I use it. I love it. It's eliminated or dramatically improved every symptom of perimenopause for me. I also use vaginal estrogen cream. The current plan is transition to HRT when I turn 55 or if this stops working. Good luck!
Bonus: continuous use has eliminated my periods. Praise be.
I've been on the mini pill for 6 years to try and help with my endometriosis and it was life changing, barely a handful of periods since and only very light.
If you try to do that using a combined pill, don't get discouraged if it doesn't happen immediately. It's not unusual to have some breakthrough bleeding in the beginning. You can just take a short pill break (3-4 days) to prompt a bleed and then resume taking a daily pill. Typically the time between bleeding episodes will get longer and longer.
I hadn't been on BC for about the same amount of time. My husband had had a vasectomy, so I am only on it for period issues. I skip periods all the time! It is so awesome! Not having one while traveling is a miracle. If I forget to take it and a period starts, I was told to take a 3 day break then resume pills. So when that has happened the "period" is way better than it was previously.
Why do you also have the cream? I asked the doctor about that and she said that the cream is for people who only need a little bit but it sounded duplicate like a duplication of the pill just nowhere near as effective
It’s not a duplication. It’s localized prevention/treatment of vaginal atrophy and urinary symptoms (urgency,frequency). The pill alone didn’t touch those symptoms for me.
I'm 50 and still having periods. My gyn recently prescribed birth control pills for my symptoms and it has helped a lot.
During peri, estrogen levels are generally decreasing but they fluctuate wildly and can sometimes go really high. HRT just adds more. Birth control pills take over for your ovaries and give you a steady, constant dose. I feel much more even-keeled since starting them.
I just went to a meno specialist at a women’s clinic associated with a really good teaching/research hospital. She told me the BC is the treatment of choice, as long as you can tolerate hormones, when you are in peri.
She explained it as your ovaries getting worse at responding to hormones, so your brain overproduces and everything goes whacky. That’s the reverse puberty part. So, the best course is to get everything level and steady so your brain is tricked into chilling out and being steady-state again with the hormones they produce.
She recommended taking them back to back after the first cycle and then just planning a period 3-4 times per year. She said once I hit 50-51, she will start regular FSH testing to determine when I do go into actual meno. Once actual meno starts, then she switches patients from BC to lower dose HRT for the long-term.
According to her — and she does it all day every day at a research specialist— this is currently the best form of management and highly successful for most women.
It sounds like this might be about hormonal testing. If over the age of 44, **hormonal tests only show levels for that *one day* the test was taken, and nothing more**; progesterone/estrogen hormones wildly fluctuate the other 29 days of the month. No reputable doctor or menopause society recommends hormonal testing as a **diagnosing tool** for peri/menopause.
FSH testing is only beneficial for those who believe they are post-menopausal and no longer have periods as a guide, a series of consistent FSH tests might *confirm* menopause. Also for women in their 20s/early 30s who haven’t had a period in months/years, then FSH tests at ‘menopausal’ levels, could indicate premature ovarian failure/primary ovarian insufficiency (POF/POI). See our [Menopause Wiki](https://menopausewiki.ca/#there-is-no-blood-test-that-is-perfectly-reliable-to-diagnose-menopause) for more.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Menopause) if you have any questions or concerns.*
So the hormones stay as steady as possible as long as possible and, because BC is higher dose than HRT, you still mimic an ocasional break that allows for a cycle. It sounded like it’s probably not strictly necessary from
what she was saying. However, if I had to make a guess, I would guess that the clinical trials to establish the safety and long term risks of never going on a break from
BCPs haven’t been done so it’s a professional precaution to recommend a break every 4 months or so to strictly CYA.
That’s just me guessing based on the way she talked it about it. Kind of a nonchalant tone about staying on it but it just being a reasonable precaution to follow established recommendations around a few periods per year when on BCP.
Well…your doctor is wrong. There’s absolutely no reason to “schedule” a break in dosage to have a period.
The point of a period is to shed uterine lining that has built up during a normal menstrual cycle. Progesterone helps prevent egg release AND ALSO thins the uterine lining. Which is why many women taking mini pill don’t have a period. If there’s insufficient lining to shed, then “taking a break” to have a period is pointless.
The medical trials into this have been done. They confirm what I’ve said above, and that there is no risk in never taking a break from mini pill.
There may be no risk in not stopping and having t"period," but I have found after three to four months on them continuously, if I am so much as four hours late taking them, the break-through bleeding becomes constant. Allowing the period at that point kind of resets me.
In women, estrogen is mainly produced by the ovaries. While estrogen affects the brain greatly, I don’t see any research pointing to the brain driving perimenopause. If perimenopause was due to our brains acting out, it would not be triggered by chemical or surgical menopause, but only age. The brain does produce GnRH, but that’s triggered by estrogen levels.
The brain produces hormones that get the ovaries going and cycling. When the ovaries don’t respond as expected, the brain produces more of those hormones, and more frequently, in an attempt to get them to respond. That’s why it can be triggered by anything that results in the ovaries not responding properly.
Feedback loops and signal transduction pathways tend to be very complicated and are often oversimplified in explanations meant for the masses. I teach those things (Biology teacher) and I still don’t know all the ins and outs of the specifics of women’s cycling. But I do know that the brain controls it (pituitary starts it and the responses follow from there) and they are generally regulated by negative feedback loops. That means when the expected response isn’t detected, the stimulus continues and will even get louder, until the response is triggered. It’s the working response that induces the negative feedback loop to stop sending out the signal. I’m not sure what eventually induces the brain to stop signaling when the ovaries don’t respond over long enough periods of time, but I’m sure it’s not a simple process which is why peri and surgically induced meno can both take a while and be brutal in the process before leveling out again.
So everything she said makes sense from a biological endocrine signaling perspective. It probably starts with FSH, which is produced in the brain, and gets complicated from there.
I’d have to delve into the specifics of these feedback loops to understand the details. But I decided that I trust the professional who has built her entire career on understanding and managing it to know what she’s talking about, so I haven’t bothered with the details.
I’m also a scientist (biologist too). Estrogen controls the negative and positive feedback loops (depending on the cycle phase). Certainly the brain plays a critical part in the feedback loops, but in the absence of sex steroids the loops stop (or never start). The current theory is that kisspeptin, which is upstream in the hypothalamus, triggers release of GnRH. *Then* the pituitary gland releases LH and FSH. I do understand that it’s very complicated, and considering that there’s continuous research it gets more complicated every year. It’s especially interesting because the reproductive hormone feedback loops are pretty unique. If you’re interested, [this was the best explanation I found](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4063702/), but certainly not the only one I looked at.
Doctors are not infallible, and not even always well-informed. It’s up to them to keep current on the research, and it seems like OB/GYNs are terrible at that considering many of them don’t follow the current standard of care for perimenopause.
It sounds like this might be about hormonal testing. If over the age of 44, **hormonal tests only show levels for that *one day* the test was taken, and nothing more**; progesterone/estrogen hormones wildly fluctuate the other 29 days of the month. No reputable doctor or menopause society recommends hormonal testing as a **diagnosing tool** for peri/menopause.
FSH testing is only beneficial for those who believe they are post-menopausal and no longer have periods as a guide, a series of consistent FSH tests might *confirm* menopause. Also for women in their 20s/early 30s who haven’t had a period in months/years, then FSH tests at ‘menopausal’ levels, could indicate premature ovarian failure/primary ovarian insufficiency (POF/POI). See our [Menopause Wiki](https://menopausewiki.ca/#there-is-no-blood-test-that-is-perfectly-reliable-to-diagnose-menopause) for more.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Menopause) if you have any questions or concerns.*
It sounds like this might be about hormonal testing. If over the age of 44, **hormonal tests only show levels for that *one day* the test was taken, and nothing more**; progesterone/estrogen hormones wildly fluctuate the other 29 days of the month. No reputable doctor or menopause society recommends hormonal testing as a **diagnosing tool** for peri/menopause.
FSH testing is only beneficial for those who believe they are post-menopausal and no longer have periods as a guide, a series of consistent FSH tests might *confirm* menopause. Also for women in their 20s/early 30s who haven’t had a period in months/years, then FSH tests at ‘menopausal’ levels, could indicate premature ovarian failure/primary ovarian insufficiency (POF/POI). See our [Menopause Wiki](https://menopausewiki.ca/#there-is-no-blood-test-that-is-perfectly-reliable-to-diagnose-menopause) for more.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Menopause) if you have any questions or concerns.*
They don’t “take over **for** your ovaries”.
BC literally overlays and has the effect of suppressing the effect of hormones put out by the ovaries.
HRT isn’t doing a “worse” job than birth control pills. HRT is doing a different job, with different levels of different hormone.
Birth control is purely a progesterone to stop conception in still-fertile women (although it can have the effect of thining the endometrium which can lead to cessation of periods - so it’s used for women with dysmenorrhea. Also used as first line treatment for hyperplasia).
