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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To wonder why are some women completely intolerant to hormonal contraceptives?

43 replies

PasstheBucket89 · 13/07/2020 16:06

Why are some women completely intolerant to hormonal contraceptives? im one of them and ive always wondered, every attempt at the implant, mirena coil ended up in me being constantly on a period, and very anaemic, i was on copper coped slightly better on that, i never got an explanation whenever i asked i got shrugged at, and it was one of those things. Hmm lots of clever people in relative jobs on here im wondering if anyone knows??

OP posts:
MoominKitty · 13/07/2020 16:16

No idea but the combination pill was the only one that agreed with me.

The progesterone only things caused constant period and anger.

I'm 6 months postpartum and 32 so we now just use condoms as I'm not allowed my old pill Hmm

Original poster
PasstheBucket89 · 13/07/2020 16:28

yeah same i felt shocking too, then i was given tablets (more hormones Hmm) awful, its frustrating there aren't better non hormonal options.

OP posts:
MoominKitty · 13/07/2020 16:35

I was considering the copper coil, buuuut I also like having painless 3 day periods 😂.

If I was allowed I'd go back on the combined tbh but I'll cope with condoms.

Not sure why the progestogen only things affect so many women, my sister mum, and 6 of my friends have the same reactions.

PinkSparklyPussyCat · 13/07/2020 16:47

The only hormonal contraception I've been able to take is the combined pill containing norithisterone. I've tried other hormones but feel awful. Unfortunately Loestrin was discontinued and Brevinor and Norimin are out of stock so I'm now taking apart packets of Synphase so I can run the packs back to back!

I have no idea what I'll do if that goes out of stock!

Cabinfever10 · 13/07/2020 16:47

I get migraines so not allowed the combination pill and the progesterone only not only makes me bleed continuously but really messed with my head. I ended up getting sterilised 😀. Though now I'm menopausal and I can't have HRT either which is really shit

caitlinohara · 13/07/2020 16:51

No idea but I have a massive issue with young women being routinely given hormonal contraceptives, I went bonkers whilst on the Pill and will never get those years of my life back.

rosiejaune · 13/07/2020 16:53

Surely the real question is why aren't all women? Hormones are a really significant thing to mess with; they affect your entire body in various ways.

Sparklfairy · 13/07/2020 16:54

I was in hospital with a gallbladder infection. I've never felt pain like it. Turns out it can be caused by high levels of progesterone, and happened two weeks after I got the depo injection after a long break off it Shock

22WR · 13/07/2020 16:59

I used the implant for years without any bad side effects. However after I had my son 3 years ago, I just can't tolerate any hormonal contraceptives at all. The implant literally sent me crazy. I was so down, with mood swings all over the place. I had to beg the doctor to take it out as it'd only been in a year, but I just felt terrible. Then I tried the combined pill which was better but still not great. I now have a copper coil and feel tonnes better. I've no idea how or why it happened as I'd been fine for years but something definitely changed after I'd had my baby.

D4rwin · 13/07/2020 17:01

I think the research into female hormones has only scratched the surface and it's tried to reduce a complex symphony to one of those wind up music toys you get for pennies.

D4rwin · 13/07/2020 17:02

Inevitably, they're too blunt a tool to be useful for all.

NeonQT · 13/07/2020 17:07

I cant tolerate any of them. Pill, even pop, makes me feel like a angry teenager again. Spotty, greasy skin and random outbursts of anger. Implant I just bleed constant. Coil is very heavy periods.

I just use condoms

PinkSparklyPussyCat · 13/07/2020 17:11

I need it to control my PMS and periods. I'm dreading having to come off it at some point as I really don't know how I'll cope

princesshollysmagicalwand · 13/07/2020 17:15

See, I now feel like I can't cope without them.

Took the combined pill for 15 years from age 15-30 (went on it for acne and stayed on it for contraception). 4 years without it whilst I had my children then after second baby (not PND) my moods went haywire, I had the most awful PMT. I could be screaming one minute and crying the next.

Now on mini pill for the last year as too old and fat for combined pill these days (working on it!) and I fed normal again.

I do have PCOS so my hormones aren't right anyway.

princesshollysmagicalwand · 13/07/2020 17:15

See, I now feel like I can't cope without them.

