Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[nysue]

Anyone still taking BCP at age 52 ?

[sheila99]

What's BCP? The only thing that comes up is Google is business continuity plan but I assume it isn't that   

[nysue]

Birth controll pills

[Alicess]

Hi Nysue,

Yes, I'm still on BCP.  I'm 54.

Alicess

[nysue]

Hi Alicess , thank you for your answer . Are you taking the mini pill or the combined one ? What your dr. thinks about taking the pill at this age ?

[Alicess]

Hi Nysue,

I'm on a combined pill,  I've tried HRT but it gave me many symptoms I didn't have while on BCP.  My Dr. agrees as he has seen the state I'm in when on HRT or when I stop BCP.   If he had denied my prescription I would have ordered it online.  I choose quality of life and for some women HRT just isn' t the right treatment.

Alicess

[nysue]

Did your Dr. check your hormones , the ones for the menopause to see where you are ? Do you have to be off the BCP for that blood work ?

[Floo36]

I was taken off the low dose combined pill at 51 (jan 2019) by mid March I stopped sleeping completely and menopause symptoms kept ranking up until I became very ill.  I tried gel which I wasn’t absorbing.  I was put back on the lose dose pill in June this year (Only for respite) and only now starting to feel like my old self, although sleep has improved it isn’t quite there yet so yes I am now 52 and back on the pill albeit temporarily, just hope I can stay on it a while longer so I can be well for a while before trying HRT again. 

[Alicess]

Nysue, you have to stop the pill if you want to do blood work as the BCP surpresses your own hormones. But  from what I understand FSH levels aren't a reliable tool to know if you are in menopause. You can search for FSH- level on this forum ( in the search box).  Estradiol levels vary greatly from day to day and during the day so not so reliable either in my opinion. If you are on HRT you can check  your estradiol levels to know if you are absorbing enough estradiol.

Floo36, I became very ill too no matter which HRT I used.

Alicess

[nysue]

Yes that's what I was suppose to do come off the BCP to see where I am , have the blood work done. But now I kind of changed my mind little scared of stopping the pills since I have heavy bleeding for 2 days even while I'm taking them.
 My Dr. said if I get my period after stopping the pill she will prescribe the pill to continue taking them , if I don't get my period we will do the blood work for the hormones. But I don't think 1 month is enough to get the period on my own after stopping the pill , even if I would still get it . Right ? Doesn't it take longer for the body to adjust ?

[Alicess]

Nysue, If you take the pill back to back without a week in between and you have done this for a longer periode of time then it's possible you will have a breakthrough bleeding. It can happen if you take the pill continously. I understand you are worried but it's better to stop the pill for a week or so and see what happens. You will probably have a periode as you are already bleeding right now. If you do have a periode then you can start again.

I also think it takes longer then a month before your own hormones are back on track again. To be honest I would not take that chance because it can
take a long time before the pill surpresses your hormones again and you will probably have more menopause symptoms then before.

Alicess

[nysue]

I'm not taking the pill continously  its the 3 week on 1 week sugar pills. I'm on the week with no hormone pills right now that's why I have the period. I'm sorry if I wasn't clear enough.
And I have the heavy bleeding for usually 2 days during my period , every month. The Dr. told me the pills should help reducing the heavy bleeding slowly over time. And they did a little because I use to have heavy or heavier bleeding for more days years ago.

[Alicess]

Then I misunderstood your situation. Do you feel your cycle is controlled by the pill of do you have peri-or menopause symptoms? Is there a reason you take a week off every month? Which BCP are you on right now?

[nysue]

I was always taking the pill (I'm taking Tri-nessa ) this way, the DR. never offered me to take it continously and unfortunately I never thought of that . I'm not sure if the pill causes them or the pill actually helps not to have these things even stronger but I have sometime dizziness, weakness , shakiness and I have headaches . I experience some kind of "warm moments" too I wouldn't call them hot flashes ( they are not like I read how they feel ) but I definitely didn't have these warm episodes when I was younger.

[Alicess]

If I understand correctly Trinessa is a thriphasic pill so the amount of estrogen  (ethinylestradiol) stays the same but the progestin dosage changes during those three weeks. Then you can't take it continously.

The symptoms you describe could be peri- of menopause symptoms or simply caused because you don't have a steady amount of hormones due to the different amounts of progestin and because you have a break each month. If you are 52 then your own hormones fluctuate more and you may feel better if you take a pill with the same amount of hormones every day so it surpresses the fluctuations. And that way you don't need a break every time.
 I think it's not easy for your body to have such heavy bleeding.