How long before Mini Pill Helps

[iLoveMyTortoise]

Hey,

I had my diagnostic laparoscopy on November 8th. I currently have COVID and am having my first post lap period. I’ve been on the mini pill for a month. Obviously I wasn’t expecting improvement yet, but if the mini pill helped you at all, how long did it take?

Other than pain and fatigue, a big symptom i’m desperate to get rid of is heavy periods. I’m using about a dozen super plus tampons a day (all of which I leak through after an hour, so need to wear a pad too) and I’m changing my towel around 4 or 5 times through the night.

I want to give the mini pill a chance but I don’t want to be unwell longer than needed if it’s not working.

Thanks x

[Avourneen]

You poor thing. You must feel terrible. I was prescibed the progesterone only pill ti stop bleeding. The first presciption I had 3 months of cerzette and the bleeding stopped then my GP changed it to deostrgel and I bled for weeks, They apparently have almost the same ingredients. But maybe cerzette has something additional anyway, I got back to my gynes and he said take 2 pills per day and that will stop it. I did that for a couple of weeks the bleeding completely stopped and a year later I'm still on the double dose and it hasn't come back. Ask your consultant if you can do that. I hope it helps.

[iLoveMyTortoise in reply to Avourneen]

Thank you for getting back to me. That’s really interesting as I’m currently on desogestrel (cerelle). I also didn’t realise they sometimes recommend a double dose. I have really high oestrogen levels so I will discuss the possibility of this with my GP as it might help that too.

Thanks xx

[SoJo_EndoUK Moderator Endometriosis UK]

Thanks for reaching out, so sorry to hear you have COVID on top of everything else. Was the lap purely diagnostic or did they also do treatment? I have always found the first period after a lap to be really heavy, but everyone is different. I have added a link below on info about hormone treatment and including the pill and some information on what to expect post laparoscopy. My personal experience of the pill is that it takes a few months to kick in, however if you are at all concerned, please contact your GP. I appreciate how tiring these heavy periods can be. Rest up and take care, we are here if you need us.

endometriosis-uk.org/hormones

endometriosis-uk.org/your-l...

[iLoveMyTortoise in reply to SoJo_EndoUK]

Hi, thank you for your reply. The laparoscopy was purely diagnostic. It was done by an oncologist as they thought I had peritoneal tumours based on MRI. It was endometriosis scar tissue. They took a lot of biopsies but didn’t treat the endo. They discharged me and didn’t refer me on to an endo specialist so I’m currently flying solo on this one. I’ll end up going private again I’m sure.

My periods are this heavy 50% of the time anyway. This one was even more painful than usual, I only expected that thanks to reading this forum. I have not had one single bit of medical info or help regarding endo since it was diagnosed on the day of surgery. I put myself on the pill. Hence not being clear on expectations.

I’ll have a good read of the links and contact my GP again in the new year, as they at least are nice.

Thanks again for your help.

Xx