Periods on Seasonale, more painful

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-15-2004
Periods on Seasonale, more painful
3
Tue, 06-15-2004 - 4:17pm
I was wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience. I'm on my 2nd pack of Seasonale and my periods have been extra painful. I'm wondering if it's a combo of my period and IBS (my doctor didn't quite believe that one).

I've been on BC for years and had no problems til recently. Seasonale is great for the first 2 months, then I start feeling funky. No bleeding, but crampy and just off.

On a 4 week pill, my periods had gotten painful--especially when going to the bathroom so I decided to try Seasonale to make the pain less frequent, but my first period on Seasonale was extreme--and it took 2 weeks to get over all symptoms (cramps, constipation).

Anyone have a similar experience?

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-21-2003
Tue, 06-15-2004 - 4:37pm
Has your doctor mentioned endometriosis? Sounds like you have some of the symptoms, which include pain when using the bathroom during your period. And I'm not 100% sure about this, but I think the pill can make endometriosis worse unless you've already had the surgery to remove it. What I do know is endometriosis thrives in an estrogen rich environment. Unfortunately, the only way to diagnose it is with a diagnostic lap, but it is important to catch it early if possible. You might try posting on the endometriosis board for more info. Oh and I think I read somewhere that sometimes endometriosis is mistakenly diagnosed as IBS? I might be wrong on that, it just kind of rings a bell...
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Tue, 06-15-2004 - 6:22pm
I agree with you (seems reasonable that endometriosis might be something to look into). But women with endo are often put on the pill to reduce their natural estrogen (periods are lighter on the pill, right?) which should help reduce the painful periods. But for some women maybe this isn't enough (I think we had a Depo user on here recently who was using Lupron and Depo -not at the same time- to help--no estrogen at all).

There are other reasons that periods can be painful, it might be worth pushing the gyn to see what the root cause might be. Endo is only positively diagnosed with a laparoscopic surgery as far as I know, but an ultrasound may be able to show things like ovarian cysts or fibroids.

Judie
Co-cl for Birth Control
Judie Cl for Birth Control 
iVillage Member
Registered: 06-15-2004
Wed, 06-16-2004 - 10:57am
Actually, I've been diagnosed with both Endrometriosis and IBS. Endro several years ago. The pill has always been a big help with my periods (less pain, lighter, shorter, more regular). It's only recently that it's been a problem and seemed to be exacerbated on Seasonale. (Though it's improved some this cycle, which I shortened by 2 weeks.)

Guess we'll have to try to figure out if it's the extended cycle or the specific hormones in Seasonale.