Destined to be a pill drop out?

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-19-2006
Destined to be a pill drop out?
13
Tue, 02-27-2007 - 4:27pm

I guess this is mostly just a vent, but any advice is certainly appreciated. I've been attempting to get settled with a bcp since August, and I seem to be destined to fail.

First I was on Yaz which worked fine, no weird side effects at first other than a lot of breast tenderness and some spotting in month 1. Then 3 months in, I started getting leg cramps so my doctor switched me to Loestrin 24/FE for fear the Yaz was giving me blood clots.

For the first 3 months on Loestrin, I would spot for 3 or 4 days mid-cycle. I stuck it out in hopes that would clear up. I also felt generally crappy most of the time...sort of that PMS-y feeling like you're about to get your period. Annoying, but not debilitating. Month 4, I felt crappy BUT no spotting. YAY! Now in month 5, I've felt OK for the first week. No crappiness! However, two days ago I got a yeast infection! ARGH! I don't know if it's related to the pill or not, but I never get YIs unless I'm on an antibiotic. I have been more sensitive to soaps and detergents the past two months, so maybe Loestrin is just making more sensitive in general.

I'm so frustrated with my body and what the pill seems to do to it. Am I crazy? Is the YI just a fluke? Since the spotting seems to have gone away, should I wait and see what happens with the big, bad yeast? (For the record, I consume tons of yogurt and take acidophilus regularly...clearly it wasn't enough.) Should I call my doctor and switch pills AGAIN? I've invested all of this time in Loestrin, so I guess I'm hoping I'll acclimate eventually. Or maybe they'll invent a pill for a man, and my boyfriend can take over this birth control nightmare. Blah!

Pages

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Wed, 02-28-2007 - 11:06pm

The idea with the yogurt is to increase the probiotics in your digestive system. Yogurt, at least most yogurt, contains active cultures of beneficial bacteria. The beneficial bacteria helps to keep the yeast population in your digestive tract under control (yes, there is most likely yeast in your digestive tract).

Though you don't see a tube that goes from the digestive system to the vagina, the body is all connected through blood and lymph, so what's going on in one part of your body can definitely affect another part of your body.

Judie
Co-cl for Birth Control
Judie Cl for Birth Control 
iVillage Member
Registered: 01-18-2007
Wed, 02-28-2007 - 11:10pm

Sure, I mean I agree that the yogurt needs to be plain, but if you think about it when we eat yogurt or take acidopholis pills they are absorbed by our digestive tract and then eliminated. There is really no clinical evidence that this method of ingestion (orally) will help vaginial flora.

There is evidence that talking these things orally does help with certain conditions of the digestive tract.

Okay, my two cents--CL Tiffany on the GYN board will tell ya the same thing :-)

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-01-2006
Wed, 02-28-2007 - 11:26pm

It's kind of the same thing about eliminating stuff with yeast in it. It really doesn't help because the yeast in baking isn't the same as the yeast in your vagina. And since we don't digest through our vaginas, eliminating these foods won't help.

Ok, so I'm not so eloquent but I know what I mean :) as I have tried all the food elimination diets (no beer, sugar, yeast) and it didn't make a lick of difference. Monistat, OTOH, works every time. Oh, and being off BCP helps, too.

Apricot

Pages