I seem to be suffering a handful of negative side effects since starting back on the birth control pill 9 months ago. I have no other viable methods of contraception, (my body rejects coils, par example) and, since sterilization or abstainance are out of the question, i'm hoping for any advice regards supplements that may negate some of the side effects im experiencing whilst using the birth control pill.
I was prescribed Microgynon 30 by my GP, and stayed on this until 10 days ago, after i finally realised that the nasty side effects i was experiencing could be due to this particular pill being highly androgenic - (in fact, Microgynon 30 is scored very close to the top on the androgen index list provided by the american hairloss association).
My side effects were/are:
Excessive hairloss/thinning - I was shedding handfuls of hair each time i brushed/washed my hair. I had thick hair, and despite this huge shed the volume of my hair appeared to still be healthy, so i thought no more of it (i thought perhaps the hair was being replaced with new hair!), until a couple of months ago i realised that my hair had become noticeably thinner overall. It had obviously been thinning steadily over all this time, so it wasnt as noticeable as a day-by-day gradual process, but after looking over some photos from before i started back on the BCP i realised id lost almost 50 percent of my hair volume! Now i understood why my hair had become progressively harder to style and never looked as good as it used to! It was half the thickness of last year! The hairloss progressed rapidly from that point (i guess the less hair you have, the more noticeable any loss is), and i found my front hairline had thinned so much it had actually receded almost 1cm! And the front section, in particular, is so fine you can see my scalp if you look closely, which you could never do prior to the birth control pill/shed. Also the corners of the front hairline (temple area) has thinned excessively and receded back. I was/am horrified to realise i was displaying very similar symptoms to Male Pattern Baldness!. =(
Loss of libido - I have a fairly high sex-drive naturally, so its distressing that i almost never feel any desire (or desirability) anymore.
Mood swings - Ive felt very depressed and generally emotionally unbalanced since starting back on the pill.
Difficulty losing weight - I have a healthier diet than ive ever had in my life, and im much more active, yet i struggle to lose weight and my body seems to want to store fat more easily than before. I need to lose another 7lb at least to get to my fighting weight so this is troublesome also.
Breakthrough bleeding - Despite all these synthetic hormones, supposedly regulating my cycle effectively, i suffer with breakthrough bleeds, sometimes weekly. This i could handle if it wasnt for the more upsetting symptoms above, but i figure this does show my body isnt balanced hormonally.
Greasy skin/blemishes
Loss of feminine curves (breasts/butt) -Ive always had shapely curves, but ive noticed my breasts have lost some fullness and my backside isnt nearly as round and curvacious as it was. It's like ive lost some of my most feminine shape since starting back on the birth control pill.
When researching these symptoms via Google, out of desperation, i read that some hormonal birth control pills can have a highly androgenic affect on the female body which can cause some nasty side effects, in particular the hair loss (in a similar form to Male Pattern Baldness) and greasy skin, blemishes etc. I then discovered Microgynon 30, that id been prescribed for the past 7 months or so, had one of the highest androgenic indexes out of all the contraceptive pills on the market.
I found another pill, called Yasmin, that had a very low (or no) androgenic affect and used a different type of Progestin, which is hyped as being a new generation pill specifically created to avoid many of the side effects of the other pills, in particular hair loss and weight gain, so i visited my GP, who switched my pill to Yasmin.
Ive now been taking Yasmin for 11 days, and ive already had a 3 day breakthrough bleed, and my moods are still up and down (mostly down).
I was wondering if anyone knew of any supplements that might alleviate some of the symptoms listed above, without hampering the affectivity of the contraceptive mechanism?
Ideally id like a stack to: level my moods and lift the depression/anxiety (so i dont feel like a hormonal wreck anymore!), increase my sex-drive significantly, halt my hairloss and encourage regrowth/thickening, and get as much of my womanly curves back as possible (ie encourage breasts and booty growth!) without adding excess fat anywhere else.
Does anyone have any suggestions at all please? Im scared to just blindly play trial-and-error myself, having no personal knowledge or real scientific understing re hormones, incase i exacerbate a symptom or cause more negative side effects.
Ive heard Maca, Aguaje, Fenugreek and various other herbs being used by women for some of these symptoms but im confused the complexity of the hormonal system and the effect drugs/supps/herbs etc have on it baffles me, so would greatly apreciate any suggestions re supplementation from someone who knows a little more than i!
Thanks so much guys n girls xxxx
Thanks guys. xxx
Edited by MsMetamorphose, 13 September 2012 - 11:15 PM.
