Hi all, Im fairly new here but I could use some advice. My situation is extremely odd to me. I am 25 years old and I have one daughter. I had to come off my BC Pills about 6 months ago because I was experiencing breakthrough bleeding which lead me to have my period for 26 days a month. That said, Ive been off of the pills for six months. Since I have been off them my periods went from being regular to WAY out of control. I do not want another child as I have health problems that would complicate things. Since being off the pills and having wacky periods I should own stock in First Response. Every month I end up taking another test and they all come back negative and then eventually I will get my period. Last month however, I was 2 weeks late. I am not exactly sure when to expect this one but I noticed last week that I had some slight pinkish discharge, it lasted about a day and a half but it did not happen everytime I used the restroom. Just 2 or 3 times. When I was pregnant with my daughter I KNEW about a week before my missed period that I was pregnant. As of date if I were going on a normal cycle which would be exactly every 4 weeks, I am one week late. I have NO signs of pregnancy, I feel fine. NO tender breasts, im not hungry all the time, im not tired all of the time, no cramping, no frequent urination nothing. I've taken two early hpt and both were negative, no doubt about it. I am under extreme stress and I don't sleep right. I feel as if I am going to start my period any day now but it just won't come. Please help!! :-(
Have you talked with your gynecologist about this? Have you had your hormonal levels checked? Maybe you should do this.
Although it is still possible that you are having problems due to getting of bc pills, it could be that you have an underlying problem as well.
For example, thyroid dysfunction. Too much or too little thyroid hormones could interfere with your cycles and make your periods late or spot in between or whatever. Many women develop thyroid problems during pregnancy and after delivery. How long has it been since you gave birth?
Are you under some kind of emotional stress? Are your health problems making you stressed and anxious? Hormones that are produced when a person is tensed and stressed could interfere with hormonal signals from your brain and it can block ovulation and make your periods irregular.
What about your weight? Neither overweight or underweight is good and often inereferes with cycles.
I have already mentioned checking hormones because you may be suffering from hormonal imbalance.
As for having to worry each month whether you are pregnant or not, there’s a simple explanation. CONDOMS!!!! I know you can’t have condoms with you all the time, considering you live with your husband and stuff but he doesn’t have to cum inside you every time. He can always withdraw!!! I know it’s not a perfect solution but it could be temporary until you have your situation fixed.
Although it is still possible that you are having problems due to getting of bc pills, it could be that you have an underlying problem as well.
For example, thyroid dysfunction. Too much or too little thyroid hormones could interfere with your cycles and make your periods late or spot in between or whatever. Many women develop thyroid problems during pregnancy and after delivery. How long has it been since you gave birth?
Are you under some kind of emotional stress? Are your health problems making you stressed and anxious? Hormones that are produced when a person is tensed and stressed could interfere with hormonal signals from your brain and it can block ovulation and make your periods irregular.
What about your weight? Neither overweight or underweight is good and often inereferes with cycles.
I have already mentioned checking hormones because you may be suffering from hormonal imbalance.
As for having to worry each month whether you are pregnant or not, there’s a simple explanation. CONDOMS!!!! I know you can’t have condoms with you all the time, considering you live with your husband and stuff but he doesn’t have to cum inside you every time. He can always withdraw!!! I know it’s not a perfect solution but it could be temporary until you have your situation fixed.
They took me off of the BC pills because they had told me they contained too much estrogen for my body and thats why I was bleeding all the time. I also had violent mood swings etc.
I have had my thyroid tested also because I was losing my hair all the time. I still am but the Dr had said that my thyriod levels were fine.
I am underweight but I have been my entire life. Before I got pregnant with my daughter (who is now 4 years old) My periods were always irregular. It seems now they are going back to the way that they were.
When my husband and I have sex, Which is not very often (I think because of my underlying fear of getting pregnant) he does withdraw 100% of the time. I think I am just paranoid. I am also under a lot of emotional stress due to not working at the moment and some other issues.
I took another HPT yesterday and the results were still negative. I am bloated but that always happens up until I get my period and then it goes away. And I've still got that "I have to use the rest room because I feel as if it will start any minute now" feeling.
I have had my thyroid tested also because I was losing my hair all the time. I still am but the Dr had said that my thyriod levels were fine.
I am underweight but I have been my entire life. Before I got pregnant with my daughter (who is now 4 years old) My periods were always irregular. It seems now they are going back to the way that they were.
When my husband and I have sex, Which is not very often (I think because of my underlying fear of getting pregnant) he does withdraw 100% of the time. I think I am just paranoid. I am also under a lot of emotional stress due to not working at the moment and some other issues.
I took another HPT yesterday and the results were still negative. I am bloated but that always happens up until I get my period and then it goes away. And I've still got that "I have to use the rest room because I feel as if it will start any minute now" feeling.
Well, I think that then we have your answer than, don’t we? You have too many things on your mind right now that are not contributing to your mental and physical health.
I think your hair growth should be ok soon if you have regulated your thyroid hormones.
