Anonymous Post: Headaches while on/coming off BC

[viellen]

Hi! As you probably know, from time to time the VP Team makes posts on behalf of people who wish to remain anonymous or who do not have LJ accounts. This is one such post. Thanks in advance for your helpful comments!

P.S. For more info on anonymous posts, see this link.

-Rebecca
For the VP Team
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When I started at university one of the doctors there put me on HBC (Levlen ED, if it makes a difference - it's monophasic) and after the first packet I started having really strong headaches, which were bad enough to interfere with my vision and best fit with a description of 'headsplitting'. When I went back to the doctor she was like "are you on the pill?" When I said yes she was just like "oh that wouldn't be causing it."
After six or seven months of this (and after I got glasses and had a CAT scan) I went off the HBC pills and the headaches decreased in both severity and frequency, leading me to believe that yes, maybe it did have something to do with the headaches after all.

I've been doing some poking around and found that sometimes people are allergic to the inactive ingredients in HBC tablets, and that some people who are lactose-intolerant need to use non-oral contraceptives. I'm allergic to milk and some milk products, but not exactly lactose-intolerant.
- Would it be okay for me to go on a different brand of HBC? I know that there's probably going to be some kind of side-effect anyway if I do, but is it worth the effort of finding one that doesn't contain lactose?
- What other kinds of BC are available and effective for people who've had trouble with the Pill? I actually live in Australia, where I understand it's not so common to be on non-oral forms of BC.
- How can I bring this up with my new doctor in a way that doesn't make her think I'm crazy?

FYI, the reason I'm interested in going back on BC because I have a horribly unpredictable cycle (between 35 and 50 days with a 20 day one every eight months or so) and on the longer cycles I have a few days in the middle where I feel like I'm on my period even though I'm not - regulating this would be really, really nice.

Thank you!!

Comments

[archangelbeth]

This is where I trot out my hobbyhorse, yes? Menstrual irregularities being about the only sign I might have noticed -- though, heh, I didn't -- of my own hypothyroidism.

Being allergic to milk does suggest that it might be better to try a pill or HBC that doesn't use lactose-based products. (Is NuvaRing available in Australia?)

I'd bring it up with the doctor by saying, "I'm sensitive to milk and some milk products -- when I was on Levlen ED, I started getting awful headaches, perhaps migraine-like. I'd like to try a different form of HBC that doesn't have any lactose in the inactive ingredients, or perhaps not even an oral HBC at all, to avoid the migraine-like pain. What can you prescribe for me?" (I'm a pushy US person, mind, so if the doctor poo-pooed me, I'd be letting my fingers wander through the yellow pages for a new doc.)

[emilia-romagna.livejournal.com]

Since you're actually allergic to dairy, and not simply lactose intolerant (which are two very different processes), I think it would definately be worth it to find a pill that doesn't have lactose. Continual exposure to an allergen can make you pretty sick, and can actually make your allergy worse over time.

Also, sounds to me that your headaches were due to the hbc, but a different brand (without lactose) might not trigger them. Good luck!

[dayglow.livejournal.com]

The sex educator in me says 'omg wut.'

One of the things we stress in our presentations is that, if while on HBC, you have severe abdominal pain, chest pain, headaches, eye problems, or swelling (especially in the leg area) you should get it checked out because it may be due to the HBC and be a serious problem like blood clots.

I don't know expressly if your headaches were due to your milk allergy or not, but finding a lactose-free HBC is a good start. If you get massively horrid headaches again then I would guess that it's the horomones and not the lactose that's causing it.

Good luck!

[hexvenus.livejournal.com]

As another Australian, who also gets severe headaches while on the Pill - doctors here don't seem to think it that big a deal.

To the OP... your other options are the Depo Shot, NuvaRing, IUD (Mirena is the most popular in Aus) or the Implanon Implant.

Good Luck.