Birth Control Pill

[mtrubitz]

Does anyone know if absorption of hormones in birth contol pills is effected by celiac disease? I have been gluten free for 2 months and I am starting to feel super moody. I am wondering if maybe I hadn't been absorbing the hormones befrore and now that I am starting to heal I am adjusting to actually absorbing the hormones now. Help!

[jenvan]

It is possible. Hence, even though I am hopefully on the road to full recovery, I am switching to nuvaring--where hormones are absorbed directly into the bloodstream...

[lizzy]

It is possible.  Hence, even though I am hopefully on the road to full recovery, I am switching to nuvaring--where hormones are absorbed directly into the bloodstream...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

hi whats nuvaring is that the patch ?

[danikali]

Does anyone know if absorption of hormones in birth contol pills is effected by celiac disease?  I have been gluten free for 2 months and I am starting to feel super moody.  I am wondering if maybe I hadn't been absorbing the hormones befrore and now that I am starting to heal I am adjusting to actually absorbing the hormones now.  Help!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I can't quite answer your question but I will tell you, before I knew anything about gluten intolerance and celiac disease, and before I knew anything was seriously wrong with me, I had HUGE problems on the birth control (Yasmine to be exact)- I started out very moody, and the longer I was on it, the more into depression I fell. I asked NUMEROUS doctors about it, and they had no clue. Then I went online and found out that there are a lot of people who get severely depressed on the pill, and I'm thinking, because you have celiac disease, it is worse because for a while, you were completely depleting any vitamans you were eating. And you said you have only been on the diet for about 2 months which means your body is not completely healed yet.

I went off the birth control and after a couple of month was COMPLETLEY myself again........I had no idea! Then I also found out that the pill depletes vitaman B, which majorly connects to how your brain reacts. So, if you want to stay on the pill, you should probably try and take vitaman B supplements to get that extra umph in your brain that the pill may be taking away!

[jenvan]

nuvaring is the flexible ring you insert. you only have to worry about it twice a month, when you put it in and take it out. i have several friends who've tried it and none have had problems with it. a few here have tried it, maybe they will post their thoughts on it. i also like it b/c it has less hormones than the oral. i have a celiac friend, diagnosed 10 yrs ago who was was vigilant about her BC, but got pregnant twice while on it ! sometimes 'accidents' happen, but i do follow the logic that absorption issues are possible with celiac disease for meds, and food as we already know. the one unknown i guess is how "healed" you are, and how "improved" your absorption is. anywho, i have an appt tommorrow with my OB to switch to nuvaring. i can let you know what i think or if i learn anything else if you are interested.

go here to read about it: Open Original Shared Link

mtrubitz, can i ask why you are wanting to go on the pill? is it a medical reason or just birth control? there are some who issues with BC, as lizzy states, but most women i know do pretty well. i hope to go off of it for good in the next few years...as no meds is always better.

i do not recommend the patch. i know several others who have had pretty severe reactions to it--. last week i think someone posted a thread on the patch and that women on it were being asked to see their docs as it was secreting too many hormones. anyone know where that thread is? am i remembering correctly?

here is another BC thread you can ck out: Open Original Shared Link

[mtrubitz]

nuvaring is the flexible ring you insert.  you only have to worry about it twice a month, when you put it in and take it out.  i have several friends who've tried it and none have had problems with it.  a few here have tried it, maybe they will post their thoughts on it.  i also like it b/c it has less hormones than the oral.  i have a celiac friend, diagnosed 10 yrs ago who was was vigilant about her BC, but got pregnant twice while on it !  sometimes 'accidents' happen, but i do follow the logic that absorption issues are possible with celiac disease for meds, and food as we already know.  the one unknown i guess is how "healed" you are, and how "improved" your absorption is.  anywho, i have an appt tommorrow with my OB to switch to nuvaring.  i can let you know what i think or if i learn anything else if you are interested.

go here to read about it:  Open Original Shared Link

mtrubitz, can i ask why you are wanting to go on the pill?  is it a medical reason or just birth control?  there are some who issues with BC, as lizzy states, but most women i know do pretty well.  i hope to go off of it for good in the next few years...as no meds is always better. 

i do not recommend the patch.  i know several others who have had pretty severe reactions to it--.  last week i think someone posted a thread on the patch and that women on it were being asked to see their docs as it was secreting too many hormones.  anyone know where that thread is?    am i remembering correctly?

here is another BC thread you can ck out:  Open Original Shared Link

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I have been on the pill for 7 years now...only recently am I starting to notice the emotional changes. Thanks for all the feedback!

[mookie03]

Does anyone know if absorption of hormones in birth contol pills is effected by celiac disease?  I have been gluten free for 2 months and I am starting to feel super moody.  I am wondering if maybe I hadn't been absorbing the hormones befrore and now that I am starting to heal I am adjusting to actually absorbing the hormones now.  Help!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I was most recently on Yasmin but went off of it around the same time i stopped eating gluten, so i guess i cant really tell if it would have been better. But before going gluten free, I had some "absorption" problems in that i kept experiencing breakthrough bleeding, clotting and such. This may be a stupid question, but i have to ask: does this potential absorption problem mean that the pill is less effective for us? (or was when we were eating gluten?)

