The contraceptive pill

[Ace1185]

Hi I'm looking for some advice please.

I was on the pill for ten years before I had our son with no problems. Since I've had him nothing seems to agree with me. He is now 9 so had a few years of trying different pills, injections etc but all seem to cause problems such as headaches that last 3 days and nothing stops them and bleeding constantly.

The dr suggested a pill with a lower dose of the hormone in it she seems to think this would help. Anyway I've taken one 21 day pack and I'm on my 7 day break just now but I've had one 3 day headache in that period. I want to stop them again but was speaking to my husband and he thinks I need to give them a decent try to see if my body will adjust.

What would others do in this situation?

I normally give pills 3 months to decide if they're right for me (I've tried about 12 over the years). Sometimes it does take time for your hormone levels to settle down with new pills (ie, when I started on desogestrel it took 6 months for the spots around my chin to go) but only you know whether you want to be on the pill, it's very easy for your husband to decide you should pump your body with hormones to avoid a pregnancy but unless there's a medical reason why you need to be on the pill there are other forms of contraception that don't involve headaches/bleeding/spots/mood disorders but they're not so convenient for a husband

Sorry I should have said I'm not actually on it for contraception reasons, my husband has had the snip

Anyone else?

What are you taking them for?

I’d probably have said I’d stick with it for contraceptive reasons, but if you don’t need them for that, I don’t think I would. It doesn’t sound like anything hormonal is really helping, so I’d be tempted to stop it all.

I am taking them for an unusual odour that started almost a year ago. I've had 3 lots of antibiotics, pessary for bv x2, thrush treatment, swabs and a full sexual health check all negative even for bv, also no missing tampons. Had my last smear November 2019 and the gp says because I just had one he is reluctant to do another one 🙄 I've also been on the pill with no 7 day break which is when I was bleeding constantly and having headaches so the dr put me on a lower dose pill for 21 days and a 7 day break. The thing is the pill was helping the issue so feel stuck between a rock and a hard place

Have you tried a probiotic? Optibac do a product specifically designed for women, and it can really help with unusual gynae issues. Failing that, if the GP thinks it's to do with a hormonal imbalance I'd ask for a referral to a gynaecologist/endocrinologist and see if they are happy to prescribe something like estradiol pessaries which are much more locally acting but can help with issues caused by vaginal dryness etc