As for your irregular periods…..if they were irregular before starting the pills, they will be irregular after as well. Birth control pills don’t change your menstrual patterns but go back to what they were like before you started and your body does what it would do if there weren’t any pills.
You need to calm down and find piece inside of you. I know this sounds hard but your 4-year old doesn’t need you all messed up. You are not alone anymore and she should be your main concern. I know it’s hard without a job and you may feel unfulfilled but “this too shall pass” and don’t lose your mind over silly things. Like you quoted: “Life is what you make it, so make it good"
Do you exercise? Get some sort of physical activity; you won’t believe how good you will feel. If you don’t like aerobics or fitness, try yoga.
I think your hair growth should be ok soon if you have regulated your thyroid hormones.
As for your irregular periods…..if they were irregular before starting the pills, they will be irregular after as well. Birth control pills don’t change your menstrual patterns but go back to what they were like before you started and your body does what it would do if there weren’t any pills.
You need to calm down and find piece inside of you. I know this sounds hard but your 4-year old doesn’t need you all messed up. You are not alone anymore and she should be your main concern. I know it’s hard without a job and you may feel unfulfilled but “this too shall pass” and don’t lose your mind over silly things. Like you quoted: “Life is what you make it, so make it good"
Do you exercise? Get some sort of physical activity; you won’t believe how good you will feel. If you don’t like aerobics or fitness, try yoga.
Thanks for all the info. She is my number one concern and she always will be. I do a lot of walking in the summer with her. Winters are too harsh on my body. I have osteoporosis and osteoarthritis so it hurts for me to be outside in extreme cold. Since i live in New England its harder.
As far as the period thing. You are probably right, i am just extremely stressed about things and need to settle down.
Thanks for all your help though, was nice to talk to you. Christine.
As far as the period thing. You are probably right, i am just extremely stressed about things and need to settle down.
Thanks for all your help though, was nice to talk to you. Christine.
These are all also symptoms of Polycyctic Ovarian Syndrome and Adrenal Fatigue. Both are often misdiagnosed or just missed completely.
Usually they tell you to take Birth Control pills with PCOS but if it's the Adrenal problems causing it then they give you all kinds of unfun side effects. It's taken me six years to determine what's wrong with me and start the slow process of getting my body right, and you very well may not have these issues, but I thought I'd mention, as those symptoms rang true for me.
There's not much they can do to test for those, but narrow things down and try different health approaches. And the stress and paranoia are issues I really have as well. It has something to do with my adrenaline levels running too high all the time and the hormones imbalencing, so it's as though you've just had a rush of adrenaline all the time. Fatigue, stress at every little thing, and then the PCOS makes my testosterone levels just a smidge too high and no periods and "am I ovulating? *shrug* Who knows?"
Women with PCOS usually have a lower amount of Estrogen and higher levels of Testosterone: hence hair loss and unwanted hair grown, some women gain weight in their midsection, some just have the irregular periods. There is no surefire 'that means you have it' symptom, unfortunately, but they are all things to look for. It usually means you'll have trouble with sugars and carbohydrates because Insulin Resistance is very common as well and women with PCOS are at much higher risk to develop type II Diabetes. So something to keep in mind if anything rings true to you.
Anyway, just wanted to give you ideas to help your search to feel better. I know how frustrating it can be. Let me just tell you this. I never had the issues I had prior to taking birth control pills. Various gynecologists have been quick to scoff when I say this, but it was after I started taking them and then switching as each pill gave me worse side effects than the last, that I started to have trouble. I know many people take them without difficulty, but for some reason my body doesn't accept the synthetic hormones the way others do. I can't imagine I'm the only one. Just because the pill is no longer in your body doesn't mean that the damage it's done is gone.
There are plenty of medications that once taken keep your body from producing whatever substance you're taking, naturally. Your body becomes dependent on the outside source, I don't see why hormones would be any different. We just don't know enough about the female reproductive system and almost nothing about the endocrine system.
Also, keep in mind that just because a doctor tells you that you are "within normal range" it does not necessarily mean that you are in the right range for you. If you have a sensitive system even a slight discrepancy could be a BIG deal. Especially if there are underlying problems hard to discern from the surface.
My doctor has recommended that I take a lot of Omega 3 (high quality) and the supplement Adreset and has put me on the Paleodiet. I've been having good results.
It's frustrating, but sometimes you really have to push to have doctors give you more thorough tests. They are so used to treating the easy common problems that it's what they look for first. Many of them hardly seemed to take into account my severe anxiety and depression symptoms, thinking I just needed to take an antidepressant when it was really the hormone levels that were messing with me so bad. (Imagine if you had REALLY bad PMS...but all the time...yeah that's me...my husband is a patient man) I've had to switch doctors more times than I can count, from General Practitioners to Gynecologists to Endocrinologists until I finally found a Doctor who really listened to my problems and really thought that there was some underlying cause to all my symptoms and didn't try to just medicate each one separately. I thought I was going crazy for awhile. My family and friends just thought I was lazy when I was just so tired all the time I could barely get out of bed. Anyway, I've gone off on a tangent, but yeah thyroid issues could still be a possibility despite what the testing said. My blood sugar tests were "within normal range" though I had all the physical symptoms of hypoglycemia and cutting sugars out of my diet has made me feel infinitely better. So yeah, just because they take an average range from women doesn't mean it's the right one for you.
