Possible PCOS and birth control

[Lookingforjoy]

When I was in my 20s (and still a virgin) I had some issues with wildly irregular and painful periods. I saw an OBGYN who prescribed me some birth control pills and sent me on my way. They worked great and I didn’t give it a second thought…I knew birth control was wrong, but I was still a virgin and it was medical, not contraception. Even my conservative Catholic mother was fine with it.

Everything was great until I got married and started to feel uncomfortable being on birth control after the marriage prep I had and the marriage books I read. I thought that it had been a long time since I’d been put on birth control…maybe I could get along without it. So I took myself off of it.

For the next six years I was either pregnant or breastfeeding the majority of the time. I had four pregnancies (one was a miscarriage). After my second child I nervously asked my doctor for a birth control prescription, since I’d had one before. She’s a strong Catholic, and although she gave it grudgingly, but told me that my system was probably fine now, and that NFP was perfectly effective. I felt too guilty to take it, so I threw it away.

Now my youngest child is three. This is the longest I’ve gone without being pregnant or breastfeeding. My periods are becoming irregular again, and so painful. I’m also seeing other signs that make me think I might have PCOS. And what’s a treatment for PCOS? Birth control pills. The same birth control pills I had in my twenties.

At this point I feel like I’m really struggling. I feel like my faith is complicating a health treatment issue. I take Claritin for my allergies and Tylenol for my headaches without a second thought, but this seems so complicated. I swing between feeling guilty for wanting birth control, and feeling angry for not being able to get it. I don’t know if my issues are “bad enough” to warrant birth control, and I wonder if my desire to stop having children is playing a role in wanting it. But at the same time, if there was a medication I could take to stop my symptoms and regulate my periods that didn’t affect fertility, I’d take it in a second.

Has anyone else struggled with this? I feel like it’s a simple issue, but somehow it seems so complicated.

 

[Anna_jane]

You say you have a solidly Catholic doctor? Ask her about taking progesterone pills at the luteal phase of the cycle. In the past few years, I’ve had lots of post pregnancy pcos problems, and that’s been the only thing that has helped. Basically, after the peak day, you start taking one bio-identical progesterone pill a night for ten days, then stop. A couple of days later, your body has gotten with the program and you get a normal period. The idea is to train your body back to the correct hormone patterns, but without all the bad side effects of BC pills.

 

[1ke]

Even my conservative Catholic mother was fine with it.

So is the Church.

Hormonal pills for a medical situation when prescribed for a purpose other than preventing pregnancy are not contraception.

So I took myself off of it.

While that’s your prerogative, consulting a physician (including an NFP focused physician or a NaPro physician) might be a good idea.

For the next six years I was either pregnant or breastfeeding the majority of the time.

That’s great because many women with PCOS can’t get pregnant. Maybe you should revisit that diagnosis with a doctor?

She’s a strong Catholic, and although she gave it grudgingly, but told me that my system was probably fine now, and that NFP was perfectly effective.

Well, tests would need to be run to confirm that.

I felt too guilty to take it, so I threw it away.

Information you should give to your doctor when you sit down for a more in depth conversation. Glad you have a Catholic doctor supportive of NFP.

This is the longest I’ve gone without being pregnant or breastfeeding. My periods are becoming irregular again, and so painful. I’m also seeing other signs that make me think I might have PCOS. And what’s a treatment for PCOS? Birth control pills. The same birth control pills I had in my twenties.

There are other treatments for PCOS. Hormonal pills don’t actually treat PCOS, they just cover over the symptoms.

Talk to your doctor. You are making a lot of assumptions based on what one doctor told you a long time ago. There are treatments available for PCOS that don’t involve “the Pill”. Your doctor may be a NaPro practicitioner or may be able to refer you to one.

We can’t give medical advice, but we can tell you that "the Pill’ is not “the only” treatment for PCOS, if you even have PCOS. You may have something entirely different.

At this point I feel like I’m really struggling. I feel like my faith is complicating a health treatment issue.

Not at all. Because if hormonal pills turn out to be the best course of treatment for whatever ails you, there is no problem with that.

I swing between feeling guilty for wanting birth control, and feeling angry for not being able to get it. I

I think you should actually TALK to your doctor instead of creating a scenario in your head. You are feeling guilty for the wrong thing, or really for nothing. You are not asking for “birth control” you are asking for a hormonal treatment for a condition. This is a legitimate medical decision.

The fact that there are OTHER treatments that don’t involve hormonal pills should be explored too.

I wonder if my desire to stop having children is playing a role in wanting it.

Something that does require serious discernment and prayer. For sure.

But at the same time, if there was a medication I could take to stop my symptoms and regulate my periods that didn’t affect fertility, I’d take it in a second.

Has anyone else struggled with this? I feel like it’s a simple issue, but somehow it seems so complicated.

talk to your doctor.

 

[pensmama87]

As usual, 1ke is spot on.

What you’re talking about is hormone therapy with a side effect of infertility. That’s permissible, even if other people take the Pill for the express purpose of causing temporary infertility (which is not morally permissible).

