Am I PG? On pill forever...
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| Tue, 06-29-2004 - 9:27am |
okay... I might be acting a little dramatic about this, but I'm the kind of person who buys a pregnancy test if I'm ONE day late although I've never missed a pill in my life.
However- the story has changed recently. I've been a little inconsistent. Not taking it right away... or forgetting and taking it the next night. Also was diagnosed with Chron's Disease and put on meds to control my horrible migraines, called Topamax. This is an anti-siezure medication generally used for those who have siezures, but my migraines are that bad. I just found out that anti-siezure meds can deter effectiveness of BC pills.
Also, by accident I forgot an entire BC pill dosage. I was having a bad flare up for a few days, and in the midst lost the pill I was going to take with others, never recovered it, never did back up.
so:
missed a couple pills, but took next evening
anti-siezure meds effect BC?
and didnt back up missed dosage

Okay- another clue or me being over sensitive about "clues"...
my nipples are getting very large and very dark. thats never happened, hubby pointed that out. maybe over producing estrogen or something????
he freaked and said "babe your circles and nipples are huge!!" and I looked, sure enough. On top of sore boobs. Great... so not a sign I need when worried about PG.
can that happen during missed period? before period? had breakthrough bleeding last month so its possible i wont get it this month.
ugh.
say it again. "you're probably not pregnant".
i got a test. but afraid to do it now... bc I know if it says 'negative' that I'll just take another one in a week to make sure. Iam obsessive compulsive.
should I be on another board?
sorry.
What affects would your medication for Chron's disease and migraines have on a developing fetus? With all of the pill things going wrong lately, plus some of these pregnancy signs, if I were in your position I would be making an appointment to see my doctor and finding out if i should go off my meds to protect the fetus.
I probably should have known to address the "nipple issue" before but didnt. So thats an indicator? I'm peeing about every 15 minutes now too. Did a little web surfing and found that to be a clue as well... but i have a history of UTI's.
I made an appt. to see general practitioner on the 1st . I dont know when conception would have been. I was pretty faithful up until the missed dose... about 8-9 days ago. .
the breakthrough bleeding ocurred out of nowhere... 1wk before regular period was due, very heavy at first- thought i was miscarrying, went to the hospital. very dark blood. heavy lasted 3 days. off/on. then extremely light for two weeks, like pink spotting; now and then a little heavier.
last normal period was in April, and every month before that since i was 16 years old! (im 24) schedule: I go off the pill and begin period on Wednesday, lasts about 2-3 days; light. ALWAYS been that way. So last month was crazy.
Not sure about meds effecting a fetus. I stopped most bc of recent 20lb weight loss from complications of the disease. The migraine meds are cycle related, and will bring this up with doc on thursday.
I am having further gastrointestinal tests done on thursday as well , including a small bowel series. Should I inform them I might be pregnant? What if conception was possibly only 8 days ago? and a test wont determine yet?
thank you so much for helping... i appreciate it alot.
Topamax (at least at higher dosages) can reduce the effectiveness of birth control pills. Other possible side effects of Topamax include breast pain and weight loss and when taking Tpoamax you are supposed to drink lots of water which could be contributing to your frequent need to urinate.
This is from the prescribing information on the Topamax website: http://www.topamax.com/patients/index.htm
“Oral Contraceptives:
In a pharmacokinetic interaction study in healthy volunteers with a concomitantly administered combination oral contraceptive product containing 1 mg norethindrone (NET) plus 35 mcg ethinyl estradiol (EE), TOPAMAX® given in the absence of other medications at doses of 50 to 200 mg/day was not associated with statistically significant changes in mean exposure (AUC) to either component of the oral contraceptive. In another study, exposure to EE was statistically significantly decreased at doses of 200, 400, and 800 mg/day (18%, 21%, and 30%, respectively) when given as adjunctive therapy in patients taking valproic acid. In both studies, TOPAMAX® (50 mg/day to 800 mg/day) did not significantly affect exposure to NET. Although there was a dose dependent decrease in EE exposure for doses between 200-800 mg/day, there was no significant dose dependent change in EE exposure for doses of 50-200 mg/day. The clinical significance of the changes observed is not known. The possibility of decreased contraceptive efficacy and increased breakthrough bleeding should be considered in patients taking combination oral contraceptive products with TOPAMAX®. Patients taking estrogen containing contraceptives should be asked to report any change in their bleeding patterns. Contraceptive efficacy can be decreased even in the absence of breakthrough bleeding.”
Please take your HPT as soon as you can and if you need to phone your doc with the results. Let us know how you’re doing, ok?
(((Hugs)))
Jill
Going nuts. Took two HTPs. 1st at night... very "faint looking" positive, couldnt actually tell, but the control window was boldly displaying that it "had worked" in dark blue. 2nd in morning with "a.m. urine" and it came out negative.
What kind of sick game is this?? Thanks alot Clear Blue Easy. ok, jk... but I'm seeing doc for blood test tomorrow.
Is there anything I can do to increase the "clear" results of my bloodwork? drink water? dont eat? no meds in my system? no vitamins? etc? anything?
if test comes out neg, I will still wonder. I can rule EVERYTHING out as something else, other than the every growing, darkening marroon aereolas and chronically erect and sore nipples.
any bloodwork secrets?
thanks
In the meantime, you might want to try a different brand. Those tests can be expensive, so if you don't feel like dropping yet another $10 on a test don't bother.
And, in the lab where I work we've never been taught that any meds or vitamins interfere with a standard pregnancy test (the STAT pregnancy tests used here are essentially the same as the ones you buy at the drugstore, just slightly different urine or serum application method).
Is your doctor's appointment in the morning? he might suggest a urine test before doing a blood test, so if you can hold it you might want to not pee before you go to the appointment so that if there is any HCG there, it'll be really concentrated.
I'm so sorry you're having all this hassle and can't get a clear answer. Best of luck. *hugs*