shar14'
I consider myself a success story with HRT.I was put on it at age 39-Premature Ovarian Syndrome-and have been on it for almost twenty years.
I completely understand that this not the choice for many women but it gave me back a quality of life that was definitely missing.I have regular check-ups.The Gyno. tried to pull me off them but I told him "Try living without Testosterone for twenty years and then report back to me.

True it is not a complete cure all.It alleviates the symptoms but does not stop one growing older or prevent Mid-Life crises etc.I too still have high anxiety but use Xanax as needed to cope.

I also do Yoga,take walks and try to eat healthy.Stay away from caffeine-except the odd cup-sugary foods and no alcohol.

I wish you lots of luck with whatever you choose
Please keep us posted.

All the Best
Elizabeth

I was 38, with a lot of stress in my life at the time and a raving lunatic. Truly, I was so bad I couldn't stand to be around myself. My doctor put me on low dose BCPs and it completely leveled me out. I stayed on them for 10 years and then started BHRT. I never felt as good on BHRT as I did on the pill. I have now stopped everything but T and feel quite good.

I'd reccommend them. I did the generic low dose ortho-novum.

I am on Sprintec bcp right now,and they help me so much.They level things out enough that I can actually live my life.I still feel bad sometimes,but nothing like before.GOD-bless

Thanks to all of you who contributed your experiences.

I'd like to ask too if in taking the pill how long it took your body to adjust to feel better? Did you have to do some initial trial and error with switching and finding one that worked well with your system or were you lucky enough to have found a good one to begin?

Also if any of you had it stop working after awhile did you find switching to a higher or lower concentration helpful? I ask this because years ago I was on the BCP for fluctuations and it was very helpful but after about 4 years being on it it stopped working and I wonder why and what better combination I could have tried if I run into this again. Thanks!

I had good results within weeks of starting BCPs and I stayed on them for about 10 years till they stopped working. Although I'm now doubting it was the pill itself but my own foolishness. I became and Arbonne agent and the lady who got me involved in it told me to try the phyto-relief. Which is a natural progesterone so I was using that along with the BCPs for about a month and then started having horrible symptoms. I had no energy, I had horrible food cravings, no train of thought, no drive, all progesterone dominant symptoms but I didn't know that then. Then I assumed the BCPs had stopped working so I went on hormones and from there...a roller coaster ride trying to get everything balanced. I'm now off everything but T and I feel fine. I now think that if I had just quietly gone off the BCPs I would have been fine. I think the BCPs would have carried me through the peri part and now that I'm post, my symptoms are gone.

Good luck,

It took a few weeks to really see a lot of results,but almost immediately the symptoms decreased a bit.I have tried two other pills,and finally settled on Sprintec,which has a bit less progesterone.Just try one,give it some time and you will know if it is what your body needs.GOD bless

Well after a trial of P cream which had so many awful side effects for me in 4 months time I couldn't take anymore and stopped and then trying Estrogel but having some other side effects and not feeling benefit from the ups and downs dramatically I am trying Yasmin now as a last resort to see if suppression therapy will help at all mainly with the mental anguish I experience on a montly basis back and forth.

It's only been five days and has honestly been rough as my body seems to be trying to adjust but I'm trying to stick with it since I'm seeing positives even amongst the negatives. I guess you are supposed to give a 3 month trial for your body to adjust but if the negatives keep lingering around or get worse I don't see how continuing will make it better.

The positives thus far seem my moods are stabilizing and I'm sleeping better but am feeling some flu like symptoms and alot of fatigue...supposedly these subside so I'm willing to wait it out if my body can adjust. Did any of you that posted the pill has helped you so much have an initial rough period like this and if so how long did it seem to take your body to adjust? I'd been on the pill in my 20s and it was a Godsend...helped me in everyway I could imagine physically and mentally but honestly it's been so long I don't recall if I had any initial symptoms or an adjustment period and also know a different pill and years later could be entirely different for my body.

I'd love to hear any experiences with initial adjustments for those who responded to me earlier on this. I also know this might not be the right pill for me and wonder how long I should give it to see. Thanks!

Oh also could you please post the benefits you saw specifically with changes when you went on HRT? For example, less depression, less anxiety, weight changes, less fatigue/more energy, mood stabilizing...I guess energy and mood seem to be the biggest issues for me but really would like to know specifics of before and after benefits on the pill and even negatives too.

Right now again I know it's too early to tell but am experiencing nausea, extreme fatigue, moods trying to stabilize seems, flu like symptoms but I think these are somewhat normal and should subside? I'd really appreciate if you please add specifics of your before/after experiences and benefits along with the adjustment period!

