Breakthrough Bleeding On Birth Control

[HAK1031]

Hello all,

I have had issues with my period since I started (rather late at 14, compared with 11 for all of the other women in my family...now I'm almost 17). I only had three real periods the first year or so, with several episodes of a few days of light spotting. I had really uncomfortable cramps as well, so I went to the gyno. She diagnosed me with endometriosis and put me on birth control (yaz) which worked wonders for the first 7 months...then I had breakthrough bleeding that didn't stop.

I have since had the same thing happen with five different pills in the past 18 months, with some being effective for only a month and others for several months. Since May I have been on Seasonique, which was working well until about 10 days ago, when I started getting breakthrough bleeding. These episodes are really painful and inconvenient, as you might imagine. There is nothing I can do to make the bleeding stop, and there are times when it is really heavy. The last time this happened, I was in Scotland, and I started bleeding two days before I was supposed to go home...and was in the bathroom every two hours on the plane.

My gyno has always told me that some women just have this problem, but I started thinking...could I somehow be malabsorbing the hormones? While I have been gluten-free for almost a year, I have had a hard time healing. I still get CC'd way more often than I probably should-- about once or twice every couple of months. I read online that two or more days of D in a row while taking the pill should be considered a "missed" pill. I definitely still have digestive issues in that respect, although it is not totally D. I have an appointment with the gyno on wednesday (a different one than usual, the usual one is in France) and I was going to bring it up then. Anyone have any thoughts or experiences with this?

Here are the pills I have been on:

-yaz

-Lo Estrin 24 FE

-Femcon FE

-Portia

-seasonique

My gyno also says she doubts I have ever ovulated..probably a celiac complication. I have no idea if this will resolve itself and I will be able to have biological children.

[Janessa]

I had the same problem on birth control (though I don't have endometriosis) I was fine on it for months then breakthrough bleeding that kept getting worse until it was like everyday. My doctor kept switching pills but it kept happening and then I started having more symptoms (the bad ones like the super bad headaches that aren't like normals headaches) and my dr. had to take me off hormonal birth control altogether.

I also notice that soy also messes with my period so I've stopped eating that as well.

[Janiney]

Have you considered the other methods of contraception like the contraceptive patch or injection? These methods would go directly into your skin and so there would be no chance that your gut would not absorb them.

When I realised I had coeliac disease I was worried that my pill might contain gluten and as I couldn't get a reply from the manufacturers I went to my doctor to look into other methods. I'm on the contraceptive patch now and although I had some 'breakthough bleeding' in the middle of my cycle last month it only lasted a week and then went away, the leaflet inside says this is normal and just your body adjusting.

I guess there are always other things like condoms etc, it might be that hormonal contraception just doesn't agree with you and you could be better letting your body do it's thing... just depends on your preference!

[debmidge]

I am not celiac, my husband is.....anyway I've had breakthrough bleeding when I used

the Pill and part of the issue was I needed a stronger prescription and I had fibroids which

bled a lot.

[HAK1031]

Well I'm now on nuvaring so we''ll see how that works out, but the gyno said it may be time to consider surgery for the endometriosis arghh it's frustrating. But I'm hoping this works, as my next option is to go on lupron and basically put my body into pseudomenopause...which I'd rather not do at 17...

oh and i'm not on the pill for contraception, it's because i've had so many issues w/ my period. believe me, if I could go off it I would! it's more trouble than it's worth!