Do you have an easier menopause if you never took the pill?

[GreenRaven]

Trying to find a reason why some women have an easy menopause and some women have a difficult one. I had a delightful menopause. There is nothing particularly unusual about me other than maybe it is unusual that I never took the contraceptive pill? I am not even sure that it is that unusual, to be honest.

So straw poll- did you ever take the pill, and did you suffer during your menopause or sail through? Or did you have an experience not so easily categorised?

If we keep doing polls like this, any that occur to you and make you wonder, really- in the end we might actually stumble across some sort of answer to why some women have it so hard, and maybe even a way of stopping it happening!?

Maybe scientist don’t see the value in research as it’s a female issue?

Maybe there’s no money in cures?

I think it depends on your own mother to be honest.

I wouldn’t know a good one from a bad one and people have different thresholds and priorities. Hard to tell really!

yep, agree with most of that - scientists are not researching this female issue! I think you know if you have a good or bad one. Maybe most are somewhere in the middle

It's hard to answer as there are many variables.
Type of pill.
How long you took it for
Age of starting and ending.
Diet.
Exercise.
Genetics.
What do you class as suffering? Stiffness) memory loss/ anxiety/ night sweats etc
You'd need big groups of both pill/ no pill women to look for a correlation.

I voted on behalf of my Mum but in the days when she took the pill it was a new thing and probably really different to the pill of today. She didn't have a great menopause but whether she 'suffered' I'm not sure. She was one of the first to get HRT.

I took the pill from 18-42. When I came off it the horrendous pain and flooding came back with my periods and got worse untill I had Zoladex injections ( fibroids) in prep for a hysterectomy at 49.
The only symptom I've had is hot flushes and a bit of brain fog, though I've always been a little foggy.

I took the pill and apart from heavier periods just before the menopause, I had no symptoms during the menopause at all.

I didn’t take the pill; my menopause has been horrendous.

What I have learnt from this poll, is fewer women take the pill than I imagined! I would have guessed around three quarter, or possibly even more. Clearly not

I've got both sides of the coin, from when I was 18 and all throughout my 20s, I took the pill. Then from 30 onwards I didn't take the pill. One thing I noticed when I started the pill is I'd get horrendous migraines, I actually had to try two brand names before the third worked.

My menopause isn't terrible, I think quite standard. No DC. So for me, I'm not sure. I did get bad PMT though when I was younger which was undiagnosed and therefore not really treated. I've found that since I was over the peri stage, my moods have been amazing... such a relief to not have the PMT side of things and to feel on an even keel. But, here's another thing, I was diagnosed as having an underactive thyroid in my 30s but this could've been undiagnosed for years and apparently this can mimic PMT symptoms. Fun eh?!

I'm 52. When I was younger in 20s and teens, we almost all took the pill. Although some when they got older used natural family planning (Persona?). But the pill was quite common to take. My DM when she was younger, she didn't take the pill, it was the coil or the cap.

So straw poll- did you ever take the pill, and did you suffer during your menopause or sail through? Or did you have an experience not so easily categorised?

Took the pill from 18 to late 30s, sailed through menopause. Can't recall any significant symptoms bar mild flushes.

In fairness, how are we supposed to know, though? I've never taken the pill, but it's difficult to know whether my menopause is easier or more difficult than anyone else's.

exactly, this is totally non scientific. Just use your own judgement - do you feel it was good or bad for you?

How could it make any difference - logically?
The Pill just prevents ovulation while it's been taken, pretty much like being pregnant. How could that affect menopause symptoms?

Another one here who never took the pill. I did try twice for really brief periods and it really didn't agree with me at all. Nausea, depression, headaches, just horrible.

My menopause started when I was 48 ( I'm 51 now) and the only thing I had was hot flushes that seem to have subsided now. I never wanted HRT as my mum had it back in the day and it caused her fibroids that were leading to cancer and she had to have a full hysterectomy, so I'm fine, thanks.

You might have a point there OP!

I think a lot of women start taking the pill in their teens because that's often the first thing we're offered for everything from contraception to painful periods to acne, but then as they get older and are able to educate themselves they come off it.

Personally I took it ages 18-22ish, it didn't agree with me at all and I tried many different ones before giving up on hormonal contraception entirely. A lot of my friends have (or had) the coil or implant in their 20s and 30s, and find that suits them better than the pill they took in their teens. Some, like me, came off everything entirely. I'm in my 40s and none of my close friends have taken the pill in years.

You've got a tiny sample so far.

Anyway, I took various forms of the pill from when I was about 20 through to 51 (the gps didn't notice I was over 50 for a while). Only break was when I was TTC, pregnant and breastfeeding (once).
I have PCOS so they were types which tended to help the acne, the last one I was on was Marvelon. My periods before I started the pill were very irregular but often very painful. For me, the pill seems to have been a good thing.

I'd say my menopause was on the mild side. A few nights sweats, some VA but that's pretty ubiquitous. No HRT (apart from vagifem for the VA).

I took the pill when in 20s&30s.
My mum had a bad experience of menopause, so I was expecting the same. Mine started at 45.
When I was 40, I switched from dairy to soya milk and yogurt because of IBS. I didn't take HRT, but recently a doctor told me that the soya most likely helped with meno symptoms. I wouldn't say I sailed through, had a lot of aches and pains and a bit of moodiness, but hardly any sweats/hot flushes.

I also stepped up my exercise at 40 as I started to gain weight, and I think that really did help get me through menopause more easily. Nothing hard core, just aerobic/cross training classes 3 times a week.

The one person I know who had essentially “no menopause” was on the pill from 17-50 other than TTC/pregnant, then on the mini pill 50-53. She stopped the mini pill in lockdown because of not being able to get a GP appointment, and never had a period again. No symptoms at all, no drama, no HRT now 57. She also never had any period problems, probably because of being on the pill.

On the other hand I suffered with horrific periods and was in and out of hospital from my teens with them. Little success with the pill, despite being prescribed it from about 13 so just used condoms mainly. I took the mini pill from my mid 40s because my periods started to get erratic and that was great, but peri broke through at 49 and now I am on HRT and not doing brilliantly. I’m 51.

I took the pill from 21 until I was 52. Periods never returned when I came off it. I'd say I've pretty much sailed through the menopause (I'm 59) with just a few aches and pains and a touch of forgetfulness - but nothing serious.
I do, however, eat healthily (Al home cooked food) and exercise at least 3 times a week - something I've done since I was 35.

all - haven't found a way for AI to do my cooking yet!

I took the Pill from 33 to about 45 I think. Had menopause at 51. The only symptom I had was hot flushes (not even night sweats). Overall sailed through it. Wasn't on the Pill when I went into menopause. I had awful painful periods all my life. Never taken HRT.

Took pill 16-27. Conceived twice within a month of not taking it, Mirena followed DC 2 for six years, no issues. Menopause not too bad, flooding and severe cramps went on for longer than I’d like but hot flushes manageable. HRT free and done and dusted by 55.

always eaten well, always walked lots.

I think the pill is used to mask gynaecology issues already. Rather than investigate heavy or irregular periods you get put on the pill.
then, come the menopause these issues resurface with the joy of added menopause