vaginapagina | Can this be an allergic reaction to hormonal birth control?

Help me, VaginaPagina! You're my only hope!
This is the quick and messy run down of a really bad issue I've been having. It's a bit long, but it involves potential HBC allergies and BV/Yeast infection problem! Please help!

Three years ago, my first partner and I decided that sex would be a lot more intimate without condoms so I started to take Alesse. At the same time, I was experiencing bad bouts of stomach pain, throwing up a lot, and would get a very dry and irritated vulva. I'd often have yeast infections, pain during sex (and believe me, I'm someone who can get wet so lubrication wasn't an issue) and multiple UTIs. So I stopped taking Alesse, tried the Depro shot (got worse!) so... we continued with condoms.

Fast forward to now: my current boyfriend and I decided that it would be a lot more intimate and spontaneous (also, more cost effective) for us to have me on birth control. Over the summer and the fall, I tried to go back on Alesse only to start throwing up again and getting bad yeast infections (we weren't intimate then).
Feb 10, I had to take 5 Alesse pills since the condom broke (I wasn't too worried since I was still on my period). On Feb 12, I started the Ortho Evra patch (my gyno was sure this would fix my throwing-up problem with HBC). The very next night I noticed funky discharge (greenish/yellow in the undies). No real smell, but nothing that had a totally offensive scent. I picked up CanesOral and prayed it would go away. I was also swollen where I assume my ovaries are located. My hair has also started to fall out a lot (especially eyelashes... noooo!).

It didn't get better, the itchiness actually got worse and since then I've been taking at least 1.5 billion probiotic cultures (two pills and tons of yoghurt), folic acid, vitamin c, using hydrogen peroxide, apple cider vinegar, anti-fungal creams, hydrocortisone cream, and RePhresh cream. (Obviously not ALL at the same time.) I have NOT had sex since Feb 10th.

Tuesday Feb 21st: Another trip to my doctor, and he said there was no obvious signs of infection (either BV/YI), no smells and it just seemed irritated. He prescribed me another CanesOral and antibiotic (amoxicillin for 7 days) to see if we could cure this before our next meeting (March 15th). It didn't really help (yet).

Only today did I think to remove the patch, and I haven't been having such intense pain, but my vulva is still itchy wherever there's hair. Also, that muscle inside the vagina (the lumpy one that you can see in the mirror) is sore.

Can anyone help me? Direct me somewhere? Is this a potential HBC allergy? Could my pubic hair be making this worse (I was letting it grow out to wax it but I usually shave)? I usually get irritation during my period too, so I usually stick to tampons to keep my vulva from wanting to cry.

(I'm 21, by the way.)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It sounds like HBC is not good for you at this time. I'd suggest ditching it again, and looking at what the ingredients are in the two that you've tried... Though Depo is progesterone-only, so it's probably the excess progesterone doing it -- you might do better on a different form, but if Depo, Alesse, and the patch all have different types of synthetic progesterone, it's probably just that your body does not like synthetic progesterone, full-stop.

You probably, at this point, want to look into non-hormonal forms of contraception, such as the Paragard (copper) IUD...

Good luck!

(Also, I'd suggest getting your ferritin and thyroid checked; eyelash loss can be how your body reacts to hormones, but it can also signify that there's something borderline with your thyroid or ferritin, that is exacerbated into becoming symptomatic when you're on HBC.)

Thank you so much for your reply!
I'm due for a thyroid check, because of suspicious thyroid size and abnormal menstruation.
The synthetic progesterone intolerance, is that something people can experience? Is it a rare occurrence?
Also, I'm wondering how long the hormones will take to get out of my body? The itchiness is getting better but not entirely solved. I tried the hydrogen peroxide rinsing again, which only makes it worse. Does that rule out a possible infection?

There are plenty of people who have bad reactions to synthetic hormones. Some people only experience bad reactions with certain progesterones, while others can't tolerate any of them.

I'd suggest taking an antihistamine -- it's not likely to hurt, and if it's an allergic reaction, it may help greatly. If so, then it's a reaction, not an infection...