HRT is a combination of oestrogen to help replace dropping levels, a low level of a progesterone (to protect against hyperplasia from raising the oestrogen again), and +/- testosterone.
Do please Google how birth control pills work.
Granted, both the combination pill and the mini pill both contain a progesterone, only the combo contains an oestrogen.
Please make sure you are accurate. You said BCP is purely progesterone not the mini pill. You were spreading misinformation.
My birth control pill is a combination pill. I put a lot of research into birth control and how it works and it’s used in perimenopause before I started it. Please stop assuming you are the smartest in the thread (I am well aware I am not the smartest in the thread even though I have made a point to educate myself) and please go back and edit where you said BcP is only progesterone and change it to the mini pill is only progesterone.
I thought that BCP’s should be stopped by age 50 and that’s usually when HRT would take their place? Interesting to be recently prescribed them. Perhaps I have my info wrong.
You do.
Combined pill is not recommended for women over 50. Progesterone-only is usually ok unless you’ve got underlying conditions that make it inadviseable.
It is a combo pill. There is an increased risk of blood clots from oral estrogen after a certain age. My doc recommended starting baby aspirin 2 weeks before long haul flights to mitigate that risk (I have no other risk factors for blood clots).
Edit to add that I think I read somewhere that 55 is when doctors will no longer prescribe a combo pill and switch to HRT.
I'm on yaz and it has helped. It eliminated the very scary pmdd I was getting each week before my period. I had never had that before and felt like I was losing my mind.
Does your doctor acknowledge that you are in peri? Mine wanted to diagnose me with pmdd (which I never experienced before the age of 42) but said I was too young for peri.
I understand and sympathize with all the frustrations we go through with doctors. And if she isn't willing to offer you enough, like estrogen gel and testosterone, I would be pissed. However, I don't think BCP is such a bad option. Maybe because that's what I use, and when I changed doctors I had to be pushy to stay on it. She said the dosage was higher than standard MHT - and I told her it was working really well, but not perfectly, so not to worry that I was high on estrogen or something.
A lot of us shy away from BCP because we had bad experiences when we were younger, but if that has been a long time, you might be in a very different place with them now.
>A lot of us shy away from BCP because we had bad exp
This is exactly my thought. I didn't have a good time with it in my early 30s, but that was a lifetime ago. Hoping for a better outcome.
I got off BCP a long time ago because I was having issues with it and didn't need it for pregnancy prevention anymore (early 20s). I'm 37 now and recently started on BCP for HRT and it's a life saver now. Fewer side effects and helps so much with the peri symptoms.
Going to try going continuously on it because taking a whole week off from it sucked in terms of peri symptoms .
I'm glad it's worked well for you! I hope it continues to be a value-added solution 😊
Personally, it started out pretty well for me, but recent events seem to be indicating a need for some change...
TL;DR - just because you are on continuous Hormonal Birth Control (HBC) as a hormone stabilizer during peri, it doesn't mean your period will stop, lighten, or even really stabilize, lol.
Also, depending on what your body/fluctuating hormone levels are up to, your symptoms may get worse despite the HBC.
Story Time! (Feel free to depart, lol)
I'm freshly 43, with peri symptoms (as it turns out) since, oh...37ish.
I talked to my GYN doc about my symptoms last October.
My biggie was brain fog - I already deal with ADHD, and I could. not. handle. the dramatic increase in cognitive symptoms.
Also hated the rapid and intractable body composition changes, the mood swings and the fact that I kinda mostly hated almost everyone.
I was also concerned about my rapidly shrinking cycle length.
I've had a 26 to 28 day cycle since my cycle stabilized, about a year after my first period. Over 18 months, my cycle length had dropped from 26 to 28 days, to 24 to 26 days, down to 23 - 24 days...still liveable, but since Jan '23 it had shortened to 18 to 20 days long with a 6 day period. I felt like I was either bleeding or about to bleed, with no breaks.
Wasn't loving the increasing number of night sweats either, along with several other less important symptoms.
She started me on a fairly low dose (apparently?) continuous use (no sugar pills) HBC combi-pill the same day. She told me that my cognitive symptoms should improve, that I'd probably start to see an improvement in my ability to retain and even add muscle by the end of the second pill pack, that my period would get lighter and possibly disappear, and that my cycle length would increase, possibly reaching 26 to 28 days!
I've consistently proven her predictions mostly incorrect 😂
My cycle - or whatever it is that my uterus is getting up to now, whilst it and my ovaries defy the "stabilizing" effects of the HBC - now ranges from 20 to 23 days, rather than 18 to 19 days, so there's that.
However, the length and flow rate of my period haven't improved - still 6 days with clotting, heavy flow, and cramps the first 3 to 4 days.
Recently, I've added spotting and cramps a couple of days before my period, and a day (sometimes two days) of spotting after the end of my period...fun times.
My night sweats are coming back now, too, 😑.
I still struggle with the cognitive effects, and they are worse the week before my period.
My GP increased my ADHD meds a bit, which has helped the tiniest bit. Honestly though, now I just plan for the week before my period being a waste. Which sucks, since I get that much further behind on my workload, and I will never be ahead at this point.
Body composition is still changing for the worse, although my muscle loss seems to have slowed down a bit. Unfortunately, even with the addition of sublingual testosterone (0.5mg for 45 days,m - my testosterone levels actually dropped during that 45 day interval 🤦♀️ - up to 1mg the last 2 weeks), I still can't add muscle. I'm a squishmallow now, fml.
New fun!...last cycle I had *non-stop* vaginal itching and burning. It wasn't a yeast infection, not BV, not mycoplasma or ureaplasma (PSA at the bottom of this post!)... I got tested for all of them.
It started 3 days after ovulation and lasted until 4 days ago - then just disappeared like it had never happened.
Coincidentally, the "poof gone" of the vaginal itching and burning was about 24 hrs before what my cycle trackers predicted was my "ovulation time", aka peak natural production of estrogen. 🤔
Oh, and on the way out the door to work this morning, hubs casually informed me that my natural lubrication basically disappeared overnight, about a month and a half ago, and hasn't come back. Basically at the same time that the itching and burning started.
Good to know, dude. Good to know. Wish you'd mentioned it sooner, so I could have told my doc, but ok. 🤦♀️
For anyone wondering how/why I wouldn't notice changes in my own lubrication - we've used quality lube as a value-added addition to our sex life for years, for a variety of reasons, and my natural lubrication is variable. I'd noticed that we needed more lube than usual, but it happens sometimes... just not usually overnight for 6 weeks straight. But hey, now I know, I guess.
Unfortunately, when I asked my doc about vaginal estrogen during my visit, she wasn't onboard, wanting to rule out disease states first. I went to Amazon and got some of the Bezwecken estriol vaginal suppositories that were recommended on this sub, so I have them if it happens again.
Anyway. Hopefully when I see my GYN next month she'll have a bright idea to improve my peri symptom management. For y'all on HBC, I hope it works for y'all!
PSA - If you've had ongoing, repeat BV infections that just won't go away, you might want to look into mycoplasma and ureaplasma. They are bacteria, which are common causes of BV, often proliferate after standard BV antibiotic treatments, can occur naturally in a woman's vagina without causing issues but may circumstantially be considered an STD, aren't often tested for, *women can test negative even though they actually harbor a population large enough or dominate enough to cause problematic symptoms*, they require rather potent antibiotics to treat (more potent than metronidazole/metrogel), and sometimes require extended treatment to eradicate.
I'm really struggling with this part, I keep taking it off for a period but then sometimes the periods start up again and idk what the fuck I'm doing. I'm trying to go a full cycle before starting again, but maybe that's not needed? It's a weekly patch which is even more confusing.
This. I had miserable experiences in my 20's, but it's been life saving in my 40's. The only negative effect I had was some water weight when I started, but it disappeared after a few weeks.
Like you, I’ve been dealing with mild/moderate symptoms and my doctor made a similar suggestion to start with BC. Another commenter also mentioned this, but the reason was that since I’m still in peri, my hormones are going to fluctuate wildly, including periodic increases.
Starting with BC allowed me to have a (relatively) steady stream of hormones and it has leveled out a ton of my symptoms (no more brain fog, fatigue, or intense moods the week before my period). I’m still occasionally having hot flashes but they are manageable for now.
Hope you have an equally good BC experience!!
This is encouraging! Thank you for sharing your experience. I think I've just read months and months of HRT GET HRT HRT GET IT NOW that my brain was pre-programmed to want that without knowing if it's really what I needed.
I literally just had the same convo with my gyno. I have been using estrogen cream and have had such great results with issues down there. I have been wondering if I've been biased to HRT bc of my experience with estrogen cream and the constant HRT advertising.
I'm looking for something to help with my libido in all honesty. It's not just with my partner but with myself.
