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!?

HRT? No need to suffer like you are and put up with crap!

I'm 53.
I only took the pill for about 3 months.
I havn't had a period for about 15 months but I've had none of the peri / meno symptoms I hear about.
I also had dreadful HG in both pregnancies.
I work on the theory that hormones don't like me (the pill, pregnancy), so the withdrawal of hormones must be ok.

The general consensus that I heard from my gynaecologist was that people who suffer from awful periods generally tend to have a worse menopause as well.

A lot of women have historically been given the pill to help control dreadful period symptoms. So some people might have a bad menopause not because they took the pill, but because they had rotten periods anyway.

This makes sense to me. That's certainly my experience. I was on the pill for years to deal with very heavy painful periods.

I only ever took the pill fir 4 months when young. My menopause was brief and plain sailing.

Didn't suffer from bad period pains ever and had a regular cycle. Went on the pill in my 20s and got bad PMS. Came off the pill and the PMS stopped.
In my late 40s my periods became more erratic, sometimes light, sometimes heavy, and not so predictable. Periods stopped in my early 50s.
No symptoms other than what I've mentioned.
Ageing started being noticeable after the periods stopped.

I put the relatively easy time I had with my hormones down to having always being quite fit.

Following this as I've just been put on the mini pill age 37 to hopefully stop my periods. I've been having horrific periods for years to the point I'm anaemic.

I understand my mum was the same with the awful periods and anaemia and had an early and awful menopause, she was done by 42. I don't have contact with her so only can go by what my sister tells me but if this pill works for me I plan to stay on it till 55 so I hopefully avoid the shitty menopause, think I've paid my dues with the awful periods

Same, although I started/stopped the pill a bit younger than you.

The mini pill can help with the heavy bleeding or irregular periods during peri menopause but it’s only the combined pill (the synthetic oestrogen) that masks the other symptoms of menopause (hot flushes, brain fog, low mood etc)

This is interesting as I took the pill for one week as young woman in my early 20s and got a funny sensation in my leg and my GP
told me to stop taking it and I never took any kind of contraceptive pill ever again.

I had absolutely no problems going through the menopause.

My sisters have also had no problems going through the menopause and one has never taken a contraceptive pill and one only took it for a couple of years before having children and never again.

@SmileyClare that's interesting to know. I can't take combined hormones so I imagine HRT will be out for me too. It will be interesting to see how my menopause is then having to ride it out without oestrogens

Lots of women don’t use HRT- although you may be allowed to access it even if you were advised not to take the combined pill.

For now, I hope the mini pill helps to control your awful periods now and gives you some relief!

I’m 54, going through menopause, never took the pill but have always suffered from hormonal imbalance (lack of progesterone) and always been very sensitive to hormonal changes, mostly psychological. Menopause is turning my life into an emotional roller coaster of the highest level. People are staying away from me.

I took the pill for 3 years.
Mum had her last period at 39 and sailed through the menopause. Mum took the pill.
I had my last period at 47, I'm now 64 and have had no symptoms of the menopause.
All my periods were very light as were mums.
My daughter is now 39 and ever since she was 16 has had awful periods.
She was only on the pill for 3 months as it didn't suit her.

I have 3 granddaughters and 1 has bad periods her sister has light ones.(daughters girls)
And my sons daughter is very light and her mother is flooded every month.

Took the pill on and off between ages 18 & 28 then came off it. Restarted at 46 due to unbearable periods, I’m 48 not had a period since restarting the pill and very few peri or menopause symptoms unlike everyone else around me. I’m told I can continue on this pill until I’m 55 and by that point the Drs hope I should be through it by then. I also had my last child at 42 which I’m told can also delay menopause so I’m not even sure if I’ve started yet.

Always taken the pill from 19 (apart from pregnancies).

I'm 52 and still on the pill.

I have a review every year, last one will be when I'm 55. The nurse said I'll probably just sail through menopause as I have no symptoms. I get sore boobs for a couple of days, maybe once a year, but that's it.

My DM took the pill. Suffered horribly with the menopause.

HutontheBeach
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?

It doesn't prevent ovulation. It makes the environment uninhabitable for implantation

The combined pill suppresses ovulation, the progesterone only (mini pill) makes the environment uninhabitable.

I was on the pill for almost all of my adult life and I had an easy menopause, some very heavy periods near the end, a few hot flushes and that was about it.

I never took the pill and haven’t had an easy menopause

I am 47 been on combined pill since I was 18. Various different types. Most recent version for 10+ years no issues. I thought I was having peri symptoms in summer so gp told me to try hrt. Bad idea for me, was so depressed and achy. Now back on pill to see if it settles. Happy to be on pill until I am 50. Then I guess I will have to stop and see where I am. Not looking forward to that. My mum had a hysterectomy in her early 40s for heaving bleeding and said she was emotional a lot after but no other symptoms. So I can’t tell from genies if I follow as nothing to compare too.

Took the combined pill for a few months and fell pregnant on it! Later a copper coil. Briefly a POP pill for 2 months. Mental side effects awful. Felt like topping myself at one point. Hubby had snip therefore.

My perimenopause has been long winded and strange lol! Irregular periods, very light bleed , no hot flushes at all, not much weight gain - so good there. But bad digestive issues, headaches, not great sleep, so tiredness, mood swings sometimes - so bad there. On HRT now.

I took the pill for about two decades, and the mini pill between my kids.
I had a breeze of a menopause. Just a few irregular periods starting at about 54, then last one at 56. No hot flashes, no brain fog, nothing.
My mother never took the pill and had a horrendous time.