This x1000!!!

it sounds like a reaction to the synthetic hormones, absolutely.

and you can be allergic to ANYthing. trust me. i'm allergic to most types of synthetic insulin, and i have to use insulin as a diabetic.

Oh yikes! Do you need to keep yourself to a specific type of insulin? That must be really tough on you!

Yes, I've only found 2 I can use, but as I'm going on 5 months now, I think I'm ok. :)

Being hospitalized 4 times for allergic reaction was no fun whatsoever. I'm on permanent antihistamines because of it!

Oh yikes! I'm sorry to hear that! :

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Yeah, I was told that the Alesse would be better because it's apparently the lowest dose on the market (or something like that). I think for the moment, condoms are okay with us. Luckily I don't get any kind of reaction to them and we can share the costs of them too.
Also, doesn't the NuvaRing have side effects of vaginal infections?

I was on NuvaRing for a good long while and I had no infections. Honestly, I don't know how Nuvaring alone could cause you to develop any infection based on the material it's made of. However, I'm not an expert! I'm just saying from my personal experience, I had zero infections. Every BC has a list of horrible side effects, but in the end, it always affects every woman differently.

It truly does depend on the person, totally. I stopped the NuvaRing after 3 months because I couldn't take the constant yeast infections any more. For me, it was less about the material and more about how the delivery system seemed to change the pH of my vagina.

Were your cycles regular when you were off birth control? You may want to investigate the Fertility Awareness Method. There's a book called Taking Charge of Your Fertility which you may want to check out.

Unfortunately, my cycles aren't really regular. They would be, and then BAM they totally switch days.
But if they do, I totally will check it out!

Do you take a multivitamin? Hormonal birth control can zap your body of some essential vitamins, like B6 and B12. For me, I felt a huge difference in how my body reacted to hbc once I added a multivitamin. I had severely itchy skin that my doctor believes was caused by a vitamin B6 deficiency (caused by the pill and my less-than-perfect diet). Taking a multivitamin has really helped with that. I have also read of people experiencing hair loss from hbc (it's a surprisingly common side effect that they don't mention in the tv ads!) who were able to stop it with increased vitamins in their diet.

I'm definitively going to try that out, thank you! My diet isn't perfect (hello Reese's Mini Peanut Butter Cups!) so I'm definitively going to try that out too! Thank you!

Just seconding the "it sounds like you should not use hormonal birth control" opinion.

Ummmm, okay, I'm gonna be the devil's advocate here for a second and say the -other- thing that might be more intimate and spontaneous would be for HIM to be on birth control -- he could have a vasectomy. I have trouble myself with many forms of birth control (latex + spermicide allergy, migraines from HBC) and it burns my biscuits that when people think about condomless sex, we so often think about women doing things to -their- bodies. We physically bear the cost of that desire for intimacy.

All of that said? In most of my relationships I would have sooner died than ask Manfriends to have vasectomies. Now, however, I am old and cranky and I am perfectly comfortable demanding my partners accept some of the physical burden of condom-free birth control.

FAM is a super-helpful thing as a 'backup' to condoms. I used it in conjunction with condoms (condoms when I was fertile) for six years or so and never had an unplanned pregnancy. I continued to use it so that the -one- poorly-timed condom failure I had could be addressed with Plan B.

As to immediate symptoms, I wonder if a simple antihistamine, like Benadryl, would give you some relief from the itchies while the stuff works its way out of your system? What do you think?

TL;DR: Vasectomy. Maybe a Paragard IUD (check out 'iud-divas'). Benadryl. Many sympathies.

This is to dkwgdk (it wasn't letting me post directly to you)
A vasectomy would be an excellent solution, except that he's very young (19), and we both still live at home. Other than that, that would be a fantastic solution.
Do you only rely on FAM when you're not fertile? This is sounding very interesting, and frankly quite reliable?
Antihistamines have given me some relief, it's kind of taken the burn off the itch. I still have some itching (especially at the entrance), but it's been so much better.
And really, if anyone is having pain like this... try some tea tree oil diluted with cold water on your itchy bits! Instant relief.

Can this be an allergic reaction to hormonal birth control?

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