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Teenage menstral cycle, any ideas?

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 5/28/2018 9:21 AM (GMT 0)
Hi All, I just wondered if any mother’s had any experience dealing with teenage hormones ☹️ My daughter has been off prednisone and symptom free for about 2weeks now on Pentasa and SolaFalk enemas - I am fairly sure she is in UC remission but haven’t officially been told that by anybody. So my query relates to her hormones, she is a nightmare around her period with PMS and suffers quite a lot with heavy bleeding though it doesn’t seem to effect her UC in anyway. She is so bad in fact that we planned to see about birth control pills to see if that May level her hormone out a bit and keep things a bit more “neutral” but it doesn’t look like it would be the best idea with UC (I should add I am fairly sure it was a course of anti-biopics that caused her initial flare). Has anybody got a way of dealing with excessive hormones that won’t risk her remission? Was thinking evening primrose? Though she can be difficult to live with I would definitely take that over any risk of a UC flare!!
Posted 5/28/2018 3:02 PM (GMT 0)
I have taken birth control for quite a while, and it's easy to relate it to UC symptoms, or progression, but I am not sure there is too much evidence. On the other hand, as I've gotten older, I've become more concerned about the side effects of the birth control pills themselves, estrogen and UC, and DVT are all linked. I have migraines too, that's three things that make me too nervous to take estrogen. I got an IUD, which doesn't really help with hormonal imbalance as much, but it does stop or lessen your period. I love not taking any pills. In her case, she's young. Do you live in a place where you have access to cerazette? We don't have it in the US but i've ordered from overseas and I loved it. It's a minipill, no estrogen, but no period as well. It worked great for me. I'd still take it if getting it wasn't a hassle. There's also a prescription I used to take called sarafem that people take for PMDD - might be worth looking into if you think it's PMDD. Primrose might be worth a try too. I feel like we were all hot-headed at that age. smhair
Posted 5/28/2018 5:53 PM (GMT 0)
I was on BCP for 17 years before UC reared its ugly head and I continue to take it. If anything, it lessens the impact of the GI effects (read: I tend to have a lot of BMs around my period and always have) of my period because I don't get a period half the time, and the other half is super mild.
Posted 5/29/2018 5:54 AM (GMT 0)
I guess it's worth a try but it might not work for everybody. For me, hormones (birth control) did nothing. When I flare, my periods are actually shorter than when I'm in remission. I guess my body just can't deal with it.

How exactly is she difficult to live with?
Posted 5/29/2018 6:06 AM (GMT 0)
Thanks for the replies, I will speak to the GP and see what he thinks, I would like to try it for her sake but not if there is any risk at all to her UC! 😊
Posted 5/29/2018 4:59 PM (GMT 0)
I’m fairly sure a friend of mine used to take the supplement called Maca to balance out hormones. In fact theirs quite a few vitamin type things that will help if you want to try something before birth control.
I don’t have much experience with UC. I did go on birth control at a fairly young age due to quite bad acne. I came off it quite sometime ago now as it started to not agree with me and I felt 10+ years was enough.
But as a teenage girl I remember being very hormonal, so that could be nothing to do with the meds. Just mother nature’s little treat to us mums, haha.
Also I can say that my monthly visit doesn’t seem to effect my UC at all.
Hope you guys get fixed up X
Posted 5/30/2018 9:47 AM (GMT 0)
Thanks, am going to look into supplements instead. Its weighing up whether she's suffering enough to risk upsetting her UC or it to be honest and I would rather we didn't!!
Posted 5/30/2018 3:19 PM (GMT 0)
I am taking the mini-pill now since I have mild endometriosis after 2 c-sections. It works well for me, but I am 43, not a teenager! If you opt for Maca root powder, I used it after I was on prednisone to help balance out my hormones and it helped quite a bit. Pred really messes with my estrogen/progesterone balance.
Posted 5/30/2018 3:30 PM (GMT 0)
Oh so do you think pred may have affected her hormones? She is two weeks off pred and although she has always suffered more than me with her monthly it does feel like the past few months have seen an increase in PMS symptoms? Thanks in advance for the suggestion, I am definitely looking into Maca!
Posted 5/30/2018 4:16 PM (GMT 0)
absolutely!
Posted 5/30/2018 10:22 PM (GMT 0)

Another UC Mum said...
Oh so do you think pred may have affected her hormones?

It most definitely does. When I was on it I was super aggressive and I couldn't help it. So if this is why she is "difficult to live with" please be considerate to her medications and the disease itself. It is certainly not easy to live with bloody diarrhea.
Posted 6/18/2018 3:36 PM (GMT 0)
I would not put her on another medication just because she is "difficult to live with." Let her be herself. She is a teenager. Unless she is requesting relief herself, then I would leave it alone.
Posted 6/18/2018 9:47 PM (GMT 0)
You could try using raspberry sun tea (fresh raspberry leaves in water steeped in the sun). Add honey and try to have her drink a quart a day; it's really refreshing and good and won't hurt her tummy. It has helped me tons and a few friends of mine. Also, try giving her a quality vitamin K supplement (to help with the bleeding) and high-iron foods (NOT an iron supplement). Another thing that you could try is avoiding serving red meat, sugar and anything processed for mealtimes and increasing her fish/chicken/eggs/fresh veggie intake. Homemade soups/broths are a money-conserving way to add nutrition, too. I've heard from a few people that that has really made a difference for them. Give her some extra space, maybe give her a "spa night" where she can relax and have some time to herself, or watch her favorite movie with her (without criticism, of course). I track my time of month, and avoid scheduling anything during that week, if possible. Hope this helps.
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