Hormones - update

[123MrsG]

I posted last month about trying the pill to try to regulate my cycle and reduce my flares. Although I knew there was a good chance it might not work I thought I'd give it a go after chatting to the GP. The GP felt that as long as do not have the markers for sticky blood it should not be a problem to take the combined pill. Anyway, I thought I'd post about my experiences.

A few weeks ago I started a pill called Gederal which has the lowest amount of oestrogen possible in a combined pill. I managed to take it for about two weeks but in the end I had stop it due to awful tummy problems. However, I'm not entirely sure that the tummy problems were caused by the pill, or whether they were coincidental.

I started to feel nauseous immediately after taking the first dose, and the nausea continued to build. After a week of taking the pill, I started to feel very fatigued and felt like I was falling asleep at work by afternoon time. Then I began to need the loo several times a day which turned to diarrhoea (sorry TMI).

I started to feel so unwell, I got in touch with the doctor who organised bloods and three stool samples and I subsequently stopped taking the pill. My bloods came back ok apart from my CRP which was 33 and my magnesium is slightly low. All the stool samples are clear, so it's not food poisoning or C Diff. I haven't taken the pill for 6 days and I've had a 3 day withdrawal bleed. I'm definitely slightly better but I still feel rough. I'm still a bit nauseous but this has reduced. I'm not going to the loo normally but I'm going less frequently. I've had a tiny bit of vasculitis on my ankles which I get with my period anyway. But hopefully things are improving slightly.

I'm starting to question if all of this was pill related or if I'm just having some kind of weird flare?? I do feel a achy and my joints have been a bit sore too, I'm also a bit dizzy. I have experienced gastro symptoms with flares before but never for this long.

My feeling is that this is a reaction to the pill but all the doctors are saying that it's very unusual. But I am a very unusual patient. Does anyone know if lupus like conditions can cause gastro problems? Perhaps gastro problems might be exacerbated by the pill? I'm at a loss as to what is going on.

[NeuronerdDoaty]

Everyone has idiosyncratic reactions to meds. (Yours and yours alone.) Don’t let them talk you into trying again. Often it’s the binding element that holds the pill together that our bodies don’t like.

Sending you get well thoughts and prayers

Doaty💛

[123MrsG in reply to NeuronerdDoaty]

Thanks Neuronerd, yeah I won’t be trying anything again any time soon! Starting to feel a bit better now although I’m still nauseous. I’ve read a lot about women becoming unwell upon ceasing the pill, so much so they end up doing a pregnancy test because they feel so sick. I can certainly relate to that feeling.