For the Girls, Oral Contraceptive Pill

Hi Girls,
Did you know that the oral contraceptive pill may contribute to UC.

I was using the pill for a very long time during my teens to control heavy periods, which it did help. I did stop using the pill and then was on and off until my early 30's when I started having diarrhea and was trying to work out what was causing this. I had seen a doctor at the time and they could not work it out, nor were they interested. I was basically eating rice and drinking water to try and determine what was causing the diarrhea. The only other thing I ingested was the pill. So even though I had used the same pill for years, I stopped taking it and the diarrhea instantly vanished. Therefore I stopped the pill.However, now I have UC and probably did at that stage also. PS the pill contains lactose.

Does anyone else have this reaction to the pill or did have this reaction. No doctor would agree that the pill caused the diarrhea, but I knew through elimination, that it definitely was the problem.

When I still had uc, I had gone off it for a short while, and the GI put me back on it because he said it can help control UC. But its so different for everyone

The pill seems to help my UC.  The week I'm off of it my IBS and UC (when in a flare) get active right away.  As soon as I"m back on things start to improve. I've been taking the pill for maybe a little longer than I've had UC but I guess I never thought it contributed to my UC.  I was also in remission for 10 years but still on the pill during that time, even started taking the pill packs back to back (so I didn't have a period every month) - I believe that is one of the things that helped get me into a long remission. Every month when my period would come my UC would inevitably flare up. Once I started having my period less often, I went into remission.  It's defiinitely been a great help for me.

Its interesting how it affects everybody differently. I used to take a variety of pills when I first started and then eventually ended up with microgynon. I dont know what changed, as it was fine initially...maybe they changed the ingredients..never took notice. It took me a good eight months before I realised what was causing the diarrhea. The diarrhea happened in the evenings and it was anywhere from 10 to 20 times. A couple of years ago I tried Yasmin, but it made me bleed twice a month, which was the reason I took the pill, to reduce bleeding. So the pill is a no gone zone for me.

Lemonhead, you are one of the one's like me, when it comes to the pill.

Jovana-- you're in Australia, right? Just want to tell you that my gynecologist (U.S.) commented recently that the ingredients in birth control pills keep changing, and the pharmaceuticals do not send advance notice of these changes to doctors here. So you could be experiencing that, too. / Old Hat (32 yrs with left-sided UC; presently in remission taking brandname Colazal)