Hi everyone, I am 33 yrs old, and 9 out of the 12 siblings in my dad's family had polycystic kidney disease, including my dad. I recently had a kidney ultrasound that only showed one cyst on one kidney, so so far there is no evidence that I have it. Yesterday my gynecologist prescribed birth control pills to try and deal with a 2.5 cm cyst on my left ovary that we suspect is causing me pain and intestinal problems. So my question is - can the BCP do any damage to the kidneys, especially if it turns out that I do end up with PKD? Would it depend on the brand of BCPs? The brand is Marvelon. I have always been very reluctant taking any kind of medication because the possibility of PKD is in the back of my mind. Thanks.

I don't believe there is any evidence that the pill can cause kidney damage. I've never heard of anything like that and I've been dealing with nephrologists for years. I've never been warned not to take them. There is only the standard warning about blood clots, so you shouldn't smoke.

Cora

I am not so concerned with the bcp then the cause of the cyst. Some gyno problems are kidney related so discuss this with your docs.

Good luck.