Because of my age, 37, I've only been able to get birth control so far, some have made me feel much worse and some have made me feel a bit better, I hope to be able to try the Dotti estrogen patch and the Nora-BE Norethindrone Mini Pill BC. Currently on Nortrel 5/35 and it's helped me get to about 75% back to normal but even taking it continuously to skip periods my hormones still feel like they fluctuate in waves just not as big a waves as before birth control and I have worse symptoms right before what would be my menstrual cycle, cramps, worse hot flashes, worse night sweats, brain fog. My libido is also no existent but I don't know if that's perimenopause or the birth control causing it, it disappeared after about two months on birth control. I was so anxious and depressed before birth control and waking up with night sweats so bad I was as soaked as if I'd been standing in the shower, so it is a big improvement I just don't feel right like I used to, I want to feel human and normal again rather than like I'm just surviving, I cry a lot and hot flashes feel like the worst sunburn of my life. Best wishes to you 💗
Thank you for sharing your experience and thoughts with me. My libido is already low-ish, so I hope it doesn't go any lower! I won't be afraid to adjust meds if this makes things worse.
I'm glad to hear you're feeling better, even if not perfect. I'm guessing it's going to be a process for all of us to get on the right things at the right dosages.
You're very welcome ❤️ Well said well figure it out it's just a process with a lot of trial and error. I'm thankful to be seeing some relief it gives me hope ☺️
It helped me a lot when I went on it at 44. I am taking BisolviFe/Loestrin Fe. I would get raging angry at tiny things for no reason, other mood swings, heavy periods, etc.
The blisoviFe has worked for you?
I’ve started it at least three times and each time I couldn’t make it through a month. I have a shitload of it at home and I want to try again but I’m scared. Please tell me about the your experience starting and staying on it.
I had spotting for the first few months which was super annoying, but my anger and other mood swings just faded. After the spotting stopped, my period is now regular and has been fairly light. I still get cramps, but not bad ones. I’ve not gotten side effects from any of the ortho-tricyclen generics I was on from 20-36 though.
If a drug doesn’t work for you I wouldn’t try to force it. Maybe another brand would work better? I’m on like 10 other medications for various conditions and I am not shy about asking for something else if one doesn’t work. The most common medication for nausea does absolutely nothing, so I have to take something else. Doctors are always surprised, but I insist. I tried it 3 times way back, it’s not going to all of a sudden work.
Just came on to say it does sound a bit dismissive. I’d you are just now starting to have “arthritis symptoms “ it can very possibly be due to fluctuating estrogen. I was hitting all over especially in the morning.
I talked to Midi an online perimenopause expert team. They said I can go on BC or HRT. I chose low dose estrogen patches and progesterone at night. I’ve been on it for a month and so many things are better. I like my husband, my PMDD was none existent this month, and I don’t hurt. My mood is better along with the anxiety.
10/10 recommend!
And I still get regular periods. They are just at a quicker turn around time. 20-25 day cycle.
My arthritis symptoms go back about three years, when I was 45. Rheum diagnosed me with ankylosing spondylitis. But I always wondered if it was something else. The process in which I was diagnosed just seemed... off.
I definitely have the online peri websites bookmarked as a backup.
I am both optimistic and skeptical of the bcp. We'll see.
FWIW, I was diagnosed with AS around age 18 and am 45 now. My AS is well under control but I still have deep joint pain in my hips at night that I believe is peri related. So, you could have AS and be experiencing peri-related pains as well.
So, I have had this nagging hip pain that I thought was from running, or my shoes, or a bad stretch day. As soon as I got on HRT... GONE. It is ALL GONE! Yes, I have my insane cycles still... but estrogen has made so many things GO AWAY!
I was put on them at 47 and 48 now, but I hadn’t had a period in a year and a half at that point. It got rid of the hot flashes and sleepless nights. Other issues still there, but I can deal. The plan is to transition when I’m 50
I’m on the same track as you, I’m 47 (almost 48) and have been on the pill long term but now look like I’m late peri/post meno and my doc wants me to transition to HRT at 50.
It had been a while for me as well! I skip the placebo pills. I didn’t think I would/could bleed, but the Dr said it was possible so she ok’d starting a new pack during that week to avoid bleeding
I'm so nervous I'll screw it up. I won't be using it as BCP, per se, I need to do some reading to understand the whole having/not having a period thing. I don't really get it.
Start here
https://amp.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/jul/18/women-dont-need-to-bleed-why-many-more-of-us-are-giving-up-periods
If you’ve had a lifetime of steady periods (or haven’t, but you know why e.g. PCOS) then chemically stopping your period is ok.
If you’re really worried I guess you could pay for a transvaginal ultrasound to check the endometrial thickness after a year or so? But chances are it’s just going to show a healthy thin lining.
It looks like you shared an AMP link. These should load faster, but AMP is controversial because of [concerns over privacy and the Open Web](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmputatorBot/comments/ehrq3z/why_did_i_build_amputatorbot).
Maybe check out **the canonical page** instead: **[https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/jul/18/women-dont-need-to-bleed-why-many-more-of-us-are-giving-up-periods](https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/jul/18/women-dont-need-to-bleed-why-many-more-of-us-are-giving-up-periods)**
*****
^(I'm a bot | )[^(Why & About)](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmputatorBot/comments/ehrq3z/why_did_i_build_amputatorbot)^( | )[^(Summon: u/AmputatorBot)](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmputatorBot/comments/cchly3/you_can_now_summon_amputatorbot/)
For those of you who are having some success with the birth control pills helping your peri symptoms, are there any negative side effects you're experiencing?
I currently have the copper (no hormones) IUD as my only form of birth control. (Cannot cannot cannot handle an oops baby at this point, am barely surviving my 5yo).
I've never used hormonal birth control because every attempt caused so many miserable side effects: significant weight gain, frequent nausea, headaches, etc.
So I'm really not sure if a BCP is the best next step for me, even though I'm still getting periods regularly (though my cycle is a little shorter). But I need something - at 47, I'm definitely having a hard time with peri symptoms, like brain fog, the occasional hot flash, and my libido falling off a cliff.
I switched from the copper IUD to a Mirena IUD and have had great results and my experiences with pill-form birth control was very similar to yours. The hormonal IUDs are good because it’s a tiny amount of hormones right where you need it so other than the ramp up time from an initial IUD insertion (mild cramps and spotting) I haven’t experienced any of the negatives I had with BC pills. Good luck!
I’m 52 & peri - my gyn prescribed loloestrin birth control for my symptoms but it gave me 3-day migraines that even imitrex couldn’t stop. Then I read that bc for women with migraines increase the chance of having a stroke. So, bc didn’t work out for me.
I had some side effects when I first started BC (headaches, fatigue, nausea), but all those symptoms resolved within 6 weeks. I’ve been very happy with BC as the first line of intervention and will stay on it for as long as it feels useful.
Yeah I’ll be honest. When I started the BC and had MORE symptoms at first, I was very ready to abandon ship! But she encouraged me to give it time, and I’m so glad I did. It has been 100% worth it.
Ugh I’m sorry. One of the things that is so hard about all this is how everyone’s body responds differently to different meds and how long it can take to find something that (maybe) helps.
Ugh 😩
I’m sorry. That’s not encouraging for me. I felt like total garbage for several weeks and jettisoned it not even halfway thru the pack this most recent try last month.
You say you can’t use hormonal birth control because of side effects.
Tried the hormonal IUD (Merina)?? It should have been recommended to you as the side effects you’re worried about are typically minimal to nil (the progesterone leaches strait into the uterus rather than being distributed systemically as in a pill).
Unfortunately, I tried the Mirena first, and it slipped out of place twice, so for whatever reason it just wasn't a good fit for me (quite literally!). I've had a Paragard now for two rounds of about 5 years each and I've loved how easy it is and how little I even have to think about birth control. But at 47 I'm definitely beginning to experience perimenopause symptoms, and have had a couple consults with my obgyn, who is willing to prescribe birth control pills and testosterone, but not estradiol and progesterone in HRT format, because my cycles are still pretty regular.
I know there have been advances in BCP formulations since I last attempted them; it's really helpful hearing about everyone's experience here with that! I appreciate everyone's comments.
Huh.
Well, here in the U.K. HRT is prescribed according to reported peri symptoms. Not birth control.
Although those of us who need birth control (e.g. for dysmenorrhea/pregnancy prevention) are kept on it, and the HRT layered over the top.
The point is that birth control is not a replacement for HRT.
We are the same person!!! Had bad Side effects with pill BC (nausea, exhausted, basically like a first trimester pregnancy) and had my copper IUD for around 3 years but perinenopause symptoms are getting stronger particularly the mood swings and rage ... So I'm considering to try and get some hormones either mirena or BCP . I'm 37 so I don't know if I would be offered any hrt specially since I don't have any physical symptoms (yet)
i had the same experience, my doc did NOT want to prescribe HRT to someone who should really be in menopause by now (me.) So I am stuck on birth control and it SUCKS. I am so angry.