Hi Shar14,
I don't have any insight to add, but just wanted to let you know that I could have written your initial post myself. I tried the progesterone cream for a couple of months and just continued my negative spiral into perimenopause hell. I've been reluctant to go on the pill because of some bad effects I had on it in my 20's. Finally, last week I just couldn't take it anymore and had the doctor write me a prescription for Microgestin fe 1.5/30. I took the first one last night and I'm determined to stick with it for 3 months to see if it helps. I can't imagine it would make me feel any worse than I already do!
Here's to hoping we both get some relief! I really want my life back!
Sue

I realize this is an old thread, but just wondering if any posters had updates on how they are doing. I am in my first month of low dose bcps and have had good days and bad and wondering how long it takes to see if a pill will benefit....

I've been doing a lot pf peri reading and have learned that women in peri do better with bcps that have a higher estrogen to progesterone ratio. Examples of brands would be : Modicon, Brevicon, Ovocon and I think Ortho Cyclen 35. I may try one of those if my wacky insurance covers those brands. Has anyone had luck with them helping their peri symptoms? If so, which symptoms were improved?

Also, I've read that bcps should be used for 90 days at a time during peri. Either that, or during the week off, estrogen should be used to avoid the "crazies"/hormone crash that women in peri get while on the pill. Trying to get my dr. to rx the pill and Estrogel would be quite a challenge.

Supposedly, the newer 90 day pill, Seasonique, isn't good for peri years because it has a high andrognicity (sp?). The androgen/male hormone effect is 8 times higher than other pills and causes too many side effects in the peri years. Here's a chart I came across: http://wdxcyber.com/ncontr13.htm.

Also, I read Yaz/Yasmin and Loestrin are bad for the peri years, but I forget why. Pills that change levels each week, like Ortho Tri Cyclen should also be avoided. Our levels are already up and down too much as it is for that brand.

What I'm wondering is how do we know if we are totally through menopause/1 year without periods if we are on the pill?

I ACTUALLY ASKED MY DR FOR A PILL WITH HIGHER ESTROGEN AND HE SAID THOSE ARE TOO "OLD SCHOOL" AND THE NEW ONES ARE SO MUCH BETTER. I GET SO FRUSTRATED. I'VE ALSO BEEN DOING A "POLL" WITH ALL OF THE OB-GYN'S THAT I WORK WITH, AND MOST OF THEM TELL ME TO NOT TAKE BCP BECAUSE OF MIGRAINES, BUT THEN A FEW OTHERS SAY IT MAY HELP. THEY CANT EVEN GET ON THE SAME PAGE. GRR!

A dr. friend told me that she had gone to a conference and what they were saying was "old school" only applies to younger women now for bcps. The younger women do best on the lower does pills, supposedly.

The higher estrogen pills are being indicated more often for the peri years now 'days according to what was discussed at the conference.

Not sure who lead the conference, though. Maybe they were all a bunch of wackos

Wondering how all of you who got onto bcp's are doing now. Shar? I am so willing to try anything. The ups and downs are killing me. My main symptom right now is crashing fatigue and anxiety. I am on week 2 of zoloft so I know I need to give that a few weeks to work, but honestly the fatigue I feel right now is the same as before the zoloft. If this AD doesn't work, I'm thinking maybe bcp's? I'm only 41 (ok, almost 42) so I don't think I can handle almost 10 years of this. If bcp's can give me my quality of life back I will try it!

i too would try do-do in a pill if it was gonna help.... im at that point....

I am on my second month of low dose bcps and they seem to be helping a LOT. I am 44 and this spring all of a sudden started experiencing terrible peri symptoms--wall climbing anxiety that would last for days, panic attacks, insomnia, depression, hot flashes, chills and nauseau, as well as bladder and vaginal irritation. Some days I would just stay in bed and shake. I consider myself well read on health topics--why did no one warn me peri could feel THIS bad?

I started on Celexa, which I had been on before, which didn't seem to help as much this time. I then went on bcps and I have felt much better--no more flashes, insomnia better, no day long anxiety attacks, no gagging nausea. It took a week or so for me to notice the benefits and and this is only month 2, but I feel much more stable. Still trying to figure out the bladder/vaginal stuff--I might consider trying another bcp eventually for this but I don't want to rock the boat feeling so much better otherwise. Its summer and I have been on vacation so not too much stress right now and lots of sunshine may be helping too. But when I wake up in the morning I am starting to feel reasonably confident I can cope with what the day brings again. I am still on the celexa too--the estrogen may be helping the SSRI work better in my brain.