Oh and I wanted to tell you, I know your pain about the constant pregnancy risk. Not only do I react awfully to taking hormonal birth control, but I'm allergic to latex and spermicide. I get no regular period to allay any fears and it comes down to taking pregnancy tests all the time. My husband and I use polyurethane condoms which are about 8 times more expensive and much more likely to break or tear, but what choice do we have? Actually as it happens right now, the condom tore two weeks ago (on a month that I just actually had a period for the first time all year :-P) and I have had faint pink spotting and cramps the last three days with three negative pregnancy tests so far. (Hence how I found your post). So I know how it goes and I do wish you the very best of luck.
Hope any of this helps.
Good luck
Usually they tell you to take Birth Control pills with PCOS but if it's the Adrenal problems causing it then they give you all kinds of unfun side effects. It's taken me six years to determine what's wrong with me and start the slow process of getting my body right, and you very well may not have these issues, but I thought I'd mention, as those symptoms rang true for me.
There's not much they can do to test for those, but narrow things down and try different health approaches. And the stress and paranoia are issues I really have as well. It has something to do with my adrenaline levels running too high all the time and the hormones imbalencing, so it's as though you've just had a rush of adrenaline all the time. Fatigue, stress at every little thing, and then the PCOS makes my testosterone levels just a smidge too high and no periods and "am I ovulating? *shrug* Who knows?"
Women with PCOS usually have a lower amount of Estrogen and higher levels of Testosterone: hence hair loss and unwanted hair grown, some women gain weight in their midsection, some just have the irregular periods. There is no surefire 'that means you have it' symptom, unfortunately, but they are all things to look for. It usually means you'll have trouble with sugars and carbohydrates because Insulin Resistance is very common as well and women with PCOS are at much higher risk to develop type II Diabetes. So something to keep in mind if anything rings true to you.
Anyway, just wanted to give you ideas to help your search to feel better. I know how frustrating it can be. Let me just tell you this. I never had the issues I had prior to taking birth control pills. Various gynecologists have been quick to scoff when I say this, but it was after I started taking them and then switching as each pill gave me worse side effects than the last, that I started to have trouble. I know many people take them without difficulty, but for some reason my body doesn't accept the synthetic hormones the way others do. I can't imagine I'm the only one. Just because the pill is no longer in your body doesn't mean that the damage it's done is gone.
There are plenty of medications that once taken keep your body from producing whatever substance you're taking, naturally. Your body becomes dependent on the outside source, I don't see why hormones would be any different. We just don't know enough about the female reproductive system and almost nothing about the endocrine system.
Also, keep in mind that just because a doctor tells you that you are "within normal range" it does not necessarily mean that you are in the right range for you. If you have a sensitive system even a slight discrepancy could be a BIG deal. Especially if there are underlying problems hard to discern from the surface.
My doctor has recommended that I take a lot of Omega 3 (high quality) and the supplement Adreset and has put me on the Paleodiet. I've been having good results.
It's frustrating, but sometimes you really have to push to have doctors give you more thorough tests. They are so used to treating the easy common problems that it's what they look for first. Many of them hardly seemed to take into account my severe anxiety and depression symptoms, thinking I just needed to take an antidepressant when it was really the hormone levels that were messing with me so bad. (Imagine if you had REALLY bad PMS...but all the time...yeah that's me...my husband is a patient man) I've had to switch doctors more times than I can count, from General Practitioners to Gynecologists to Endocrinologists until I finally found a Doctor who really listened to my problems and really thought that there was some underlying cause to all my symptoms and didn't try to just medicate each one separately. I thought I was going crazy for awhile. My family and friends just thought I was lazy when I was just so tired all the time I could barely get out of bed. Anyway, I've gone off on a tangent, but yeah thyroid issues could still be a possibility despite what the testing said. My blood sugar tests were "within normal range" though I had all the physical symptoms of hypoglycemia and cutting sugars out of my diet has made me feel infinitely better. So yeah, just because they take an average range from women doesn't mean it's the right one for you.
Oh and I wanted to tell you, I know your pain about the constant pregnancy risk. Not only do I react awfully to taking hormonal birth control, but I'm allergic to latex and spermicide. I get no regular period to allay any fears and it comes down to taking pregnancy tests all the time. My husband and I use polyurethane condoms which are about 8 times more expensive and much more likely to break or tear, but what choice do we have? Actually as it happens right now, the condom tore two weeks ago (on a month that I just actually had a period for the first time all year :-P) and I have had faint pink spotting and cramps the last three days with three negative pregnancy tests so far. (Hence how I found your post). So I know how it goes and I do wish you the very best of luck.
Hope any of this helps.
Good luck