PMS, delayed period, pill+cancer?

[laifan.livejournal.com]

Hey people! I'm posting here for a change. So, I have quite a few questions. First of all some background: I'm 22 years old and still a virgin. I have no active sex life at all.

My family doctor perscribed me the pill (diane) when I was 14 because I had intense flow during my periods. I got off it only a few months ago and in those first months my periods were always regular, always appeared on the same day. However, this month it's been a couple of days since it should have appeared and nothing. Also, I'm starting to experience PMS each month, which didn't use to happen while I was on the pill. I'm currently taking Sertraline for depression - think this could be related? I've been taking that antidepressant for over a year now, due to a bad depression I had in 08. I usually use tampons and I was kinda worried for a while that I could have forgotten one in there but I disregarded that cuz I figure if I had, I'd be doubled over in pain by now (if leaving a bit of the plastic there is uncomfortable like hell, I wonder what a whole tampon feels like...)

Also, I read in the leaflet that comes with the pill that it's unadvisable for people with cancer historial in the family to take the pill. I took it for eight years and my mom died of cancer when I was a child - do you think it could have been bad for me? Not that I have noticed anything out of ordinary with my breasts or period besides what I told you. Also, could you point me out some vitamins that can help you with PMS during that week? It doesn't have to be something strong since I'm on Sertraline too. Just, somedays I feel like crawling up the walls or just drown myself. I hate this =_=

Thanks in advance for any help!

Comments

[archangelbeth]

For PMS, I take a B-complex above and beyond my multivitamin, 4-5 days out of the week. (I also take an extra 1,000 units of D, same schedule, which keeps me from getting sick so much. Some people get energy from D, too.)

Do you think you have a permanent depression situation? If not, it might be worth weaning off -- though of course talk to your doctor about it! (Quitting antidepressants cold turkey is generally bad as it messes up the brain chemistry more. Antidepressants pretty much always need to be stepped down gradually.)

I don't know about the cancer thing -- but there are other VPers who are better with that data than I am.

Good luck!

[laifan.livejournal.com]

Hm maybe I'll get some vitamins too. I have some that my dad used to buy me but I stopped taking them. They're called Centrum. Think that would work if I took them during this 'special' week?

Yeah, on the last appointment some months ago she started lowing the dosage but this has to be very slow so not to trigger another phase.

Yeah it always confused me cuz my doctor said that that was false info but then I read about that somewhere else so if everything's full of contradicting opinions, doesn't help much =/

Thanks =)

[archangelbeth]

The thing about B for PMS is that it's not just during that week, and it's not just during PMS week. You pretty much have to take it month-round. Also, it acts slowly -- the first month I started taking it was a weird delayed-period-from-stress month, so it was really the second month before I could tell what was up, and the frequency and severity of my depressive incidences was noticeably lower. They weren't gone, not by a long shot! But I could tell they weren't as bad.

I've been taking them for over a year now, and while I am a bit more short-tempered, I don't have hardly any depressive PMS reactions now.

Also, Centrum is probably a multivitamin. While a multivitamin is better than nothing, I take a multivitamin and a B-complex. (And D, and sometimes some Lysine, and occasionally a probiotic capsule or two. I try not to goggle at the number of pills in my hand, since they look kind of intimidating all at once. But they're all helpful, or at least not harmful (the Lysine and the Probiotics), so...)


Crossing fingers that the weaning process goes well!


There's a lot of stuff about cancer risks and HBC. I think it's supposed to slightly raise some chances, but lowers other kinds (ovarian, IIRC), so it's kind of a case where one has to dredge through data until one feels able to make a choice for oneself. (Googling tip: when doing a search on medical stuff, always include site:gov in your string to search on. This weeds out a huge number of the iffier sites.) The pill leaflet is probably covering its backside so the company doesn't get sued over some teeny-tiny increased chance -- there are so many people taking HBC that even a teeny-tiny chance has a statistical probability of coming back to bite them.

I hope that's helpful!

[laifan.livejournal.com]

Hm it does! Thank you!

[kirstenlouise.livejournal.com]

From the American Cancer Society (http://www.cancer.org/docroot/cri/content/cri_2_4_2x_what_are_the_risk_factors_for_breast_cancer_5.asp): "Simply being a woman is the main risk factor for developing breast cancer. Although women have many more breast cells than men, the main reason they develop more breast cancer is because their breast cells are constantly exposed to the growth-promoting effects of the female hormones estrogen and progesterone. Men can develop breast cancer, but this disease is about 100 times more common among women than men." [emphasis mine]

Birth control pills contain estrogen and synthetic progesterone, boosting the levels already in your system and thus increasing your risk for breast cancer.

That doesn't necessarily mean you need to worry, though. I don't know what the rates are, admittedly, but even if taking the pill increased your chances by 100 fold, if they were only, say, 1/100,000 to begin with, that's only a 1/1000 chance. Needless to say, that's not very much, but it all depends on what you start with.

[laifan.livejournal.com]

Hm thanks for the info.

[fireaphid.livejournal.com]

Firstly, I don't think you should be worried about your period being a little late in the months after discontinuing hormonal birth control, especially if you're not sexually active. If you go more than 3 months without a period, then see a doctor, but a few days late, even with a history of regularity, is not a sign of anything serious. I agree with archangelbeth that a B-vitamin supplement (not just a multivitamin) throughout the month should help with your PMS.

I don't know what kind of cancer your mother had, but birth control is only related to a few types. It slightly decreases your chances of ovarian and uterine cancer but slightly increases your chances of cervical and breast cancer. The increase is not as large as the risk presented by pregnancy, if that gives you an idea of how slight it is.

In the case of breast cancer, the risk returns to that of the general population within ten years of discontinuing pill use, so unless you have a family history of particularly aggressive breast cancers that occur before menopause, it's unimaginably unlikely that the pill could affect your chances of developing breast cancer.

And when it comes to cervical cancer, the tie to hormonal birth control is indirect; the cancer is caused by a sexually transmitted virus, and pill users are less likely to protect themselves with barriers because they don't need further contraception, so they have higher rates of the virus. Not that it's an issue now if you're still a virgin, but the best way to protect yourself from cervical cancer is to get regular Pap screenings once you're sexually active.

Hopefully this answers your questions about cancer and the pill!

[laifan.livejournal.com]

She had breast cancer and she wasn't in menopause yet. Hm I don't know of any other breast cancer in the family, but I had a grandfather who had colon cancer I think and some other uncle I didn't know who had cancer too.

Thanks~