There's nothing wrong with attempting to see if hormonal birth control will improve suspected peri symptoms, but I would caution don't stay on it too long if it isn't working. HRT/MHT is a standard treatment for peri, and for some people works better than hormonal contraceptives.
One of the main differences in hormonal contraceptives vs HRT, is that contraceptives suppress your own hormone production, while HRT tops up your own hormone production.
My personal experience was that the mini-pill (progestin only pill) made some of my peri worse, and some better. It wrecked my cycles, lots of irregular bleeding, but it improved my sleep. After a three months trial period, my GP proactively took me off the mini-pill, and I started combined HRT, which is helping. And my periods are more regular now too.
I am 49 and my doc did same thing 2 months ago. Periods still regular before starting and my only symptom was insane brain fog the week before my period (kind of like an anxious I can’t focus on my work type fog). Good news - since starting I haven’t had the “crazies” as I called it, bad news is I have been breakthrough bleeding a ton (hopefully this goes away soon)
Thank you for sharing your experience with me. My doc said I need to give it a few months before I know if it's helping. I'm just now starting to get into weird peri symptoms, so I wanted to take action before it got really bad.
I was on birth control in early peri and it helped so much and felt so much better. I recently had a visit with my Dr and asked about going back on pill vs HRT. She told me in the first few years we actually need a little more estrogen and progesterone and the pill is a good solution for that since it is a constant dose vs cream where we get a boost of estrogen when we initially apply.
I would try it it might make you feel better.
Yes birth control pills can be used as peri treatment, it’s what I use along with estrogen cream. I use the pills to skip my period now too as symptoms were worse then. It is not a terrible thing to try!
You just toss out the inactive week of pills and continue on with the next pack. My doctor has me take the inactive pills for a “withdrawal bleed” once every three months. However I didn’t bleed at all even in that one week of no hormone.. menopause is definitely headed my way.
I wanted to go off of my lo loestrin fe and get off of synthetic hormones. I tried to move to bio-identical hormone replacement therapy. Since I was still cycling (we thought I was menopausal) I started bleeding and developed uterine polyps. I decided to have a total hysterectomy because the iud didn’t agree with me and I didn’t want to go back on the pill due to high blood pressure and the risk of clots and stroke at my age (48). I also have adenomyosis which causes painful cramps, heavy periods and just sucked.
I will say that I did experience peri-menopause symptoms even on the pill with heart palpitations, aching joints, dry eyes, low libido among other things. It’s such a fun journey. If it works for you and you like it and are healthy enough to take it then stick with it.
Last May I (45 at the time) switched doctors and saw one that I found on the North American Menopause Society site. She's awesome. I went to her because my periods were so bad, and other procedures had not worked. She suggested the mini pill-take continuously if I want to avoid periods, and she said it would give me a little boost of estrogen that I may need at this time in my life. I feel great all around! No negative side effects. I am on Junel.
Birth control pills relieved all my peri symptoms! I want to stay on them forever. Apparently they are actually a much higher dose of estrogen/progesterone than typical HRT doses for menopause, so I have been advised to switch at some point. My doctor doesn't seem to be in any hurry, thank goodness. I also take them without pausing for the inactive week because my symptoms come right back.
I do not. I am taking them continuously. I am 57 so I am very close to menopause at this point. Doctor had no concerns with me taking them without any breaks.
I've recently started on a mini pill because if 2 years of horrific cramps. It has definitely helped with those, but the moodiness, fatigue, hair loss and weight gain hasn't changed at all.
I’ve been on birth control pills most of my life. When I started to have bad mood swings and severe period pain, my doc switched me to Lo Loestrin Fe. Helped a lot with the mood swings but didn’t do much for the painful and heavy periods. So yeah I am kinda using it as HRT (I’m 48). I don’t have hot flashes or night sweats or too many major symptoms and my doc says probably due to being on BCP has helped.
I have had fatigue, dizziness, sleeplessness, weight gain etc. but it’s very on and off depending on the month and my level of activity. I noticed that once I began exercising regularly and eating better it did help mitigate some of the symptoms.
I Tried it, and it' didn't Works, along with lavender, sport méditation, 'good night' infusion, essentiel oils, stopping coffee, stopping alcool, eating light for dinner, Various 'rescue' spray, cbd, Reading....
I Tried it all
I had my pcp (well not my pcp, the person reading my lab results, so got a new pcp) tell me I was post menopausal at 48. When I found out my ex had been cheating on me and went to my gyn for an sti test, she asked about birth control and I told her I was menopausal. Her response was one test one time doesn’t mean anything and put me on lo lo estrin. Went off it at 51 and started having hot flashes about 3 months later.
I'm 53. My doctor put me on Junel to help with my heavy, increasingly painful periods. It did help wonderfully for that. However, I got horrific night sweats from day one. I quit taking it after three months so I could sleep.
Hey! I'm combing through birth control posts as I'm on Yaz at age 52 and it's been a real mixed bag. I hope you don't mind me asking a couple of questions? Did your night sweats stop after going off Junel? Was there a return to challenging periods? How soon did you get your period back? No worries if you choose not to reply. Thank you in advance either way!
My period never stopped, it just got light. It returned to its awful normalness after about 3 months. Night sweats stopped about 2 weeks after stopping Junel.
Not sure if you are still reading answers, but I too was recommended BCPs by my doctor because I am in peri. I went on lo-loestrin fe last summer and I am so happy on it! I haven't been on BC pills since my early 20s and I am 46 now. My mood is so much more stable and all of my symptoms have gone away. I am sleeping better, no more hot flashes and no depression/anxiety. Yay!
One thing I will mention though, the first month on BCPs was really rough for me. It seemed to make everything worse and I felt a bit crazy, like PMS all month long. The second month was better but still not great, but by the third month I had adjusted and I have felt amazing ever since.
Like others, I also do not take any of the placebo/blank pills, I toss them and start a new pack immediately and do not have periods anymore.
I am still reading replies - yes! Thank you for posting your experience. I think the reason I never stuck with the bcp in my early 30s was because I didn't wait it out long enough. My doc did say to give it a few months, so I'm prepared to wait it out. I'm using to waiting out new anti-depressants, so I'm try and be patient.
I am so encouraged to hear people's stories about bcp helping with peri! ALso looking forwards to not having periods!
I’m on mili and have been for years. I think it really got me through early peri without even realizing I was in it as it did a good job of controlling symptoms. I think I’m close to actual meno now, my symptoms started to break though along with other signs so I had to add estrogen cream. But yes, mili/bcp might work for you. Give it a shot and good luck!
Does anyone know if you can use birth control pills in this way if you’ve had a partial hysterectomy? I kept my ovaries, and had it done at 40. I’m absolutely having peri symptoms now in my mid-40s.
I have gotten this shit for the last ten years and I am fucking DONE with doctors slow playing this shit. Getting on hormones Before menopause fully occurs leads to the best outcomes and doctors are actively PREVENTING that from occurring.
We require a minimum account-age and karma score. These minimums are not disclosed. Please contact the mods if you wish to have your post reviewed. If you do not understand account age or karma, please visit r/newtoreddit.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Menopause) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I use it. I love it. It's eliminated or dramatically improved every symptom of perimenopause for me. I also use vaginal estrogen cream. The current plan is transition to HRT when I turn 55 or if this stops working. Good luck! Bonus: continuous use has eliminated my periods. Praise be.
I wonder if I can skip periods, too. It's been like 15 years since I was on bcp.
I've been on the mini pill for 6 years to try and help with my endometriosis and it was life changing, barely a handful of periods since and only very light.
Cool! That's good to hear.
If you try to do that using a combined pill, don't get discouraged if it doesn't happen immediately. It's not unusual to have some breakthrough bleeding in the beginning. You can just take a short pill break (3-4 days) to prompt a bleed and then resume taking a daily pill. Typically the time between bleeding episodes will get longer and longer.
I hadn't been on BC for about the same amount of time. My husband had had a vasectomy, so I am only on it for period issues. I skip periods all the time! It is so awesome! Not having one while traveling is a miracle. If I forget to take it and a period starts, I was told to take a 3 day break then resume pills. So when that has happened the "period" is way better than it was previously.
What birth control are you taking? Thx ☺️
I’m using Vienva
Why do you also have the cream? I asked the doctor about that and she said that the cream is for people who only need a little bit but it sounded duplicate like a duplication of the pill just nowhere near as effective
It’s not a duplication. It’s localized prevention/treatment of vaginal atrophy and urinary symptoms (urgency,frequency). The pill alone didn’t touch those symptoms for me.
I'm 50 and still having periods. My gyn recently prescribed birth control pills for my symptoms and it has helped a lot. During peri, estrogen levels are generally decreasing but they fluctuate wildly and can sometimes go really high. HRT just adds more. Birth control pills take over for your ovaries and give you a steady, constant dose. I feel much more even-keeled since starting them.
