The Pill and Peri

[winedokument]

Asking out of concern for a loved one. They are mid 40s, take the pill back to back so traditional periods don't happen.

I don't want to place all the focus on hormonal changes, they're having a torrid time at work, challenges in their personal life, general stresses of life etc.

However I do genuinely think there are some peri symptoms. But, if they're on the pill, do they need to come off it to have hormone levels correctly assessed? I would assume that's the case, and if so, how long after stopping taking the pill could this be done?

I would have thought the pill would mask any peri symptoms as it's replacing the oestrogen produced. I don't think it's recommended to take it back-to-back though so I wonder if there's any side effects from that? It might be worth them chatting to a doctor if they're concerned.

Foolishly I hadn't thought of that. It shows my ignorance.

Thank you for the suggestion.

It's possible it doesn't mask all symptoms (am not a medical professional, so really no idea). It's worth trying to gently prompt them to see a doctor if you're worried about them.

I'm in a similar situation. I'm on the mini pill so take it back to back and have done for years and therefore not had a period for over 10 years. I went to see the menopause nurse last week as I'm feeling like I have symptoms of peri, nurse sent me for blood tests to rule anything else out and then will make another appt to see her about what happens next. It's difficult to know though as no periods, but I'm definitely at that age.

I've been on the mini pill for years and haven't had a period since I started on it.
I did start having periods symptoms, which got worse. I had a blood test which showed my hormone levels were normal. Then peri symptoms got worse and they prescribed hrt for me.
Basically, being on the pill didn't mask my peri symptoms at all.

@Tyjaro75 it's oestrogen levels falling mostly in menopause. The mini pill only contains progestogen and no oestrogen so wouldn't mask symptoms of perimenopause.