I will chime in hear just to give my two cents worth. I didn't start taking BCPs in response to peri symptoms but rather I started taking them after my son was through breastfeeding about 18 years ago at the age of 36. I continued to take them until I was 52 (about 3 years ago). Then and only then did I start having any peri symptoms at all. Until that time I just strolled merrily along with regular clockwork like periods and without any bad disruption to my life. THEN, all hell broke lose with insomnia, hot flashes, vaginal dryness, dry eyes, dry skin, GI upset, fatigue, moodiness, mild (luckily) anxiety, etc. My NP keeps telling me I'm "just about done" but I've had these symptoms long enough for my tastes and mine have been fairly light in comparison to many women. My point is, I really truly believe that the pill helped me get through most of peri unscathed and only since coming off of it have I really had any problems. If I were doing this again and wasn't on the pill already, I'd give it a whirl. It's the easiest thing to try and you should know pretty quickly whether or not it is going to help or not.

I've been on zoloft 100 mg for two weeks now and I'm thinking it's just not going to cut it, but I'm going to give this dose another two weeks before I mess with anything. That way, I'll know for sure what works and what doesn't. The last/only bcp I've tried was loestrin1/20 and it was terrible. I was so desperate to find something to help that I was changing everything at once and I think the loestrin just wasn't the right mix. I had more anxiety for the first week, then I felt the best I'd felt in months, then the anxiety got worse again. I wimped out and quit the bcp because my doctor wouldn't give me a rx for a different one.

Now that I'm feeling about 80 percent better, I'm going to take a break from changing anything. Maybe I'll try one of those peri friendly ones in the previous post--after the holidays. It would be great to be human through the holidays this year. I've cried through every holiday and birthday since Christmas last year.

Ang

I tried loestrin about 5 years ago, age 42, and it was terrible. Seems it has a high P to E ratio and my body and brain just didn't like it. There are many types of bcp available. The ratio of E to P is as important as the Type of P contained within. Vliets (in her books) and Redmonds (The Hormonally Vulnerable Woman) both do a good job in helping select an appropriate bcp for Your particular Symptoms. Most gyns just seem to hand out whatever bcp samples they happen to have in their office. I'd suggest cross referencing the 2 books and come up with a list of several you'd like to try. If you want me to help please feel free to PM me.

Also it is an Excellent idea to only change ONE thing at a time. This is the only way to determine what is causing various symptoms. I have used this method for the past 20 years, still do, and it has served me and my docs well. Best Regards, JZZ

Great that you are feeling better. I would suggest seeing a uro - gyn for the bladder/vaginal stuff. They specialize in this area (more so than the standard gyn.) I've had one for 7 years now and he is wonderful. When I first experience episodes of vag dryness, irritation I was told to avoid soaps, perfumed detergents, wear cotton underwear by my gyn. Guess what? It didn't help. Finally when I started experiencing urge incontinence I was referred to the uro gyn. It was a relief. He explained so much that the average gyn just doesn't know, or get while, in med school. ie - a high progestin bcp, (high P to E ratio) can cause dryness in the vaginal tissues. It can also cause some women to have urge incontinence issues. (he had had a young patient of only 25 experience UI. He switched her bcp and she was fine.) Also, they type of P is just as important and the ratios. You must, and can, find a bcp that will work for your own particular body chemistry.

And, yes the estrogen in the bcp is helping the celexa to work. Seems that there is some type of binding action that occurs with estrogen that makes AD's more effective. Glad you're feeling better and I hope you continue to do well. Regards, JZZ

Thanks for the wonderful advice, Jzz. I am ordering the Vliet book and will think about switching pills if my bladder/vag don't settle down. My GYN said it could take a few cycles to get in balance. I did see a uro this spring before my GYN who dismissed my suggestion that my bladder issues could be at all hormone related and wanted to give me a full workup--cat scan cysto etc. Hello! Ever hear of atrophic vaginitis, doc?

The two previous times in my life I have had similar vag/bladder stuff was when I was on the prog only minipill and when I was breastfeeding for a year so I KNOW this is a hormone issue with me. But I will try to find a uro gyn if I continue to have issues after my chemistry experiments.

I really appreciate this forum and everyone's help and comments!

I recently completed a year on Cryselle which was prescribed strictly to relieve PMS symptoms (I'm 47 and have had my tubes tied). It did relieve the PMS symptoms. However, over that year, I became more and more irritable, sad and eventually depressed. I totally lost my sex drive.

I just started synthetic HRT (PremPro) eight days ago. Stay tuned.

Good luck!!!! Everyone's body is different.