Took the combined pill for 15 years from age 15-30 (went on it for acne and stayed on it for contraception). 4 years without it whilst I had my children then after second baby (not PND) my moods went haywire, I had the most awful PMT. I could be screaming one minute and crying the next.

Now on mini pill for the last year as too old and fat for combined pill these days (working on it!) and I fed normal again.

I do have PCOS so my hormones aren't right anyway.

Soubriquet · 13/07/2020 17:17

Well at the end of the day, it isn’t natural

We don’t do it to men, so why are women ok to shove full of hormones

I can’t tolerate them. They make me incredibly crabby and makes me PMS worse

Shayisgreat · 13/07/2020 17:18

I got the implant while breastfeeding. No period but couldn't easily lose pregnancy weight despite good diet and plenty of exercise. Moods all over the place as well.

Stopped bfing and then had a constant period for 6 months. Got implant taken out privately as nhs weren't doing it during covid. Everything has gone back to normal and steadily losing weight. Feeling very relieved (but worried about the failure rate of condoms!)

Shayisgreat · 13/07/2020 17:20

Luckily, DH is very happy to have a vasectomy after our next child (which won't be too soon hopefully!)

dontgobaconmyheart · 13/07/2020 17:26

All medication affects each individual differently. Not everyones body metabolises things at the same rate and there are so many contributing factors to dosing, metabolisation, existing hormone levels, digestion, weight (medicine depending), existing health conditions, age, so on ad infinitum really.

Ultimately all medications adjust things in the bodies process or brain via the alteration of hormones or chemicals. I think it stands to reason given how varied these things already are in people, that they will have positive or 'no negative' effects in some and cause an issue for others.

Very unfortunate for those that can't benefit where others can but medication is never going to be one size fits all to an extent.

nevermorelenore · 13/07/2020 17:32

Wish I knew. I did the contraceptive jab for about 2 years as a teenager and I honestly feel like it wrecked my life. I rapidly gained weight, got awful depression and have just never felt 'right' since then. All because my ex hated wearing condoms. I think there are good reasons why women have been allowed to take the pill for decades, yet they've never cleared one for men to use.

TheHighestSardine · 13/07/2020 17:32

Human bodies are a ridiculous bodge-up of interrelated, interdependent and interacting systems, it's astonishing they work at all ever.

Twiddling around with the hormones - which have the express purpose of twiddling around with the production/activity of lots of other bits of the body - always holds the possibility of complete meltdown.

The bodginess of each individual's body, due to the way growth as a foetus is along chemical gradients which themselves are mediated by physical location of cells in the blastocyst and the mother's hormones and blood supply, is different for everyone.

So it's even less surprising that twiddling a knob by taking contraceptive type A will affect different women differently.

We're a mess. We have no tools to pre-judge what type of a mess we're in. Twiddling the dials on our black box bodies is an experimental process. Hopefully we can all find something that works and doesn't mess us up.

blurpityblurp · 13/07/2020 17:32

There’s some evidence it’s genetic.

BankofNook · 13/07/2020 17:36

I got pregnant while on the contraceptive injection so that one didn't work for me.

The combined pill really messed with my joints, I have EDS-hypermobility type and had so many dislocations and over extensions while on it as well as an increase in symptoms such as brain fog, fatigue, and clumsiness.

Cerazette turned me evil. Mood swings, rages, crying jags, insomnia, acne, three week long periods followed by a week of spotting then a week of nothing before the next three week long period began. It was awful.

After our last DC (a result of pill failure) was born, DH got the snip and I ditched the hormones.

AnnieMaul · 13/07/2020 17:38

Same. Hormonal contraceptives have never agreed with me. I bled daily for months on the implant and had to go on the pill (in addition to the implant) to stop the bleeding. I went through almost everything available in terms of hormonal contraceptives and suffered years of spots, weight issues, headaches and mood swings before finally refusing to do it anymore about 6 years ago. I was ravenous when on the pill and could not stop eating. That led to some bad habits and poor relationships with food that I still struggle with now. I felt like a different person. If I knew then what I know now, i'd have never gone on them in the first place.

roarfeckingroar · 13/07/2020 17:38

Because our bodies are balanced with the right hormone levels for life (unless something is wrong). I don't know how pumping ourselves full of hormones is ever going to be fine. I refuse to do it anymore.