[hapi2bgf]

Well according to my gastro, pre-celiac diagnosis, since my villi were flat and I was suffering from malnutition, he was suprised that I had not gotten pregnant while on the pill. Take it for what it is worth, but it made sense to me. Pre-gluten-free diet I wasn't absorbing anything very well so I would think the medicine would also not be absorbed very well. While on the gluten-free diet, without accidents, the pill should be perfectly safe.

[jenvan]

hapi2bgf, i agree that if you are gluten-free and healed...it shouldn't be an issue. i have chosen to switch at this point, b/c the nuvaring uses a lot less hormones... the less the better i say!

[mookie03]

Well according to my gastro, pre-celiac diagnosis, since my villi were flat and I was suffering from malnutition, he was suprised that I had not gotten pregnant while on the pill. Take it for what it is worth, but it made sense to me. Pre-gluten-free diet I wasn't absorbing anything very well so I would think the medicine would also not be absorbed very well. While on the gluten-free diet, without accidents, the pill should be perfectly safe.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

wow, that is such a relief to know- it sounds like u actually have a knowledgable doctor

needless to say, i wont be eating gluten anytime soon, but if this is true, it puts a lot of undiagnosed celiacs at risk for accidental pregnancy!

[Kelly Langenfeld]

I've been on many different BC pills b/c my doctors thought that I had endometriosis d/t chronic abdominal pain back in the mid 90's (it was always only celiac-undiagnosed). Two laparoscopies showed nothing abnormal.

I've been on Yasmin for several years and I absolutely love it. There's no weight gain with Yasmin, as there is commonly with the other BC pills. It also does an amazing job with clearing up your complexion, and doesn't make your breasts hurt the week before your period. I was on the Yasmin both before and after my Feb. '04 diagnosis and haven't seen any difference in my moodiness as a result.

If I had to hypothesize re: why you are having trouble with depression and mood swings, I speculate that it has a lot more to do with the huge life changes that you have made with being gluten free and allowing your body to heal. Celiac has been far more of an emotional adjustment for me than a physical/physiological one.

--Kelly

[Kelly Langenfeld]

After further thought re: your question, maybe your body is absorbing more of the pill due to your villi healing. Call your MD's nurse and ask he/she to refer the question to your OB MD for their thoughts on the matter.

Maybe you need to switch to a lower hormone dosage now that your body is healing.

Intriguing question!

--Kelly

P.S. Please let us know if you find out the answer to this!

[tstarbrat]

Hello all I just wanted to say something about the patch. I was on the patch for about 7 months when recently I received a call from my doctor that it is no longer considered safe. I was told that there is a pretty big risk of blood clots and strokes. A much bigger risk than the pill or any other bc thats out there right now. I work at a university and most of the doctors if not all all (this is according to my doctor and the cvs pharmacy where i pick up my px) at the health center took their patients off the patch and are asking them to take something else. My doctor told me that he refuses to write the px for any of his patients. He said if i did want to take it I would have to get another doctor to write the px. I have been seeing this doctor for 5 years now and I trust him. If anyone out there is on the patch ask your doctor about the risks now associated with it. The newest findings were received about a week and a half ago. I don't want to scare anyone but I have just been sharing this with all of my girlfriends because some of them heard nothing about it from their docs until they asked!

[bluelotus]

I too am on Yasmin, and like Kelly, I love it. I was on Ortho for several years prior to switching to Yasmin and it was terrible. I had tried various products of Orhto's (various pill strengths, the patch) with similar results - moodiness, break through bleeding, cramps, etc. I switched to Yasmin and have been fine. I was dxd with celiac disease while on Yasmin and haven't noticed any differences since going gluten-free. I think that people are just so variable, that what works for some doesn't for others. I wish you luck in figuring out what works for you.

[skbird]

I tried the nuvaring and didn't like my reaction. However, I was on various BCPs for 13 years and off for the past 4, and I'm beginning to think that my emotional problems in my 20's are a result of being on the pill, something I just never realized.

My recent attempt at the Nuvaring left me very emotionally bent out of shape, plus dampened my already low sex drive and caused internal irritation. My doctor was surprised by these comments, but it was genuinely what I experienced. Bummer - I was trying it to lessen my endometriosis symptoms. Anyway, I really liked the concept - not having to take a daily pill, also using less hormones and they were straight in the bloodstream, not in my liver, but it just didn't work for me.

The past three-four years of my life have been the most calm and I occasionally marvel at that, without knowing exactly why this is the case. I have done a lot with my diet, which certainly is part to blame, but my attempt at birth control hormones really screwed me up, and now I realize that must have been a very large part of my unstable moods before, as well. The fact it took me two weeks to get over one week of using the ring speaks for itself. Scary.

Stephanie

[jenvan]

i'll be starting nuvaring in a few weeks. i'll let you all know what i think, if you're interested

[mtrubitz]

Thanks so much for all of your input. I will be meeting with my Dr next week to discuss birth control options. I will keep you updated and let you know what she has to say about Celiac and absoption of the pill.