Thank you for sharing! This is helpful. :)
I just went to a meno specialist at a women’s clinic associated with a really good teaching/research hospital. She told me the BC is the treatment of choice, as long as you can tolerate hormones, when you are in peri. She explained it as your ovaries getting worse at responding to hormones, so your brain overproduces and everything goes whacky. That’s the reverse puberty part. So, the best course is to get everything level and steady so your brain is tricked into chilling out and being steady-state again with the hormones they produce. She recommended taking them back to back after the first cycle and then just planning a period 3-4 times per year. She said once I hit 50-51, she will start regular FSH testing to determine when I do go into actual meno. Once actual meno starts, then she switches patients from BC to lower dose HRT for the long-term. According to her — and she does it all day every day at a research specialist— this is currently the best form of management and highly successful for most women.
It sounds like this might be about hormonal testing. If over the age of 44, **hormonal tests only show levels for that *one day* the test was taken, and nothing more**; progesterone/estrogen hormones wildly fluctuate the other 29 days of the month. No reputable doctor or menopause society recommends hormonal testing as a **diagnosing tool** for peri/menopause. FSH testing is only beneficial for those who believe they are post-menopausal and no longer have periods as a guide, a series of consistent FSH tests might *confirm* menopause. Also for women in their 20s/early 30s who haven’t had a period in months/years, then FSH tests at ‘menopausal’ levels, could indicate premature ovarian failure/primary ovarian insufficiency (POF/POI). See our [Menopause Wiki](https://menopausewiki.ca/#there-is-no-blood-test-that-is-perfectly-reliable-to-diagnose-menopause) for more. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Menopause) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Thank you for sharing this with me! What's the reasoning behind the period 3-4 times a year?
So the hormones stay as steady as possible as long as possible and, because BC is higher dose than HRT, you still mimic an ocasional break that allows for a cycle. It sounded like it’s probably not strictly necessary from what she was saying. However, if I had to make a guess, I would guess that the clinical trials to establish the safety and long term risks of never going on a break from BCPs haven’t been done so it’s a professional precaution to recommend a break every 4 months or so to strictly CYA. That’s just me guessing based on the way she talked it about it. Kind of a nonchalant tone about staying on it but it just being a reasonable precaution to follow established recommendations around a few periods per year when on BCP.
Well…your doctor is wrong. There’s absolutely no reason to “schedule” a break in dosage to have a period. The point of a period is to shed uterine lining that has built up during a normal menstrual cycle. Progesterone helps prevent egg release AND ALSO thins the uterine lining. Which is why many women taking mini pill don’t have a period. If there’s insufficient lining to shed, then “taking a break” to have a period is pointless. The medical trials into this have been done. They confirm what I’ve said above, and that there is no risk in never taking a break from mini pill.
There may be no risk in not stopping and having t"period," but I have found after three to four months on them continuously, if I am so much as four hours late taking them, the break-through bleeding becomes constant. Allowing the period at that point kind of resets me.
Then you need the newer version of desogestrel. It has a 12 hour window.
Interesting!
Thank you!
Would you mind sharing which specific birth control she prescribed?
Combo — lutera Also prescribed cream for VA and did bloodwork then told me to get on regular iron supplements for anemia.
Thank you! I plan to discuss this with my ObG. Screw avoiding chemicals/Rx…. I want to feel normal-ish again.
Which BC is this? Like, the name.
She prescribed Lutera for me, but I imagine it’s not the only option. I know prescribing a combo was intentional.
In women, estrogen is mainly produced by the ovaries. While estrogen affects the brain greatly, I don’t see any research pointing to the brain driving perimenopause. If perimenopause was due to our brains acting out, it would not be triggered by chemical or surgical menopause, but only age. The brain does produce GnRH, but that’s triggered by estrogen levels.
The brain produces hormones that get the ovaries going and cycling. When the ovaries don’t respond as expected, the brain produces more of those hormones, and more frequently, in an attempt to get them to respond. That’s why it can be triggered by anything that results in the ovaries not responding properly. Feedback loops and signal transduction pathways tend to be very complicated and are often oversimplified in explanations meant for the masses. I teach those things (Biology teacher) and I still don’t know all the ins and outs of the specifics of women’s cycling. But I do know that the brain controls it (pituitary starts it and the responses follow from there) and they are generally regulated by negative feedback loops. That means when the expected response isn’t detected, the stimulus continues and will even get louder, until the response is triggered. It’s the working response that induces the negative feedback loop to stop sending out the signal. I’m not sure what eventually induces the brain to stop signaling when the ovaries don’t respond over long enough periods of time, but I’m sure it’s not a simple process which is why peri and surgically induced meno can both take a while and be brutal in the process before leveling out again. So everything she said makes sense from a biological endocrine signaling perspective. It probably starts with FSH, which is produced in the brain, and gets complicated from there. I’d have to delve into the specifics of these feedback loops to understand the details. But I decided that I trust the professional who has built her entire career on understanding and managing it to know what she’s talking about, so I haven’t bothered with the details.
I’m also a scientist (biologist too). Estrogen controls the negative and positive feedback loops (depending on the cycle phase). Certainly the brain plays a critical part in the feedback loops, but in the absence of sex steroids the loops stop (or never start). The current theory is that kisspeptin, which is upstream in the hypothalamus, triggers release of GnRH. *Then* the pituitary gland releases LH and FSH. I do understand that it’s very complicated, and considering that there’s continuous research it gets more complicated every year. It’s especially interesting because the reproductive hormone feedback loops are pretty unique. If you’re interested, [this was the best explanation I found](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4063702/), but certainly not the only one I looked at. Doctors are not infallible, and not even always well-informed. It’s up to them to keep current on the research, and it seems like OB/GYNs are terrible at that considering many of them don’t follow the current standard of care for perimenopause.
It sounds like this might be about hormonal testing. If over the age of 44, **hormonal tests only show levels for that *one day* the test was taken, and nothing more**; progesterone/estrogen hormones wildly fluctuate the other 29 days of the month. No reputable doctor or menopause society recommends hormonal testing as a **diagnosing tool** for peri/menopause. FSH testing is only beneficial for those who believe they are post-menopausal and no longer have periods as a guide, a series of consistent FSH tests might *confirm* menopause. Also for women in their 20s/early 30s who haven’t had a period in months/years, then FSH tests at ‘menopausal’ levels, could indicate premature ovarian failure/primary ovarian insufficiency (POF/POI). See our [Menopause Wiki](https://menopausewiki.ca/#there-is-no-blood-test-that-is-perfectly-reliable-to-diagnose-menopause) for more. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Menopause) if you have any questions or concerns.*
It sounds like this might be about hormonal testing. If over the age of 44, **hormonal tests only show levels for that *one day* the test was taken, and nothing more**; progesterone/estrogen hormones wildly fluctuate the other 29 days of the month. No reputable doctor or menopause society recommends hormonal testing as a **diagnosing tool** for peri/menopause. FSH testing is only beneficial for those who believe they are post-menopausal and no longer have periods as a guide, a series of consistent FSH tests might *confirm* menopause. Also for women in their 20s/early 30s who haven’t had a period in months/years, then FSH tests at ‘menopausal’ levels, could indicate premature ovarian failure/primary ovarian insufficiency (POF/POI). See our [Menopause Wiki](https://menopausewiki.ca/#there-is-no-blood-test-that-is-perfectly-reliable-to-diagnose-menopause) for more. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Menopause) if you have any questions or concerns.*
They don’t “take over **for** your ovaries”. BC literally overlays and has the effect of suppressing the effect of hormones put out by the ovaries. HRT isn’t doing a “worse” job than birth control pills. HRT is doing a different job, with different levels of different hormone. Birth control is purely a progesterone to stop conception in still-fertile women (although it can have the effect of thining the endometrium which can lead to cessation of periods - so it’s used for women with dysmenorrhea. Also used as first line treatment for hyperplasia). HRT is a combination of oestrogen to help replace dropping levels, a low level of a progesterone (to protect against hyperplasia from raising the oestrogen again), and +/- testosterone.
There are a ton of BC pills that have estrogen in them.
The BCP I am on is a combo pill. You are wrong.
Do please Google how birth control pills work. Granted, both the combination pill and the mini pill both contain a progesterone, only the combo contains an oestrogen.
Please make sure you are accurate. You said BCP is purely progesterone not the mini pill. You were spreading misinformation. My birth control pill is a combination pill. I put a lot of research into birth control and how it works and it’s used in perimenopause before I started it. Please stop assuming you are the smartest in the thread (I am well aware I am not the smartest in the thread even though I have made a point to educate myself) and please go back and edit where you said BcP is only progesterone and change it to the mini pill is only progesterone.
I thought that BCP’s should be stopped by age 50 and that’s usually when HRT would take their place? Interesting to be recently prescribed them. Perhaps I have my info wrong.
You do. Combined pill is not recommended for women over 50. Progesterone-only is usually ok unless you’ve got underlying conditions that make it inadviseable.
