Depressed & scared BTB saga continues

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iVillage Member
Registered: 10-26-2003
Depressed & scared BTB saga continues
1
Sat, 10-23-2004 - 6:40pm
Hi everyone,

First and foremost a big thanks to Cl-Judie who gives excellent knowledgeable advice.

I've written before about my BTB problems - Yasmin was a nightmare of breast/back pain, Cyclessa was weird random periods and I've been on Ortho Evra for about 7 months or so and I've been pretty irregular, but this month have also been having bright red bleeding with sex to top it all off.

So, what's a girl to do? I went to the gyno and she did a PapSure exam, plus a pap and said everything was picture perfect. She suggested the problem might be the Patch and said it has a habit of BTB and that she does not recommend it. I asked her if perhaps my problem could be polyps or ovarian cancer and she said no polyps and ovarian cancer would be highly, highly unlikely.

She suggested the Nuva Ring. So I'm sitting here at my computer with the last day of the patch on before my patch free week. Nuva ring sample sitting there looking at me, waiting for next Sunday's experiment. Of course, I had sex with my boyfriend and he's in the shower cleaning up from the crime scene I created. We've had sex three times this month where there's been bleeding & I'm getting so scared and just sick of it. He's nice about it, but I still feel horrible for him (and for me).

Any advice out there for me?

Thanks,

Sharon

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Sun, 10-24-2004 - 10:08am
What's it gonna hurt? You know you can always get horribly biased Nuvaring information from me! ;)

The ring may work differently for you than the patch because the progestin is different--not just that it's a metabolite of another progestin, but the parent progestin is different than what's in the patch too. I have had the same problem (probably not to the same extent) with post-coital bleeding and for me it does vary with different progestins. Ortho Cyclen was the closest thing I've taken with the patch, and while I don't remember specifically more post-coital bleeding with Ortho Cyclen, I distinctly remember that I had my heaviest pill-periods with Ortho Cyclen. The progestin isn't all that potent when compared with the estrogen, but part of it is the type too--I had much more breast pain with Ortho Cyclen than I did with Triphasil, which technically has more estrogen when you average it over a cycle (Triphasil has a 40mcg phase) and I attribute that to the differences in the progestin.

You might still have post-coital bleeding with the ring. I don't get it very often, though, it seems it's just in certain circumstances when I'm just not ready to go (which is pretty frequent). Because everything else is normal, my gyn isn't worried. As far as btb goes, I read one citation somewhere, and I wish I could remember where so that I could quote it for you, the ring is supposed to be BETTER with btb than any of the other pills. The estrogen dose is so low and the progestin so effective, that it's supposed to reduce breakthrough bleeding and tests that have been done have shown ovulation suppression in about three days, not seven, though the labeling indicates seven days of backup for any slipups.

Could it really hurt to give it a try? Yes, there's a possibility of side effects you're not having now, but there's also the possibility that things might get better. Since you know what to expect with the patch, if the ring is a bad experience you could go back to the patch until you worked out something else. Or you might love the ring. ;)

Good luck Sharon! I hope you'll let us know how things are going!

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