On the pill for 8yrs. are there long term side effects?

animalluvr77 · 09-22-2004, 11:45 AM

I have been on birth control pills for 8 years without any breaks, I haven't had and children yet and I worry that maybe this will have long term side effects on my body. I eventually on children and I'm thinking that maybe I should just talk with my husband and doctor and give the pills a break and maybe try having kids now. Lately I have started having some really weird periods. I have never had this happen to me before. The whole time I have been on the bcp's. The last two periods my periods have been starting a week before it should be. That is it is starting the last week I am still on the hormone pills and it goes all the way through until I start a new pack of pills again. I have my period for 2 weeks!! This has never happened before. My periods usually start the 3rd day I'm on the sugar pills and end as soon as I take the first new hormone pill. I see my doctor next week. His office said not to worry yet, and just keep track of everything. But I can't help but wonder if I have done something to my body by taking the pills for so long. Any help would be great! Please help!!

ILikeRats · 09-24-2004, 10:14 PM

I have never heard first-hand of anyone who felt they had problems due to being on The Pill for many years, but I also stopped recently, after being on them for 6 years, because uterine fibroids run in my family, so I didn't think putting extra estrogen into my body was a good idea. My periods never became wacko, though; I'm sorry you are having this problem! One thing to consider, are you eating a lot of foods that can act like estrogen in the body (mainly soy, flax, or a lot of meats/dairy that could contain hormomes?) Also, if you are in your 30's, it's normal for hormonal changes to begin. When did your mother start menopause?

honeydew345 · 09-25-2004, 03:29 AM

Im sorry you are going through this sweetie. Now let me tell you something about the pill. I have had numerous classes in parenting, family living, sex ed, etc. Doctors will not tell you this, for some reason that I dont know..even my own doc wont tell me. After being on birth control pills for an extremely lengthy time it WILL begin to deteriate the lining of your uterus. As you know the uterus is where you carry a baby and if it deteriates then its not coming back! I dont mean to scare you. I was on BC for 3 consecutive years and got off of it when I found out about that. If you have been on it that long I would recommend getting off of it. Who knows, maybe your period will get back on track. Talk to you doctor and husband about coming off of them. Good luck hun!

angelcj · 09-25-2004, 01:33 PM

I am sorry to hear about your situation. I want to let you know about another side effect from long term birth control use. I had never heard of it until it happened to me. LIVER TUMORS!! They are supposed to be very rare BUT I am not so sure about that. They cause no symptoms and doctors never check for them. Mine were found during a cat scan I had for ulcerative colitis. I have posted a thread on the liver disorder board & had several responses. My case does seem to be unusual because of the size & quantity that I have. I had surgury on my liver in Feb. 04. They removed the largest one and 5-6 others and could not remove any more due to not wanting to destroy my liver. I still have 45 of them & may need surgury again. I went for my liver scan on Friday & will get the results on Monday. I had no idea that birth control could cause this. Since they cause no symptoms I wonder how many women are running around out there with time bombs on there liver? I now am considered very high risk for liver cancer & they can also rupture...since they have a blood supply to them there is a risk of internal bleeding (see the liver board post "adnomas due to birth control" this happened to one of the people who responded) I don't mean to scare you but this is a serious side effect that no one tells you about. Doctors don't want to talk about it either. All I am told is that it is very rare. When I ask how do you know if women are not being checked for it & they cause no symptoms till they either rupture or cause liver cancer? I am told that with all the women taking them it is just not feasible to ultrasound every womans liver. I think we should at least be told & have the option of a liver ultra sound if we want one. Well if you want to know more about my experience go to the liver disorder board & post your question to me there (adnoma's due to birth control). Hope you get better soon. Take care & God Bless!!

animalluvr77 · 09-27-2004, 12:16 AM

My diet is pretty much the same as it always has been. And I'm not really sure about the wacko periods so luckily I have a doctors appointment this week. I'm only 26 yrs. And I'm pretty sure my Mom hasn't started menopause yet. (She's 45yrs) She was just complaining yesterday it was that time of month and she wasn't feeling very well. So I'll just have to wait for this week and see what the doc. says. Thanks for help!!

Beth