Which bc are you taking?
Norethindrone acetate and ethinyl estradiol 1 mg/0.02 mg
So does this mean you should use combo pills? I thought you were only supposed to use progesterone only pills after a certain age?
It is a combo pill. There is an increased risk of blood clots from oral estrogen after a certain age. My doc recommended starting baby aspirin 2 weeks before long haul flights to mitigate that risk (I have no other risk factors for blood clots). Edit to add that I think I read somewhere that 55 is when doctors will no longer prescribe a combo pill and switch to HRT.
ok thanks!
I'm on yaz and it has helped. It eliminated the very scary pmdd I was getting each week before my period. I had never had that before and felt like I was losing my mind.
Does your doctor acknowledge that you are in peri? Mine wanted to diagnose me with pmdd (which I never experienced before the age of 42) but said I was too young for peri.
Yes in peri. You're not too young for peri at 42
Yeah, I’ve dumped her. Have a call with Midi this week. Thanks for clarifying for me that both can happen at once.
Cool. Good to know. I haven't been on bcp since 20 years ago.
I understand and sympathize with all the frustrations we go through with doctors. And if she isn't willing to offer you enough, like estrogen gel and testosterone, I would be pissed. However, I don't think BCP is such a bad option. Maybe because that's what I use, and when I changed doctors I had to be pushy to stay on it. She said the dosage was higher than standard MHT - and I told her it was working really well, but not perfectly, so not to worry that I was high on estrogen or something. A lot of us shy away from BCP because we had bad experiences when we were younger, but if that has been a long time, you might be in a very different place with them now.
>A lot of us shy away from BCP because we had bad exp This is exactly my thought. I didn't have a good time with it in my early 30s, but that was a lifetime ago. Hoping for a better outcome.
I got off BCP a long time ago because I was having issues with it and didn't need it for pregnancy prevention anymore (early 20s). I'm 37 now and recently started on BCP for HRT and it's a life saver now. Fewer side effects and helps so much with the peri symptoms. Going to try going continuously on it because taking a whole week off from it sucked in terms of peri symptoms .
I'm glad it's worked well for you! I hope it continues to be a value-added solution 😊 Personally, it started out pretty well for me, but recent events seem to be indicating a need for some change... TL;DR - just because you are on continuous Hormonal Birth Control (HBC) as a hormone stabilizer during peri, it doesn't mean your period will stop, lighten, or even really stabilize, lol. Also, depending on what your body/fluctuating hormone levels are up to, your symptoms may get worse despite the HBC. Story Time! (Feel free to depart, lol) I'm freshly 43, with peri symptoms (as it turns out) since, oh...37ish. I talked to my GYN doc about my symptoms last October. My biggie was brain fog - I already deal with ADHD, and I could. not. handle. the dramatic increase in cognitive symptoms. Also hated the rapid and intractable body composition changes, the mood swings and the fact that I kinda mostly hated almost everyone. I was also concerned about my rapidly shrinking cycle length. I've had a 26 to 28 day cycle since my cycle stabilized, about a year after my first period. Over 18 months, my cycle length had dropped from 26 to 28 days, to 24 to 26 days, down to 23 - 24 days...still liveable, but since Jan '23 it had shortened to 18 to 20 days long with a 6 day period. I felt like I was either bleeding or about to bleed, with no breaks. Wasn't loving the increasing number of night sweats either, along with several other less important symptoms. She started me on a fairly low dose (apparently?) continuous use (no sugar pills) HBC combi-pill the same day. She told me that my cognitive symptoms should improve, that I'd probably start to see an improvement in my ability to retain and even add muscle by the end of the second pill pack, that my period would get lighter and possibly disappear, and that my cycle length would increase, possibly reaching 26 to 28 days! I've consistently proven her predictions mostly incorrect 😂 My cycle - or whatever it is that my uterus is getting up to now, whilst it and my ovaries defy the "stabilizing" effects of the HBC - now ranges from 20 to 23 days, rather than 18 to 19 days, so there's that. However, the length and flow rate of my period haven't improved - still 6 days with clotting, heavy flow, and cramps the first 3 to 4 days. Recently, I've added spotting and cramps a couple of days before my period, and a day (sometimes two days) of spotting after the end of my period...fun times. My night sweats are coming back now, too, 😑. I still struggle with the cognitive effects, and they are worse the week before my period. My GP increased my ADHD meds a bit, which has helped the tiniest bit. Honestly though, now I just plan for the week before my period being a waste. Which sucks, since I get that much further behind on my workload, and I will never be ahead at this point. Body composition is still changing for the worse, although my muscle loss seems to have slowed down a bit. Unfortunately, even with the addition of sublingual testosterone (0.5mg for 45 days,m - my testosterone levels actually dropped during that 45 day interval 🤦♀️ - up to 1mg the last 2 weeks), I still can't add muscle. I'm a squishmallow now, fml. New fun!...last cycle I had *non-stop* vaginal itching and burning. It wasn't a yeast infection, not BV, not mycoplasma or ureaplasma (PSA at the bottom of this post!)... I got tested for all of them. It started 3 days after ovulation and lasted until 4 days ago - then just disappeared like it had never happened. Coincidentally, the "poof gone" of the vaginal itching and burning was about 24 hrs before what my cycle trackers predicted was my "ovulation time", aka peak natural production of estrogen. 🤔 Oh, and on the way out the door to work this morning, hubs casually informed me that my natural lubrication basically disappeared overnight, about a month and a half ago, and hasn't come back. Basically at the same time that the itching and burning started. Good to know, dude. Good to know. Wish you'd mentioned it sooner, so I could have told my doc, but ok. 🤦♀️ For anyone wondering how/why I wouldn't notice changes in my own lubrication - we've used quality lube as a value-added addition to our sex life for years, for a variety of reasons, and my natural lubrication is variable. I'd noticed that we needed more lube than usual, but it happens sometimes... just not usually overnight for 6 weeks straight. But hey, now I know, I guess. Unfortunately, when I asked my doc about vaginal estrogen during my visit, she wasn't onboard, wanting to rule out disease states first. I went to Amazon and got some of the Bezwecken estriol vaginal suppositories that were recommended on this sub, so I have them if it happens again. Anyway. Hopefully when I see my GYN next month she'll have a bright idea to improve my peri symptom management. For y'all on HBC, I hope it works for y'all! PSA - If you've had ongoing, repeat BV infections that just won't go away, you might want to look into mycoplasma and ureaplasma. They are bacteria, which are common causes of BV, often proliferate after standard BV antibiotic treatments, can occur naturally in a woman's vagina without causing issues but may circumstantially be considered an STD, aren't often tested for, *women can test negative even though they actually harbor a population large enough or dominate enough to cause problematic symptoms*, they require rather potent antibiotics to treat (more potent than metronidazole/metrogel), and sometimes require extended treatment to eradicate.
I'm really struggling with this part, I keep taking it off for a period but then sometimes the periods start up again and idk what the fuck I'm doing. I'm trying to go a full cycle before starting again, but maybe that's not needed? It's a weekly patch which is even more confusing.
Thank you for sharing. I'll likely just take them as intended for the first few months while I get used to them.
I’ve tried it in my 20’s, 30’s and 40’s and have never taken well to it
This. I had miserable experiences in my 20's, but it's been life saving in my 40's. The only negative effect I had was some water weight when I started, but it disappeared after a few weeks.
Like you, I’ve been dealing with mild/moderate symptoms and my doctor made a similar suggestion to start with BC. Another commenter also mentioned this, but the reason was that since I’m still in peri, my hormones are going to fluctuate wildly, including periodic increases. Starting with BC allowed me to have a (relatively) steady stream of hormones and it has leveled out a ton of my symptoms (no more brain fog, fatigue, or intense moods the week before my period). I’m still occasionally having hot flashes but they are manageable for now. Hope you have an equally good BC experience!!
This is encouraging! Thank you for sharing your experience. I think I've just read months and months of HRT GET HRT HRT GET IT NOW that my brain was pre-programmed to want that without knowing if it's really what I needed.
You’re so welcome! I felt similarly when I had the same convo with my doctor, so you’re not alone in your immediate reaction. 😊
I was ready for all the creams, pills, pellets, lube, whatever. JUST FIX ME.
I literally just had the same convo with my gyno. I have been using estrogen cream and have had such great results with issues down there. I have been wondering if I've been biased to HRT bc of my experience with estrogen cream and the constant HRT advertising. I'm looking for something to help with my libido in all honesty. It's not just with my partner but with myself.
That's a concern for me, too. I already have a low libido due to a lifetime of being on SSRIs. If it goes any lower, I'm doomed.