It may or may not be the best treatment for you, which you can discuss with competent medical professionals, but there’s not a moral problem there.

Praying for you!

 

[Warandpeace]

I might consider switching to a different doctor. She doesn’t seem to want to help you. She didn’t give you options, “just wrote a BC prescription.” If talking to her again doesn’t work out, I’d get a second opinion.

 

[jediliz]

Before you use BCP, try getting in touch with the pope paul VI Institute…they could help you out and they could probably give you a bio identical hormone treatment instead of the artificial synthetic hormones in the BCP.

Sounds like its possible you could even have endometriosis as well…

 

[Lookingforjoy]

I guess part of the problem for me is that I hear things like, “Oh yes, birth control is perfectly viable if you have a medical issue…but have you consulted a NaPro doctor? I mean, no, it’s not a sin…but maybe a non-hormonal treatment would be better.” It seems like every, “Yes, it’s fine,” is followed by a, “but…” and that makes it feel less legit.

I’m going to make an appointment with a new doctor (my old OB-GYN was a strong Catholic, but absolutely no bedside manner) and if she/he prescribes birth control, it’ll be fine.

 

[Swisscath]

Hi Lookingforjoy
I have similar fertility issues to you. Before marriage I took a NFP course and the teacher was insistent that I wasn’t following her instructions correctly because my temperature didn’t rise. Now I realize it was because I wasn’t ovulating every month. But I still had a bleed that looked like a period but wasn’t. I stopped going to the class in the end - I just felt stupid and she was a bit mean! I was quite young and not as confident as I am now
Then I got married and we didn’t use the method. I have two sons. We used the withdrawal method. I was ignorant of the faith and thought it was ok. But I was always surprised I didn’t get pregnant again.
Then about 18 months ago thanks to the miraculous medal I realized that what my husband and I were doing was wrong. I started to practice NFP again. I had bad PND after both my pregnancies and my husband suffered a lot.
Soon I realized I wasn’t ovulating every month. It would be every 3-5 months. It is possible to practice NFP with fertility issues like PCOS. But the apps will not work. You will probably need to abstain more if you really don’t want to get pregnant. I would recommend the book Taking Charge of your Fertility and a good, experience and supportive NFP teacher. There is something called the two week rule and dry and sticky days for women’s with fertility issues.
When I do ovulate I have VERY heavy periods. Progesterone should help with this too. It makes your period lighter.
A ‘clean’/paelo eating diet - fresh unprocessed foods and also staying away from gluten also can help with PCOS and relieve the symptoms.
If possible a good Natropath Doctor could help too.
Also the pill just stops your ovulating, and I truly believe is not good for women’s health. When my sister (non practicing Catholic) was taking the pill she had recurrent thrush. She swaped to another pill and it made her cry uncontrollably. Symptoms stopped when she stopped taking the pill.
I can also recommend a book called The Period Repair Manual.
Wow I have written a lot! But I hope my story helps a bit

 

[pensmama87]

I guess part of the problem for me is that I hear things like, “Oh yes, birth control is perfectly viable if you have a medical issue…but have you consulted a NaPro doctor? I mean, no, it’s not a sin…but maybe a non-hormonal treatment would be better.” It seems like every, “Yes, it’s fine,” is followed by a, “but…” and that makes it feel less legit.

I’m going to make an appointment with a new doctor (my old OB-GYN was a strong Catholic, but absolutely no bedside manner) and if she/he prescribes birth control, it’ll be fine.

That advice isn’t based on moral concerns, but because, as 1ke mentioned, going on the Pill works by alleviating the symptoms but without curing the underlying problem. There’s also the issue if side effects, long term impact on fertility, etc.

It’s not that it’s iffy, it’s just not always the best treatment, even if it’s the most common.

 

[phillylawyer]

That advice isn’t based on moral concerns, but because, as 1ke mentioned, going on the Pill works by alleviating the symptoms but without curing the underlying problem. There’s also the issue if side effects, long term impact on fertility, etc.

It’s not that it’s iffy, it’s just not always the best treatment, even if it’s the most common.

For some people that may be correct, but I actually think for some people it is hard to dis-aggregate the medical question of whether hormonal pills are the best option and the moral concern with artificial birth control.

So, when people say, “Well, but have you tried…instead of hormonal pills” I do think part of this reason to be quick to suggest looking at alternative medical treatments is because of the moral concerns with birth control in the back of people’s minds (if it’s not conscious). I definitely think that lookingforjoy’s experience and feeling about this is pretty common.

 

[pensmama87]

For some people that may be correct, but I actually think for some people it is hard to dis-aggregate the medical question of whether hormonal pills are the best option and the moral concern with artificial birth control.

So, when people say, “Well, but have you tried…instead of hormonal pills” I do think part of this reason to be quick to suggest looking at alternative medical treatments is because of the moral concerns with birth control in the back of people’s minds (if it’s not conscious). I definitely think that lookingforjoy’s experience and feeling about this is pretty common.

