Is it okay to use birth control pills for regulating one's cycles?

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Holly3278

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Hey everyone. I know it is okay to use birth control pills for therapeutic reasons but what about for regulating one’s cycles? Is it okay to use them for that? I don’t have regular cycles and I don’t hardly ever have a period so I asked my doctor to put me on them to help regulate my cycles. What do you say?
 
I was faced with the exact same problem. I had that option, but I am not fond of the idea of using birth control pills - even though I am single and thus not contracepting per se - simply because of the inherent issues with the medication itself (and a family history of allergies). My endocrinologist put me on a progesterone regimen, that I take for 5 days every 2 months. With the progesterone, your period starts withing 1-3 days after the 5 days of medication is completed. That may be an alternative to birth control pills that you can discuss with your doctor.
 
Holly, most of the time the pill just masks the problem: you start having regular periods because you’re on the pill, but when you go off, yoir periods stop, because the pill did not do anything about the cause of the problem.

Just out of curiousity, are you vegetarian? All the women I have known with this type of problem have been, but I don’t know if that’s cooncidental or not. Just a thought… I know that’s a question you may not want to answer.
 
I was faced with the exact same problem. I had that option, but I am not fond of the idea of using birth control pills - even though I am single and thus not contracepting per se - simply because of the inherent issues with the medication itself (and a family history of allergies). My endocrinologist put me on a progesterone regimen, that I take for 5 days every 2 months. With the progesterone, your period starts withing 1-3 days after the 5 days of medication is completed. That may be an alternative to birth control pills that you can discuss with your doctor.
Thanks for the information Daizies. I don’t know if I could do the progesterone thing or not. My Gynecologist says my hormones are all normal and I couldn’t do any kind of fertility treatment because Medicaid prohibits it. That is why I asked to go on the birth control pill because I don’t know of anything else I can be on.
Holly, most of the time the pill just masks the problem: you start having regular periods because you’re on the pill, but when you go off, yoir periods stop, because the pill did not do anything about the cause of the problem.

Just out of curiousity, are you vegetarian? All the women I have known with this type of problem have been, but I don’t know if that’s cooncidental or not. Just a thought… I know that’s a question you may not want to answer.
I am not a Vegetarian but I don’t eat a lot of meat. I do have problems with my iron levels though. My iron levels are almost always a little low. As far as I know, I am not anemic. I may have to get my Iron levels checked soon.
 
Contact the Pope Paul VI institute…they are the experts and they have doctors etc trained all over the country…

popepaulvi.com/

The Pill is often proscribed…but such can be not a good choice healthwise etc

(Also if your married and thus having martial relations there is a very important problem…namely the potential abortive effects. So contact the above …they can help you in very good ways to deal with your problems without the pill)
 
As to the issue raised by the Doc there about the need for abstinence …if one uses the Pill for other reasons…I know I have seen at least one differing opinion (it is a real concern…but not completely certain myself at the moment…) a good source for experts to contact are the National Catholic Bioethics Center (also referred to on CA) ncbcenter.org/NetCommunity// phone number at bottom of the page there…one can ask for an ethicist.
 
Why do you want to regulate your periods? Is it because they are too painful when you get them?

I was very irregular. Sometimes I would go a year without a period. The pill did regulate them but I was on it for birth control. If I wasn’t trying to avoid pregnancy, I would prefer to have yearly periods instead of monthly.

Also, when I stopped taking the pill, my periods were irregular again. I had no problem getting pregnant. I had 4 kids in 5 years. Unfortunately, after my 4th child, my periods are now every 28 days 😦
 
I am not a Vegetarian but I don’t eat a lot of meat. I do have problems with my iron levels though. My iron levels are almost always a little low. As far as I know, I am not anemic. I may have to get my Iron levels checked soon.
Poor iron levels can cause problems even if you’re not fully anaemic. I was iron deficient but not anaemic yet it caused my hair to start falling out - and I mean really falling out, like I’d wake up and my pillow was covered in it and clumps would come out when I washed it, I’m lucky my hair was very thick. It’s so easy to treat though - I take iron supplements now twice a day and it’s made such a difference. Normal iron supplements, like the kind people just buy at the supermarket, aren’t strong enough though so you do have to go to a doctor.
 
Why do you want to regulate your periods? Is it because they are too painful when you get them?