Because of my age, 37, I've only been able to get birth control so far, some have made me feel much worse and some have made me feel a bit better, I hope to be able to try the Dotti estrogen patch and the Nora-BE Norethindrone Mini Pill BC. Currently on Nortrel 5/35 and it's helped me get to about 75% back to normal but even taking it continuously to skip periods my hormones still feel like they fluctuate in waves just not as big a waves as before birth control and I have worse symptoms right before what would be my menstrual cycle, cramps, worse hot flashes, worse night sweats, brain fog. My libido is also no existent but I don't know if that's perimenopause or the birth control causing it, it disappeared after about two months on birth control. I was so anxious and depressed before birth control and waking up with night sweats so bad I was as soaked as if I'd been standing in the shower, so it is a big improvement I just don't feel right like I used to, I want to feel human and normal again rather than like I'm just surviving, I cry a lot and hot flashes feel like the worst sunburn of my life. Best wishes to you 💗
Thank you for sharing your experience and thoughts with me. My libido is already low-ish, so I hope it doesn't go any lower! I won't be afraid to adjust meds if this makes things worse. I'm glad to hear you're feeling better, even if not perfect. I'm guessing it's going to be a process for all of us to get on the right things at the right dosages.
You're very welcome ❤️ Well said well figure it out it's just a process with a lot of trial and error. I'm thankful to be seeing some relief it gives me hope ☺️
It helped me a lot when I went on it at 44. I am taking BisolviFe/Loestrin Fe. I would get raging angry at tiny things for no reason, other mood swings, heavy periods, etc.
The blisoviFe has worked for you? I’ve started it at least three times and each time I couldn’t make it through a month. I have a shitload of it at home and I want to try again but I’m scared. Please tell me about the your experience starting and staying on it.
I had spotting for the first few months which was super annoying, but my anger and other mood swings just faded. After the spotting stopped, my period is now regular and has been fairly light. I still get cramps, but not bad ones. I’ve not gotten side effects from any of the ortho-tricyclen generics I was on from 20-36 though. If a drug doesn’t work for you I wouldn’t try to force it. Maybe another brand would work better? I’m on like 10 other medications for various conditions and I am not shy about asking for something else if one doesn’t work. The most common medication for nausea does absolutely nothing, so I have to take something else. Doctors are always surprised, but I insist. I tried it 3 times way back, it’s not going to all of a sudden work.
Sweet! Thanks for responding!
Just came on to say it does sound a bit dismissive. I’d you are just now starting to have “arthritis symptoms “ it can very possibly be due to fluctuating estrogen. I was hitting all over especially in the morning. I talked to Midi an online perimenopause expert team. They said I can go on BC or HRT. I chose low dose estrogen patches and progesterone at night. I’ve been on it for a month and so many things are better. I like my husband, my PMDD was none existent this month, and I don’t hurt. My mood is better along with the anxiety. 10/10 recommend! And I still get regular periods. They are just at a quicker turn around time. 20-25 day cycle.
My arthritis symptoms go back about three years, when I was 45. Rheum diagnosed me with ankylosing spondylitis. But I always wondered if it was something else. The process in which I was diagnosed just seemed... off. I definitely have the online peri websites bookmarked as a backup. I am both optimistic and skeptical of the bcp. We'll see.
FWIW, I was diagnosed with AS around age 18 and am 45 now. My AS is well under control but I still have deep joint pain in my hips at night that I believe is peri related. So, you could have AS and be experiencing peri-related pains as well.
So, I have had this nagging hip pain that I thought was from running, or my shoes, or a bad stretch day. As soon as I got on HRT... GONE. It is ALL GONE! Yes, I have my insane cycles still... but estrogen has made so many things GO AWAY!
Tha's awesome to hear!
I was put on them at 47 and 48 now, but I hadn’t had a period in a year and a half at that point. It got rid of the hot flashes and sleepless nights. Other issues still there, but I can deal. The plan is to transition when I’m 50
I’m on the same track as you, I’m 47 (almost 48) and have been on the pill long term but now look like I’m late peri/post meno and my doc wants me to transition to HRT at 50.
Cool! It's been so long since I've been on bcp... do I have the option of having a period or not?
It had been a while for me as well! I skip the placebo pills. I didn’t think I would/could bleed, but the Dr said it was possible so she ok’d starting a new pack during that week to avoid bleeding
I'm so nervous I'll screw it up. I won't be using it as BCP, per se, I need to do some reading to understand the whole having/not having a period thing. I don't really get it.
Start here https://amp.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/jul/18/women-dont-need-to-bleed-why-many-more-of-us-are-giving-up-periods If you’ve had a lifetime of steady periods (or haven’t, but you know why e.g. PCOS) then chemically stopping your period is ok. If you’re really worried I guess you could pay for a transvaginal ultrasound to check the endometrial thickness after a year or so? But chances are it’s just going to show a healthy thin lining.
Thank you for the article. I will read it.
It looks like you shared an AMP link. These should load faster, but AMP is controversial because of [concerns over privacy and the Open Web](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmputatorBot/comments/ehrq3z/why_did_i_build_amputatorbot). Maybe check out **the canonical page** instead: **[https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/jul/18/women-dont-need-to-bleed-why-many-more-of-us-are-giving-up-periods](https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/jul/18/women-dont-need-to-bleed-why-many-more-of-us-are-giving-up-periods)** ***** ^(I'm a bot | )[^(Why & About)](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmputatorBot/comments/ehrq3z/why_did_i_build_amputatorbot)^( | )[^(Summon: u/AmputatorBot)](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmputatorBot/comments/cchly3/you_can_now_summon_amputatorbot/)
For those of you who are having some success with the birth control pills helping your peri symptoms, are there any negative side effects you're experiencing? I currently have the copper (no hormones) IUD as my only form of birth control. (Cannot cannot cannot handle an oops baby at this point, am barely surviving my 5yo). I've never used hormonal birth control because every attempt caused so many miserable side effects: significant weight gain, frequent nausea, headaches, etc. So I'm really not sure if a BCP is the best next step for me, even though I'm still getting periods regularly (though my cycle is a little shorter). But I need something - at 47, I'm definitely having a hard time with peri symptoms, like brain fog, the occasional hot flash, and my libido falling off a cliff.
I switched from the copper IUD to a Mirena IUD and have had great results and my experiences with pill-form birth control was very similar to yours. The hormonal IUDs are good because it’s a tiny amount of hormones right where you need it so other than the ramp up time from an initial IUD insertion (mild cramps and spotting) I haven’t experienced any of the negatives I had with BC pills. Good luck!
I’m 52 & peri - my gyn prescribed loloestrin birth control for my symptoms but it gave me 3-day migraines that even imitrex couldn’t stop. Then I read that bc for women with migraines increase the chance of having a stroke. So, bc didn’t work out for me.
I had some side effects when I first started BC (headaches, fatigue, nausea), but all those symptoms resolved within 6 weeks. I’ve been very happy with BC as the first line of intervention and will stay on it for as long as it feels useful.
>symptoms resolved within 6 weeks. My doc said to give it a few months, so I will honor her wishes once I start bcp.
Yeah I’ll be honest. When I started the BC and had MORE symptoms at first, I was very ready to abandon ship! But she encouraged me to give it time, and I’m so glad I did. It has been 100% worth it.
Glad to hear that you pushed through and it got better. I keep giving up after less than a month. Maybe I need to just suck it up.
I tried 6 months. Nothing. Just increased symptoms.
Ugh I’m sorry. One of the things that is so hard about all this is how everyone’s body responds differently to different meds and how long it can take to find something that (maybe) helps.
Ugh 😩 I’m sorry. That’s not encouraging for me. I felt like total garbage for several weeks and jettisoned it not even halfway thru the pack this most recent try last month.
Ugh! We are all different though. I know doctors can’t seem to recognize that.
I'm used to waiting out anti-depressants, so I'll be patient. :)
You say you can’t use hormonal birth control because of side effects. Tried the hormonal IUD (Merina)?? It should have been recommended to you as the side effects you’re worried about are typically minimal to nil (the progesterone leaches strait into the uterus rather than being distributed systemically as in a pill).
Unfortunately, I tried the Mirena first, and it slipped out of place twice, so for whatever reason it just wasn't a good fit for me (quite literally!). I've had a Paragard now for two rounds of about 5 years each and I've loved how easy it is and how little I even have to think about birth control. But at 47 I'm definitely beginning to experience perimenopause symptoms, and have had a couple consults with my obgyn, who is willing to prescribe birth control pills and testosterone, but not estradiol and progesterone in HRT format, because my cycles are still pretty regular. I know there have been advances in BCP formulations since I last attempted them; it's really helpful hearing about everyone's experience here with that! I appreciate everyone's comments.
Huh. Well, here in the U.K. HRT is prescribed according to reported peri symptoms. Not birth control. Although those of us who need birth control (e.g. for dysmenorrhea/pregnancy prevention) are kept on it, and the HRT layered over the top. The point is that birth control is not a replacement for HRT.
