Hormone changes and birth control pills?

[Deseree]

Hi everyone, just a quick question here as I'm curious about something. Has anyone here ever experienced hormonal changes or symptoms that have been blamed on hormonal fluctuation even though you were on the birth control pill? I'm still pretty young and have been on birth control for years with no major issues. However someone recently suggested that all of my crazy symptoms lately might be a hormone imbalance. I'm highly skeptical of this however, because I'm almost certain that it's impossible to have symptoms of an imbalance while taking birth control pills due to the very nature of how the pills work. Anyone have any experience with this?

[trejonina]

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[Linda196]

Deseree, to a point you are correct about BCP being protection against hormonal imbalance, since on a primary level, the are meant to be replacing "normal", even controlled levels of hormones. There are, however, very notable variances in that theory, and imbalances aren't as uncommon as you might think.

Natural hormones bind to specific receptors and keep your body in balance. Testosterone binds to the testosterone receptor and progesterone binds to the progesterone receptor with no  cross-reactivity.

BCP with synthetic progesterone (progestins) are much different on the body. Progestins do not limit binding with just the progesterone receptor, but many other receptors as well and when a synthetic hormone binds to the wrong receptor, that receptor may convey inaccurate signals, which throws the body off balance.

It is worth a blood test for hormone levels, if for no other reason than to put our mind at ease.

[Maria3667]

Hi Deseree,

Just to add my 2 cents:

Which type of BCP are you on? And does it include a stopping week? It might also matter which type of hormone(s) it contains (progestin - synthetic progesterone) or a type of estrogen - or both?

When I used an estrogen patch I noticed my overall moisture levels increased. Likewise, some posters here claim dryness issues became much worse after stopping BCP and/or HRT. Underneath your protection of a relative high level of hormones due to BCP, your own levels might still be at play in the background...

[Deseree]

I'm on the combination pill which has norgestimate and ethinyl estradiol. It does have a stopping week. I've been taking it for about 6 years and have never had any weird effects from it all this time. I still wonder if it's possible to have an imbalance or some other form of hormone problem while on the pill? Seems to me it would not be possible to experience issues from low estrogen but perhaps fluctuations in androgen levels would still be possible?

[Maria3667]

Are the hormone fluctuations worst during the stopping week? The BCP could improve but not totally dissolve symptoms if you have Sjogren's.

Many studies link Sjogren's to skewed hormone levels. But whether it's female or male hormones has not been cleared up.
Estrogen effects many systems in the body - like  moisture producing glands and binds to SHBG (Sex Hormone Binding Globuline) thus decreasing sex drive and who knows what else. Bio-identical progesterone improved dryness and libido for me, but made me depressed, lethargic and gain weight...

Is dryness related to low estrogen? If so, then men would all have Sjogren's? I had the worst dryness when I had estrogen dominance.

It's a complicated syndrome which probably involves a whole array of hormones and other compounds...

[Deseree]

I haven't noticed any differences in symptoms during the stopping week, everything is pretty much the same every day since this started a little over a month ago. This whole hormone thing is interesting to me because I've had other issues in the past that indicated hormonal changes (dandruff, changes in my monthly cycle, "period headaches", hair loss), yet I was on the pill. So, I'm wondering if A) hormones can fluctuate and cause problems even if you're on the pill, or B) maybe my symptoms in the past have not been due to hormone changes and it has been Sjogren's this whole time.

It's just so weird to me that all of my dryness related symptoms literally happened over the course of one week. It wasn't some slowly progressive thing over years: one day I was a healthy active young person, the next I was dry and in misery. None of my doctors can figure out what is wrong so far, and so I'm investigating every potential cause. I have a condition known as PCOS, which causes severe hormonal disturbances in my case. When I was diagnosed years ago, my doctor said I was the second worst case of PCOS he'd ever seen: my androgen levels were comparable to the levels seen in young men, yet I simultaneously had more estrogen than a woman my age as well.

So, even though the birth control pills and a regular diet and exercise have been great for regulating my PCOS all these years, I'm wondering if maybe something has changed now, if indeed it even can. I basically thought the pill stopped your body from making your own estrogen and progesterone, so I'm not sure how this could happen.

[Maria3667]

Hi Deseree,

My misery also seemed to strike overnight, after being infected with Lyme's from a tick bite. I was treated with antibiotics quickly and supposedly should be cured... Then Sjogren's began.

PCOS and estrogen dominance do seem contradictory. Maybe it's a question of balancing hormones?

One easy way to test your estrogen is to consume 6 dried prunes daily for about 1 week. If you experience urinary urgency or loss of bladder control it could mean you have estrogen dominance.

Yes, your own hormones can still fluctuate because the synthetic ones in the BCP latch on to different receptors than your own natural ones. As far as I know Sjogren's is not related to PCOS.

Sicca can be caused by other diseases, pollutants and such. If you haven't already done so - cut out all drying products like coffee, tabacco, alcohol, sugar, white flour and check for silica (whitening ingredient) in tooth paste. Wood fire and candles can also aggravate matters as can anticholinergics in drugs (esp. antidepressants, blood pressure and diabetic drugs).

Good luck trying to sort it out! Remember, you are not alone...