I was very irregular. Sometimes I would go a year without a period. The pill did regulate them but I was on it for birth control. If I wasn’t trying to avoid pregnancy, I would prefer to have yearly periods instead of monthly.

Also, when I stopped taking the pill, my periods were irregular again. I had no problem getting pregnant. I had 4 kids in 5 years. Unfortunately, after my 4th child, my periods are now every 28 days 😦
Because I don’t have natural periods due to being on birth control in the past. I recently went off of the IUD after being convicted in my conscience to do so and I knew of no other way to regulate my cycles than to use the birth control pill so that is why I am on it now. I am afraid that if I ask for some other way to regulate my cycles, they’ll say I am looking for a fertility treatment and they won’t give it to me.
 
Poor iron levels can cause problems even if you’re not fully anaemic. I was iron deficient but not anaemic yet it caused my hair to start falling out - and I mean really falling out, like I’d wake up and my pillow was covered in it and clumps would come out when I washed it, I’m lucky my hair was very thick. It’s so easy to treat though - I take iron supplements now twice a day and it’s made such a difference. Normal iron supplements, like the kind people just buy at the supermarket, aren’t strong enough though so you do have to go to a doctor.
Hmmm, okay. I’ll ask my doctor to test me for iron deficiency at my upcoming appointment with her.
 
Holly, what you get with birth control pills is a fake period on a regular schedule. Is that really what you want?
 
While it’s not forbidden by the Church to use hormones to regulate menstrual cycles, I would seriously recommend that you seek another approved method to assist you. The reason I say this is because I have what is known as Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. I was diagnosed by my OB/GYN about 5 years ago and he put me on a regiment of birth control patches and Glucophage. They were supposed to relieve both the irregular cycles and the insulin resistance that often goes along with PCOS. However, after using the patches for a while and taking the Glucophage (or Metformin), I realized that neither was working and I asked my doctor for permission to get off of them. The side effects were not worth it.

Then, a few years ago, one of the doctors that works in my OB/GYN office wanted to put me on Yaz and Spironolactone since I complained about excessive hair growth (a common problem with PCOS–known as hirsutism). I took them for about a month and I notice that my cycles were getting heavier and more painful. Also, I experienced transient burning on my legs and back. The meds for PCOS were the only new things that had been added, so I took myself off of them and explained to my doctor that they were causing serious trouble.

Now, I refuse to be put on any birth control to “regulate” my cycles. It actually does NOT regulate your cycles–it only mimics it. It controls the symptoms but does not get to the root of the problem. Your best bet would be to see an endocrinologist and get tested for PCOS. There are treatments that are better designed than birth control pills that will actually get to the root of the issue. I would see one myself, but I don’t have health insurance. 😦
 
While it’s not forbidden by the Church to use hormones to regulate menstrual cycles, I would seriously recommend that you seek another approved method to assist you. The reason I say this is because I have what is known as Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. I was diagnosed by my OB/GYN about 5 years ago and he put me on a regiment of birth control patches and Glucophage. They were supposed to relieve both the irregular cycles and the insulin resistance that often goes along with PCOS. However, after using the patches for a while and taking the Glucophage (or Metformin), I realized that neither was working and I asked my doctor for permission to get off of them. The side effects were not worth it.

Then, a few years ago, one of the doctors that works in my OB/GYN office wanted to put me on Yaz and Spironolactone since I complained about excessive hair growth (a common problem with PCOS–known as hirsutism). I took them for about a month and I notice that my cycles were getting heavier and more painful. Also, I experienced transient burning on my legs and back. The meds for PCOS were the only new things that had been added, so I took myself off of them and explained to my doctor that they were causing serious trouble.

Now, I refuse to be put on any birth control to “regulate” my cycles. It actually does NOT regulate your cycles–it only mimics it. It controls the symptoms but does not get to the root of the problem. Your best bet would be to see an endocrinologist and get tested for PCOS. There are treatments that are better designed than birth control pills that will actually get to the root of the issue. I would see one myself, but I don’t have health insurance. 😦
Yeah I was tested for that and I tested negative.
 
One thing I noticed on there is not eating right. I don’t eat right, that much is for sure. If I knew how to cook, I’d eat much better.
You should definitely try changing your diet then rather than resorting to fake hormones. Learning basic cooking isn’t particularly difficult, you could ask a friend or relative to help you, enroll in a class if you have the time of just buy a simple cookbook. Eating better so you’re getting all the right nutrients will help your body in so many ways.
 
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