New here and have questions

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-14-2003
New here and have questions
13
Wed, 06-30-2004 - 5:19pm

Hi,


My name is Jessica Anne Bruno, I'm currently 22 years old, I live near New York City, on the NJ side of it USA.

~Jessica

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iVillage Member
Registered: 05-14-2004
Wed, 06-30-2004 - 6:10pm
Hi Jessica. I think there may be a bit of a language gap between you and I, so I apologize in advance if I get things a little messed up at all...

Firstly, I would highly recommend that you don't put so much of your personal information out on the internet. Call me paraniod, but I would never give my full name, age and exact location because these days there are just too many weirdos out there who are ready to create some kind of fraudulent actions with your info... just my opinion.

At 22 years of age, I think its time that you start making your own decisions, especially where your birth control is concerned. Let mom worry about her own life cause you're not a baby and you can take control of your own life.

What is this "original pill" you keep speaking of? You *do* know that there are MANY more birth control pills out there besides just Yasmin, Seasonale and this "original pill", right? For a complete list of all Birth control pills available in the USA, go to: http://www.plannedparenthood.org/bc/YOU_AND_PILL.HTM#OCs As well, maybe you should just check out all of the www.plannedparenthood.com site. It has a lot of information about all forms of birth control, including the pill. I'm sure you could learn a lot from it.

Why exactly do you need to wear "big pads" on days that you dont have your period? As well, you might consider using tampons instead of pads if you're worried about "mess/accidents".

HTH!

~*~Jenn~*~

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-14-2003
Wed, 06-30-2004 - 6:30pm

Jen,


Thank you for the concern and your suggestions on my thread.


So far, no one has attack me yet or etc on it.

~Jessica
Avatar for lucy4980
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Wed, 06-30-2004 - 6:52pm
I would talk to your doctor and see what he or she says. There are many different pills and the doctor would be the best person to help you decide which one is right for you. Some women try several different pills before they find the one that works best with their personal body chemistry. So don't be afraid to ask your doctor to perscribe a different pill if you are not happy with the first, second, third pill you try.

Since you mentioned excess facial hair, heavy periods, and an irregular cycle, has your doctor tested you for ovarian cysts? There is a syndrome called Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrom (PCOS). Basically what it is is an imbalance of hormones in your body which results in ovarian cysts and several other possible side effects - excess hair and heavy and/or irregular periods are two of the most common. I have PCOS, and it is controlled quite well with birth control pills. The birth control pills regulate my hormones, solving the problem of the imbalance. I was on Ortho Novum 1/35 for about 5 years and have recently switched to the Patch, which is Ortho Evra. The patch is a hormonal birth control method like the pill. The difference is that with the patch, the hormones are absorbed through your skin rather than ingested.

You mentioned the original pill that your mom was on when if first came out - those were high dose birth control pills that had a lot of side effects. Medical science has come a long way in the past decades and developed many more pills that cause much fewer and less severe side effects. So your experience with birth control pills will likely be very different from your mom's experience.

You also mentioned that your mom doesn't want you to be on birth control pills. Since you are an adult, you need to make your own medical decisions based on what is right for you. I understand that you are close to your mom, and that is great. I am close to my mom too and I tell her a lot of personal things. The bottom line though, is that if being on birth control pills is right for you - whether to regulate your periods or to protect yourself from pregnancy - then you need to make that decision for yourself, regardless of what your mom wants.

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-30-2003
Wed, 06-30-2004 - 7:43pm
Hi Jessica, welcome to the Birth Control Board!

Jenn is right you know, about putting too much personal information in public places like the Internet. For your own good it is best if you limit what you say about yourself. No one here needs to know much about you in order to help you with your questions.

As far as wanting to switch from big pads to smaller ones, can you go shopping with your mom to see if there are smaller pads that might work well for you?

Most oral contraceptives today probably have much lower doses of hormones than the ones your mom was taking twenty or thirty years ago and as a result they are safer and have fewer side effects than those she was taking.

If you are looking for a birth control method that will make your periods lighter or shorter or less frequent then Seasonale might work for you. You could talk with your doctor and see if s/he thinks Seasonale might be a good choice. If you have searched the archive on this site for posts about Seasonale you will know that a lot of the women on that pill experience irregular bleeding (bleeding at other times of their cycle than their periods) for the first three extended cycle packs, which could be for 6 months or longer. However those women who have stuck it out until their bodies adjusted to the hormones in their pills and the extended cycle usage, seem to like it.

There is also Depo-Provera, an injection (usually given every 12 weeks) of a powerful progestin that will suppress your reproductive system and in many women will stop their periods entirely. However, Depo can have some very unpleasant side effects such as moodiness and weight gain and, if you find that you don’t like Depo there is no way to stop the side effects until the Depo leaves your system in 12 weeks or more. So you should talk with your doctor about the side effects before you try Depo-Provera. Thanks for stopping by Jessica. I hope you find a method that will work the way you want.

(((Hugs)))

      Jill

    

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-14-2003
Wed, 06-30-2004 - 9:48pm

Lucy,


Since you mentioned excess facial hair, heavy periods, and an irregular cycle, has your doctor tested you for ovarian cysts? There is a syndrome called Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrom (PCOS). Basically what it is is an imbalance of hormones in your body which results in ovarian cysts and several other possible side effects - excess hair and heavy and/or irregular periods are two of the most common. I have PCOS, and it is controlled quite well with birth control pills. The birth control pills regulate my hormones, solving the problem of the imbalance. I was on Ortho Novum 1/35 for about 5 years and have recently switched to the Patch, which is Ortho Evra. The patch is a hormonal birth control method like the pill. The difference is that with the patch, the hormones are absorbed through your skin rather than ingested.


I understand what you are saying, but I don't have the other things go with excess facial hair, I do a regular cycle most of the time, but since I been off of Yasmin it has been irregular, I do get it every month, but not in 28 to 35 day time frame.

~Jessica
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-14-2003
Wed, 06-30-2004 - 9:53pm

Jen,


Thank you.

~Jessica
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-14-2003
Wed, 06-30-2004 - 10:20pm

Everyone,


I posted the link to here on my welcome message on the gyneclogy to get more answers about PCOS part of it because I didn't feel like copying the whole message on there, so thats why I put the link in my welcome message there, but don't worry I said sorry to all of you in the message you might post there and also them as well.

~Jessica
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Thu, 07-01-2004 - 8:05am
Just a factual note...that link to the PP list of pills is not a complete list of all the pills and generics available in the US, there are some missing! But I'm working on one for the FAQ section and might even have non-US pills in there eventually...
Judie
Co-cl for Birth Control
Judie Cl for Birth Control 
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-14-2004
Thu, 07-01-2004 - 11:19am
Oh no! Nothing is worse than posting false info! I kinda had a feeling that some were missing, but it was all I could find! Thanks Judie!

~*~Jenn~*~

Avatar for lucy4980
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Thu, 07-01-2004 - 1:24pm
I'm glad that your doctor tested you for PCOS. That way you can rule that out as a complicating factor.

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