PMS Hell

[safeintheskies.livejournal.com]

So first a little background. I'm 24 and have been taking Cerazette for over 2 years. I suffer from M.E./CFS.

I started taking Cerazette for both birth control and to help ease hormonal headaches that i got every month. The pills stopped my periods pretty much completely, I would only have a very very light flow every 3 months or so and my headaches stopped completely.

About 6 months ago my periods started being heavier and more regular and my PMS was ridiculous. I was very teary, suffered mood swings and had stomach pains. Over the last 2 months I've had three periods ( of mid to heavy flow) and my PMS seems to never completely go away.

I've made an appointment with my Doctor to just double check nothing weird is going on but I thought I'd check with you guys to see what you think a) could have caused this and b) could help things go back to how they were. I have a feeling that my Doctor is going to suggest changing the Pill that I'm on and I don't really want that to happen seeing as Cerazette hasn't given me any of the side effects that other Pills have.

Help!

Comments

[archangelbeth]

Unfortunately, I think that changing pills might be the right thing to do. It's possible that your metabolism has changed enough that now it's the Cerazette that's making you feel PMSy and unhappy.

However, I would suggest getting your B-complex vitamins -- B12 especially, I think -- checked, to see if you have a deficiency. Sometimes normal PMS can be fixed, slowly, with extra B-vitamins. If your all-the-time "PMS" is due to your body not having enough of a certain vitamin (and I think HBC is known to potentially mess with the B vitamins a little; will re-dig up the .gov citations if requested), then replacing them might help.

While you're getting blood drawn, a ferritin test might not be out of the question, and my pet hobby-horse is keeping an eye on one's thyroid every few years. O:>

Good luck, and I hope that you can get a good solution!

[safeintheskies.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the advice! I've actually on regular B12 shots (due to my M.E.) so I would have thought its very unlikely I'm lacking in that but just getting some routine blood tests might be a good idea.

Yeah, I think I might just have to face facts and change pills. Grrr. I though I had it sussed!

[archangelbeth]

From what I've heard on VP, your body will still be changing -- especially hormonally -- all through your 20s. So maybe one of the other pills will work for you where it didn't before? *wry smile* Crossing fingers, anyway!