BC pills and Crohn's

I've decided to stop taking Loestrin BC pills, and I was wondering if any of you have done the same and what kind of side effects there are on your Crohn's symptoms? I heard it makes some worse and some better, but I am apprehensive about what will happen.
I started them last year during the summer.
Also, just wondering if there are any other side effects. I heard you can gt horrible acne even if you didn't have it before, but my skin is generally drier anyway and it's not like I'm eating junk food to exacerbate any skin skin problems...

I stopped taking BC pills after using them for about six years. At the time I was not officially diagnosed with Crohn's yet. I don't think it had an effect. My GI symptoms improved for about five months, then I ended up sick--which was more related to pigging out over the Thanksgiving holiday.

I did notice that my mood improved after getting off the pills. I had no change in acne. Only down side is that after a while, maybe almost a year, pre-menstrual cramping was back to the same severity as before I was on the pills. One person I know experienced significant weight loss after stopping, but I think it is uneventful for most women.

pb4-You mean going off them made your symptoms worse or staying on them?

Also, I don't really know what to take for that kind of pain when it gets to be that time of the month. I've usually just toughed it out, but lately I have lower tolerance for the pain. Mainly because I like to know if it's something to worry about or if it's the body's natural way of saying it 'works.' Is pamprin safe?

LMills said...
pb4-You mean going off them made your symptoms worse or staying on them?

Also, I don't really know what to take for that kind of pain when it gets to be that time of the month. I've usually just toughed it out, but lately I have lower tolerance for the pain. Mainly because I like to know if it's something to worry about or if it's the body's natural way of saying it 'works.' Is pamprin safe?

Maybe you could try paracetamol for the pain? I take it because my doctor told me it wasn't going to be as hard on my CD as other painkillers. I try to stay away from any other painkiller. The problem is that paracetamol might not be strong enough for you. But maybe you could try it, I think you can take like 8 pills a day or something like that. Try it and see if it helps at all. I hope it does because any other painkiller just doesn't have a good affect on CD...

I just have to say once again that the doctors in Europe (the ones that know what CD is and deal with it - I stress this because not every GI knows enough about CD as we all know) strongly advise that women with CD don't take birth control pills because they mess with you hormones and with CD it's just not ok. I just think there's a pretty good reason why they say this. Don't kill me for saying this hehe.

I must be a strange one then, because the hormones made life much happier/healthier for me. I have had a complete hysterectomy and take a estrogen replacement and I have no probs with that either. I guess it shows the individualism of the disease.

I've been various forms of BC (from microgestin, to nuvaring, to orth tri cyclen lo, etc etc) since I was 16 (never got my period so it had to be induced) and am now on Yaz. Since I've never been off of it nor do I plan to soon, I haven't been able to notice any difference with symptoms. But I would guess that it doesn't affect me, though my mood swings has been a bit worse the past couple months.

Ive been on loestrin for a few years now and i love it, mostly because without it my period doesnt always come. I dont really suffer any side effects from it, no more acne than usual. i didnt notice any change at all in crohns symptoms either. I say give it a shot, and if something gets worse you can always stop the pill

hope it works out =)

I started my periods when I was 10 (lucky me!) 5 years before I was diagnosed, every month I'd have to do have about 3 days off school as my periods were agony and would also cause stomach upset, with hindsight we know now that was probably the Crohn's, I was put on the pill at 12 to help control it and things settled down amazingly. I stopped the pill when I got diagnosed (was just to ill to bother with remembering it) and was then too underweight to get periods for about a year. I then went back on the pill but I hated the withdrawal period as it became painful when I bled and got lovely D, and then I was recommended either the injection or the implant by the family planning nurse was also concerned that I may not be able to absorb the pill properly as apparently with IBD things like the morning after pill doesn't work. I didn't go for the injection due to my arthritis as it can apparently cause bone and joint problems and I didn't like the idea that once its in you its stuck for 3 months so if it didn't agree with me I'd have to wait it out! 

I got the implanon implant 2 and half years ago and its been brilliant, apparently when you look at all the different types of birth control and the hormone levels in your body on a graph it would like:
The pill - jaggedy line - hormones fluctuating according to breaks etc

The injection - diagonal line from up to down - hormone levels going from high to way down and then back up again when next jab issued.

The implant - one long straight line - hormone rate very steady

I may not have explained that very well but thats pretty much how the FP lady explained it and apparently its the steadiness of the implant which makes it good as your hormones aren't all over the place so your moods and everything stay steady and the best bit - no periods for the majority! But for me its been brilliant, especially as my stomachs always been very reactive to my mood and as a once bad PMS sufferer I don't think my poor tum would be able to handle PMS emotions!!

I just had the mirena removed. Not due to crohns. Had a horrible flare shortly after it was put in but otherwise fine. However, I wanted it in to help control hormones more than anything and the birth control part was fine too because we weren't sure if we wanted anymore children.

I had lighter periods with it but didn't notice it controlling my hormones. Anyways, I had it removed because I was sick of wondering if different hormone issues I have been experiening were caused from the Mirena, the birth of twins 15 months ago, or my crohns meds. My husband is scheduled for a vasectomy. I feel better eliminating one more thing that has possible side effects. I have had more zits in the last 8 months then I have had in my whole life. That was another reason I had the Mirena put in. It didn't help so I still have a lot of zits:)

Good Luck! I will keep you posted if my crohns symptoms get worse in the next few weeks.

Sally

Post Edited (SallyC) : 2/10/2009 7:23:34 PM (GMT-7)

The pill helps me with my Crohn's actually. I always had more cramping up and D around that time of the month. Now I don't. I also skip all my periods (I have them twice a year), which can help me since I have had blood loss with my Crohn's in the past. I've been on it for many years also due to ovarian cysts.