If you have never had regular periods, I'd suggest looking into some tests of your underlying metabolism. In particular, thyroid issues and PCOS. Thyroid issues, in particular, can be exacerbated by being on HBC -- a healthy thyroid can compensate for the fact that HBC interferes with the ability of the body to use thyroid hormones (it just produces more T4 and/or T3), but if you were hypothyroid or borderline hypothyroid, the thyroid gland wouldn't be able to compensate. (Hypothyroid people often have to raise their dose of replacement hormone if they use HBC.)
I'm hypothyroid, so I know a lot more about it... Symptoms can include depression, brainfog, constant fatigue/drowsiness, weight gain, irregular and/or heavy periods, sensitivity to cold/feeling cold, muscle aches, hair loss, weak fingernails, and a number of other potential issues. (I had irregular periods, which I thought were "just normal"; cold sensitivity, which I thought was "I'm from Texas, living up in New England"; and a constant fatigue, which I thought was "just lazy." I am also lazy, but never knew that other people didn't have a black pit of fatigue behind their eyelids, waiting to suck them down...)
PCOS is PolyCystic Ovarian Syndrome, I believe. One of the things that it can do is cause insulin resistance. (Which can cause weight issues.)
It's possible that your body has just regulated itself now, with regards to the periods, and you don't have either issue -- HBC can, for some people, cause weight issues just from how the body reacts to it, and/or if you had disordered eating habits, your body may have been in a "there is a famine going on; must store food whenever possible!" mode. However, because I was diagnosed with my thyroid issues only because my mom pestered me into it (I had a kid! Of course I was exhausted all the time!), and she was diagnosed by sheer accident... If you haven't had a doctor check for thyroid issues and insulin resistance, I'd suggest that you do so -- HBC can mask the irregular period part of those issues, but it does nothing (or worse than nothing) for the underlying conditions, which can take a toll on the rest of your body.
(For thyroid: make them give you the numbers! Your TSH should, ideally, be between about .4 and 4 -- or no higher than 3 if you have enough symptoms to be suspicious. If only a little higher, you may want an antibodies test to rule out the hugely most-common cause of thyroid issues, which is that one's immune system decides thyroid has phat lewts and goes to sack the thyroid castle.)
If you don't have either of those issues, then shopping around for a pill that suits you (or looking into IUDs, perhaps) would be my suggestion. If you do have either of those issues, then you would probably do better figuring out how to handle the underlying conditions first (stabilizing a dose of replacement hormones for thyroid; diet changes for PCOS? I don't know PCOS very well) -- and then trying HBC to find one that would suit you.
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Date: 2010-07-18 01:20 pm (UTC)I'm hypothyroid, so I know a lot more about it... Symptoms can include depression, brainfog, constant fatigue/drowsiness, weight gain, irregular and/or heavy periods, sensitivity to cold/feeling cold, muscle aches, hair loss, weak fingernails, and a number of other potential issues. (I had irregular periods, which I thought were "just normal"; cold sensitivity, which I thought was "I'm from Texas, living up in New England"; and a constant fatigue, which I thought was "just lazy." I am also lazy, but never knew that other people didn't have a black pit of fatigue behind their eyelids, waiting to suck them down...)
PCOS is PolyCystic Ovarian Syndrome, I believe. One of the things that it can do is cause insulin resistance. (Which can cause weight issues.)
It's possible that your body has just regulated itself now, with regards to the periods, and you don't have either issue -- HBC can, for some people, cause weight issues just from how the body reacts to it, and/or if you had disordered eating habits, your body may have been in a "there is a famine going on; must store food whenever possible!" mode. However, because I was diagnosed with my thyroid issues only because my mom pestered me into it (I had a kid! Of course I was exhausted all the time!), and she was diagnosed by sheer accident... If you haven't had a doctor check for thyroid issues and insulin resistance, I'd suggest that you do so -- HBC can mask the irregular period part of those issues, but it does nothing (or worse than nothing) for the underlying conditions, which can take a toll on the rest of your body.
(For thyroid: make them give you the numbers! Your TSH should, ideally, be between about .4 and 4 -- or no higher than 3 if you have enough symptoms to be suspicious. If only a little higher, you may want an antibodies test to rule out the hugely most-common cause of thyroid issues, which is that one's immune system decides thyroid has phat lewts and goes to sack the thyroid castle.)
If you don't have either of those issues, then shopping around for a pill that suits you (or looking into IUDs, perhaps) would be my suggestion. If you do have either of those issues, then you would probably do better figuring out how to handle the underlying conditions first (stabilizing a dose of replacement hormones for thyroid; diet changes for PCOS? I don't know PCOS very well) -- and then trying HBC to find one that would suit you.
I hope this is of use to you! Good luck!