More progestins = More pain?

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
More progestins = More pain?
1
Sun, 09-12-2004 - 10:56pm
Hey all,

Has anyone ever heard of pills with higher levels of progestin causing more pain/cramps and breakthrough bleeding? This seems to be what is going on with me. I tried to explain this to my doctor at my last appointment that higher dose pills cause me more pain, and his resolution was to put me on loestrin/microgestin, which seems to have the highest dose of progestins I can find of any pill. Now I'm sitting here with a heating pad and my period is still two weeks away.

I was just wondering if anyone else had gone through something similar or if I am just a freak. I know progestins are supposed to reduce pain and breakthrough bleeding, so why am I getting the opposite?

Thanks for your help!


Edited 9/12/2004 11:09 pm ET ET by dekaria

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Tue, 09-14-2004 - 10:14am
No, you're not a freak! Typically, a higher progestin dose is supposed to make cramps less and reduce breakthrough bleeding, but it doesn't -always- work that way. Have you ever tried the opposite, a pill that is really low in estrogen? We've had a number of women here that still had problems with breakthrough bleeding on Loestrin (I took Loestrin for 4 years and didn't have this problem, so I can't speak personally), the theory works most of the time, but not all the time.

If you're looking for very low estrogen content, the highest progestin pill with low estrogen is Loestrin 1/20 (1mg norethindrone acetate, 20mcg ethinyl estradiol). The next one lower is Mircette, it's got 0.15mg of desogestrel (a smaller dose of a stronger progestin) and 20mcg of ethinyl estradiol. The lowest 20mcg pill is Alesse, with 0.1mg of levonorgestrel. There is also Ortho Tri Cyclen Lo, it's fairly low in progestin with 25mcg of estrogen. Non-pill options include the Ortho Evra patch with 20mcg of estrogen and Nuvaring (vaginal ring) with 15mcg of estrogen.

Sometimes the key to reducing estrogen-related side effects isn't always raising the progestin, it can also be reducing the estrogen. My periods are much lighter on Nuvaring than they were on Loestrin 1.5/30!

Good luck, I hope you can find a solution!!

Judie
Co-cl for Birth Control
Judie Cl for Birth Control