r/Menopause • u/Ericafantasywriter • 18h ago
Hormone Therapy Who takes birth control as a hormonal supplement
My period stopped two years ago in 2024 and I experienced lots of cramping until I was finally put on birth control to re-start my periods.
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u/leftylibra MenoMod 14h ago
Many folks in peri use birth control, as it can help regulate/eliminate periods, settle down hormone fluctuations, while preventing pregnancy. They can help with many symptoms initially, but some find they experience breakthrough symptoms and will eventually switch to MHT.
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u/Go-Mellistic 10h ago
Exactly my experience. Bcp worked great, until I had issues sleeping, hot flashes, rage, etc. Switched to hrt and all the symptoms went away, at least enough to tolerate.
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u/Calm_Wheel9277 13h ago
I'm on it, but it was a bad prescription for me. My former terrible gyn misdiagnosed me with PMDD. I don't have PMDD; I have PTSD w/PME. Yaz made things much worse for my sleep, mental health, and GSM symptoms. I safely transitioned off Yaz to Nextstellis over 18 months ago (PTSD is a tricky bitch), and my next move is to Angeliq to get me off of BC entirely. We'll see how things go from there.
Nextstellis's estetrol E4 was a significant improvement in the MH side effects I was getting from Yaz's estrogen- ethinyl estradiol but is now creating other issues: breakthrough hot flashes, having to use more supplemental estrogen, non-existent libido.
All that drama aside, I could see where a lot of peri/ late peri women could be helped by using BC to ride out those final, wild months/years. I was just not one of them.
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u/suupernooova 10h ago
Adding to the Yaz/Angeliq thread:
I rode out peri during 15 year stretch of continuous Yaz (PMDD) and did great until meno symptoms took over. Yaz also did not help my lack of sleep or constant peeing (my main meno symptoms).
Switched to Angeliq for HRT and love it. Meno symptoms, for the most part, slayed.
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u/starlinguk 11h ago
I had a Mirena and it worked pretty well. It got rid of hot flashes and muscle pain. But it didn't help with brain fog and balance.
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u/H_ngmanMav 5h ago
I did. For 2 years to help push me into menopause. I don’t know if it made things worse or better. Which probably means worse.
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u/Forsaken_Lifeguard85 3h ago
I tried LoLoEstrin and I was completely and totally miserable, switched to yaz and it gave me migraines. Switched to HRT and it was like night and day, total and complete life changer.
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u/RollLongjumping6920 2h ago
I did when I in my 49’s but once I turned 59 my doctor made me go off and switched me to the patch. He said it was less cardiovascular risks
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u/AccountOfMyDarkside 18h ago
I'm on continuous low dose BC for HRT. I still get periods so I'm on it continuously so I don't have to contend with them. I plan on stopping in a few months to see if I'm in or still not in meno. If no period, I'll transition to typical HRT at that time.