Perimenopause pill

[Softplayhooray]

My periods have gotten a little haywire and I strongly suspect perimenopause (I'm 47). I'm considering the pill (progesterone only given my age?) to get them back under control. Has anyone used the pill to manage peri periods, and is it possible to just continuously cycle through the monthly packets to avoid periods altogether? Thanks so much in advance for any wisdom shared!

Yes! Azalia
Back to back no break. I dont get periods now, thank goodness as i was getting 3 week periods, and heavy 😯

Interesting, which pills are suitable for peri periods?

Thank you @TreePoser that's great to hear. Can I ask which will you use?

Sorry i just noted Azalia. Thank you!

You don’t have a break with the POP. I’ve been taking it since January. I’ve had bleeding nearly every day since I’ve been on it, but it is much lighter than the extremely heavy periods I had before (and which meant I couldn’t leave the house for two or three days each month). However, last month I had a bleed which was so heavy that 111 sent a paramedic out when I rang then, so I’m not sure how effective the POP is going to be in the medium term. I’m due to have a hysterectomy anyway, due to fibroids, so am just using the Pill to bide my time until then. But the POP can cause your periods to become even more erratic. For some women it stops their periods altogether. It’s the luck of the draw, it seems.

@GCAcademic thank you for sharing this. I'm sorry you experienced that and it's good to know different experiences.

I really wish you the best with your hysterectomy. I don't know if it is useful to share this, but a great friend had a hysterectomy recently and she was dreading it, but she was so happy with how it went compared to what she was expecting, and the freedom to finally be rid of her atrocious periods has transformed a big part of each month of her life.

Thank you @Softplayhooray . I am both dreading and looking forward to the hysterectomy, if that makes sense.

Yes, I used a combined pill called Qlaira for about a year. It did sort out my periods but I came off it due to supply issues. I switched to the Mirena coil and estrogen patches and find it much more effective than the pill at controlling my symptoms. And I don't have any periods with the coil which is life changing!

That's really interesting about the coil, thank you! Did you use the combined pill during peri or before? I am actually going to the doc tomorrow and was planning on asking for the mini pill given its to manage peri symptoms..

I use the combined pill now for peri. The only thing it's not great for is hot flushes but all my other symptoms have gone. I tried the more typical hrt (patches) but the progesterone part made me so itchy and also crazy! I can stay on it till I'm 50 apparently. I don't need it for contraception as he's had the snip but it has helped me out a lot.

Thanks, that's good to know - I guess I'll wait and see what the doc suggests tomorrow...looking forward to seeing if it helps!

@Softplayhooray I went on the pill for peri and related heavy period issues. I had to convince the GP though. She wasn't keen.

That's interesting @WhereAreWeNow what were her concerns?

@Softplayhooray I think the general view is that the combined pill isn't for women over 40. She wasn't aware of it being used for peri.
The ones I recommend researching are Qlaira and Zoely.
The other reason she wasn't keen is that Qlaira is relatively expensive.

Interesting, thank you...I was under the same impression until I researched it further and it seems that women who have no health issues who are over 40 benefit more from the combined...

Just thought I'd update this thread in case anyone is in a similar position or considering the contraceptive pill as a method of improving peri symptoms....going into one month taking the combined pill and I feel great so far - no weight gain or any other side effects, and periods obviously very predictable time wise. No mood swings and also I was getting ovulation-related low mood every month which has gone, and no tiredness pre-menstruation as I otherwise would have had. Its v early days but so far as an intervention for peri it's working well...!

Thanks for the update. Just looking at going on the pill for similar reasons.

Also which one did you have in the end?