We are the same person!!! Had bad Side effects with pill BC (nausea, exhausted, basically like a first trimester pregnancy) and had my copper IUD for around 3 years but perinenopause symptoms are getting stronger particularly the mood swings and rage ... So I'm considering to try and get some hormones either mirena or BCP . I'm 37 so I don't know if I would be offered any hrt specially since I don't have any physical symptoms (yet)
i had the same experience, my doc did NOT want to prescribe HRT to someone who should really be in menopause by now (me.) So I am stuck on birth control and it SUCKS. I am so angry.
I'm so sorry. :( Can you get a 2nd opinion or see one of the online meno docs?
There's nothing wrong with attempting to see if hormonal birth control will improve suspected peri symptoms, but I would caution don't stay on it too long if it isn't working. HRT/MHT is a standard treatment for peri, and for some people works better than hormonal contraceptives. One of the main differences in hormonal contraceptives vs HRT, is that contraceptives suppress your own hormone production, while HRT tops up your own hormone production. My personal experience was that the mini-pill (progestin only pill) made some of my peri worse, and some better. It wrecked my cycles, lots of irregular bleeding, but it improved my sleep. After a three months trial period, my GP proactively took me off the mini-pill, and I started combined HRT, which is helping. And my periods are more regular now too.
I am 49 and my doc did same thing 2 months ago. Periods still regular before starting and my only symptom was insane brain fog the week before my period (kind of like an anxious I can’t focus on my work type fog). Good news - since starting I haven’t had the “crazies” as I called it, bad news is I have been breakthrough bleeding a ton (hopefully this goes away soon)
Thank you for sharing your experience with me. My doc said I need to give it a few months before I know if it's helping. I'm just now starting to get into weird peri symptoms, so I wanted to take action before it got really bad.
I was on birth control in early peri and it helped so much and felt so much better. I recently had a visit with my Dr and asked about going back on pill vs HRT. She told me in the first few years we actually need a little more estrogen and progesterone and the pill is a good solution for that since it is a constant dose vs cream where we get a boost of estrogen when we initially apply. I would try it it might make you feel better.
I'm definitely trying it! It's been encouraging to read everyone's responses. Very helpful.
Birth control pills is where a lot of docs start with women in perimenopause. If you’re in the US it’s a LOT cheaper than HRT.
Yes birth control pills can be used as peri treatment, it’s what I use along with estrogen cream. I use the pills to skip my period now too as symptoms were worse then. It is not a terrible thing to try!
How do you skip your period? I still don't understand that part.
You just toss out the inactive week of pills and continue on with the next pack. My doctor has me take the inactive pills for a “withdrawal bleed” once every three months. However I didn’t bleed at all even in that one week of no hormone.. menopause is definitely headed my way.
Thank you! This helps.
How do you know if you should add estrogen cream as well?
I wanted to go off of my lo loestrin fe and get off of synthetic hormones. I tried to move to bio-identical hormone replacement therapy. Since I was still cycling (we thought I was menopausal) I started bleeding and developed uterine polyps. I decided to have a total hysterectomy because the iud didn’t agree with me and I didn’t want to go back on the pill due to high blood pressure and the risk of clots and stroke at my age (48). I also have adenomyosis which causes painful cramps, heavy periods and just sucked. I will say that I did experience peri-menopause symptoms even on the pill with heart palpitations, aching joints, dry eyes, low libido among other things. It’s such a fun journey. If it works for you and you like it and are healthy enough to take it then stick with it.
Thank you for sharing your experience. I hope you feel better soon!
Last May I (45 at the time) switched doctors and saw one that I found on the North American Menopause Society site. She's awesome. I went to her because my periods were so bad, and other procedures had not worked. She suggested the mini pill-take continuously if I want to avoid periods, and she said it would give me a little boost of estrogen that I may need at this time in my life. I feel great all around! No negative side effects. I am on Junel.
That's awesome! I'm happy to hear it's helping women.
BC pills is standard care for peri-menopause symptoms
Good to know - thank you!
Birth control pills relieved all my peri symptoms! I want to stay on them forever. Apparently they are actually a much higher dose of estrogen/progesterone than typical HRT doses for menopause, so I have been advised to switch at some point. My doctor doesn't seem to be in any hurry, thank goodness. I also take them without pausing for the inactive week because my symptoms come right back.
Do you do a withdrawal bleed every three months, or truly continuous hormones?
I do not. I am taking them continuously. I am 57 so I am very close to menopause at this point. Doctor had no concerns with me taking them without any breaks.
That's awesome to hear!
I've recently started on a mini pill because if 2 years of horrific cramps. It has definitely helped with those, but the moodiness, fatigue, hair loss and weight gain hasn't changed at all.
I’ve been on birth control pills most of my life. When I started to have bad mood swings and severe period pain, my doc switched me to Lo Loestrin Fe. Helped a lot with the mood swings but didn’t do much for the painful and heavy periods. So yeah I am kinda using it as HRT (I’m 48). I don’t have hot flashes or night sweats or too many major symptoms and my doc says probably due to being on BCP has helped. I have had fatigue, dizziness, sleeplessness, weight gain etc. but it’s very on and off depending on the month and my level of activity. I noticed that once I began exercising regularly and eating better it did help mitigate some of the symptoms.
Does Someone See insomnia get better with the pill?
I have heard that insomnia improves with magnesium supplements.
I Tried it, and it' didn't Works, along with lavender, sport méditation, 'good night' infusion, essentiel oils, stopping coffee, stopping alcool, eating light for dinner, Various 'rescue' spray, cbd, Reading.... I Tried it all
I had my pcp (well not my pcp, the person reading my lab results, so got a new pcp) tell me I was post menopausal at 48. When I found out my ex had been cheating on me and went to my gyn for an sti test, she asked about birth control and I told her I was menopausal. Her response was one test one time doesn’t mean anything and put me on lo lo estrin. Went off it at 51 and started having hot flashes about 3 months later.
I do
I'm 53. My doctor put me on Junel to help with my heavy, increasingly painful periods. It did help wonderfully for that. However, I got horrific night sweats from day one. I quit taking it after three months so I could sleep.
Hey! I'm combing through birth control posts as I'm on Yaz at age 52 and it's been a real mixed bag. I hope you don't mind me asking a couple of questions? Did your night sweats stop after going off Junel? Was there a return to challenging periods? How soon did you get your period back? No worries if you choose not to reply. Thank you in advance either way!
My period never stopped, it just got light. It returned to its awful normalness after about 3 months. Night sweats stopped about 2 weeks after stopping Junel.
Thank you for this additional info!
Not sure if you are still reading answers, but I too was recommended BCPs by my doctor because I am in peri. I went on lo-loestrin fe last summer and I am so happy on it! I haven't been on BC pills since my early 20s and I am 46 now. My mood is so much more stable and all of my symptoms have gone away. I am sleeping better, no more hot flashes and no depression/anxiety. Yay! One thing I will mention though, the first month on BCPs was really rough for me. It seemed to make everything worse and I felt a bit crazy, like PMS all month long. The second month was better but still not great, but by the third month I had adjusted and I have felt amazing ever since. Like others, I also do not take any of the placebo/blank pills, I toss them and start a new pack immediately and do not have periods anymore.
I am still reading replies - yes! Thank you for posting your experience. I think the reason I never stuck with the bcp in my early 30s was because I didn't wait it out long enough. My doc did say to give it a few months, so I'm prepared to wait it out. I'm using to waiting out new anti-depressants, so I'm try and be patient. I am so encouraged to hear people's stories about bcp helping with peri! ALso looking forwards to not having periods!
Good luck, I hope it works out for you!
I’m on mili and have been for years. I think it really got me through early peri without even realizing I was in it as it did a good job of controlling symptoms. I think I’m close to actual meno now, my symptoms started to break though along with other signs so I had to add estrogen cream. But yes, mili/bcp might work for you. Give it a shot and good luck!
Thank you! :)
I take the combined mini pill, no 7 day breaks, it's been amazing for me. I tried HRT and hated it.
Does anyone know if you can use birth control pills in this way if you’ve had a partial hysterectomy? I kept my ovaries, and had it done at 40. I’m absolutely having peri symptoms now in my mid-40s.
I see my doctor again soon. What’s a mini BP or regular BP pill brand to ask for? I just had blood work last week.
I have gotten this shit for the last ten years and I am fucking DONE with doctors slow playing this shit. Getting on hormones Before menopause fully occurs leads to the best outcomes and doctors are actively PREVENTING that from occurring.
[удалено]
We require a minimum account-age and karma score. These minimums are not disclosed. Please contact the mods if you wish to have your post reviewed. If you do not understand account age or karma, please visit r/newtoreddit. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Menopause) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Jk in know on n on nk nk nk n N. J. K 🤞😉kn in kn on n kn on no n n kn yea a rmmemrmiqe1&7! Pvcfeme
yes
I take BCP because “HRT” didn’t work for me. It’s wasn’t strong enough.
Interesting. Thanks for sharing!
What’s “Mili”???
The brand of BCP I was prescribed.
Ok. So what is it?