You know what, I don’t doubt it. I think for her, though, it would be very important to realize that they are separate issues, even if other people persist in confusing them (unconsciously or no.)

 

[1ke]

I guess part of the problem for me is that I hear things like, "Oh yes, birth control is perfectly viable if you have a medical issue…

No, that’s not what you are hearing.

**Hormonal treatments **are perfectly viable if you have medical issues.

Contraception (a.k.a. birth control) is never morally licit.

but have you consulted a NaPro doctor?

Because pumping your body full of chemicals isn’t necessarily the best treatment. Certainly not the ONLY treatment. And you haven’t looked at any other options.

You may find a treatment that doesn’t have the long term issues that hormonal pills have, treats your issues in better way for your overall fertility, and that doesn’t have the same health risks as long term hormones. Or, you may not.

No one is suggesting looking at NaPro or other options because it is immoral to take hormonal medicines if they are the best treatment.

I mean, no, it’s not a sin…but maybe a non-hormonal treatment would be better."

Yeah, well, because that is true. Pumping my body full of hormones for 20 years isn’t exactly my first choice if there’s something else out there.

It seems like every, “Yes, it’s fine,” is followed by a, “but…”

Well, any time you have just about any medical condition you are going to get that. People have advice, based on their own experiences. Some people have tried XYZ drug, or surgery, or whatever, and it worked better/worse for them than something else.

PCOS and other female problems such as ENDO have a BROAD range of treatments from taking some vitamins to hysterectomy and lots of things in between. Frankly if you conceived so easily I’d question PCOS as the diagnosis in the first place unless you had some endocrine work ups.

The suggestion is to talk to your doctor and get some more extensive testing done to see what your problem is now-- you are assuming PCOS. Could be endo. Could be something else.

Then look at all the treatment options. The reason people suggest NaPro is because too many doctors are satisfied shoving pills down their patients’ throats without even considering other treatments. You are LUCKY you have a doctor who wants to explore other options.

and that makes it feel less legit.

I’m sorry. It sort of feels like that’s in your head not in what anyone has said.

I’m going to make an appointment with a new doctor (my old OB-GYN was a strong Catholic, but absolutely no bedside manner) and if she/he prescribes birth control, it’ll be fine.

Well, certainly you need to be an advocate for yourself. Whether Catholic or not, you should not be shy about talking to your doctor about ALL the treatment options. Hormonal pills do have long term side effects to consider. So, don’t be a sheep and just go along. ASK QUESTIONS.

This is about your health, not the morality of the situation.

 

[1ke]

I do think part of this reason to be quick to suggest looking at alternative medical treatments is because of the moral concerns with birth control in the back of people’s minds

I can’t speak for everywhere, but for many (most) of us here at CAF it isn’t due to a moral component but to the real health risks of hormonal pills and the experience many here have had with NaPro and Dr. Hilgers in preserving their fertility WITHOUT long term hormone use.

 

[Rau]

I guess part of the problem for me is that I hear things like, “Oh yes, birth control is perfectly viable if you have a medical issue…but have you consulted a NaPro doctor? I mean, no, it’s not a sin…but maybe a non-hormonal treatment would be better.” It seems like every, “Yes, it’s fine,” is followed by a, “but…” and that makes it feel less legit.

That advice is fine, and if properly understood, should not cause you concern.

There is nothing wrong with there being a “but” - it’s just a reference to the bad consequences attached to the pill - including the medical side-effects and, I would suggest, the sterilising of sexual relations. But this is not, in itself, an impediment to taking the pill in your circumstances, given the health benefits arguably outweigh those ill effects. But (there’s that word!) it is always desirable to choose acts with a more favourable balance of good and bad effects - if possible. So check out your options. [Personally, I know nothing about “NaPro” other than various favourable comments I’ve read of it on CAF.]

 

[Rau]

…So, when people say, “Well, but have you tried…instead of hormonal pills” I do think part of this reason to be quick to suggest looking at alternative medical treatments is because of the moral concerns with birth control in the back of people’s minds (if it’s not conscious). I definitely think that lookingforjoy’s experience and feeling about this is pretty common.

The mere taking of the pills is of no adverse moral significance (assuming they are an appropriate medication). However, some persons will argue that if one takes these pills while also intending to continue a sexual relationship, then that is immoral. [They argue that the deprivation of the procreative meaning of the sexual relations is a moral object of the act, rather than a mere (unintended) consequence.] However, I have never seen that position put by any Church authority.

 

[Sarcelle]

Before you use BCP, try getting in touch with the pope paul VI Institute…they could help you out and they could probably give you a bio identical hormone treatment instead of the artificial synthetic hormones in the BCP.

Sounds like its possible you could even have endometriosis as well…

How easy is it to get in touch with this institute?

 

[1ke]

How easy is it to get in touch with this institute?

Very.

popepaulvi.com/contact.php

They are in Omaha, NE. They also have instructed doctors elsewhere in the methods and can make referrals.