[Winged_Muse]

So a little about my history with birth control.

Back in January of 2008 I was on a pill called Necon. I was on it up until about October of last year so a year ago. I had a few issues with it, weight gain, migraines, stomach trouble, etc so I talked to my doctor about getting a lower dosage pill.

I then got on a pill called Alesse a year ago this month. It was all fine and dandy up until about January where I was getting extremely shaky and lightheaded and dizzy, especially at work. It went on for a few months up until I finally talked to my doctor about it. They did countless tests, this and that and found nothing so I went ahead with life though I was still getting dizzy. It caused me to call in from work multiple times and finally my mom pin pointed it down to my Birth Control pills. We went in and talked to my doctor who said to stop taking them and find another kind of pill. I never got dizzy or anything while off my pills those 3 months. Within that time I found another pill in which I am now on and it's been 3 months.

This current pill is called Sprintec or better known as Ortho Tri-cyclen. Now that I'm almost 3 months in with taking this pill, i'm getting dizzy spells again and more migraines than I can deal with, especially with the schedule in my life right now. I'm tired of getting this way but I want the protection of a birth control. An IUD is out of the question right now though I have been considering Nuva Ring but now with 2 kinds of birth control making me dizzy I almost don't even want to waste the money anymore. Do you guys have any suggestions? Both my mom and sister said that the pills will just mess you up and well, now I believe it. I could really use any help I could get. Thanks in advance!

[KMonte85]

sorry for the trouble you've been having with the hormonal BC. Do you absolutely INSIST that you continue on using hormonal BC options? I have a feeling that you're one of those gals who is just super sensitive to the synthetic hormones found in birth control, and I worry that you'll never find anything that gives you the safety you want, but makes you feel normal at the same time.

Would you consider using non-hormonal options? Is there a reason why you can't try the IUD? You shouldn't have to go through life being dizzy, having headaches and stomach problems, or anything else...

[Winged_Muse]

Well what’s weird is I never had any sort of Dizzy problems with the Necon, it was usually just stomach aches a lot and I was getting more migraines than usual and then with the Alesse and the one I am on now I’m getting the dizziness and I tell you what, it makes it really hard to work, especially when you’re always moving around.

I don’t know what sort of non hormonal birth control options there really are besides the IUD and I know the IUD is mainly for women who have had kids in the past. My OB/GYN said it probably wouldn’t be much of an option for me since I haven’t had kids though when I asked her about the Nuva Ring she said it’s one of the better options out there even though it is still hormonal. I don’t know but I think you’re right that I’m becoming sensitive to the hormonal stuff and I just don’t know what to do anymore. I’m only 21, work part time and really just can’t afford kids right now nor do I even live on my own. I’m just stuck, it also drains me beyond belief especially on my days off and I never have the energy to do what I want to do.

I’m just so stuck. I’m debating between just stopping this pill altogether because it’s doing this to me again and to think two completely different pills making me dizzy. Of course I’m only in the middle week of this months pack so it’ll just screw me up later with my period and stuff again I’m sure unless I force myself through it up until this pack is done with. Ugh I just don’t know.

[Ashlee T.]

A hormonal IUD doesn't seem like a good option for you. If you're sensitive to the synthetic hormones, I"m not sure why anyone would think you'd not be sensitive to a hormonal IUD. Paragard (copper IUD) is a non-hormonal IUD. Some women have had great experiences with them. Some not so great.

If you can't take bc pills (they made me feel awful, I no longer take them), and you won't do the non hormonal IUD, there are very few other options for you that you're going to want to try. For instance, you could use condoms, but I know you'll say you don't want to do that. And you could use a diaphragm... but I have a feeling you won't want to do that either. haha. So your options are limited. But it definitely sounds like hormonal BC is not for you.

[lizzardb63]

Well the non-hormonal IUD did not limited to just women who've had kids. You can still get it if you haven't had children...many women do. Have you ever tried a pill like a progestin-only birth control pill? It doesn't have any estrogen in it, so maybe its the estrogen that you're super sensitive to. Those are called the "Mini pill", but with those you need to be very good with taking it at exactly the same time every day (the risk of pregnancy is higher if you miss it by a few hours versus a estrogen type birth control pill), but if you are good about it, it might be perfect for you. I am looking into the Paragaurd Copper IUD myself, and never had kids. Sometimes the doctor doesnt ALWAYS know what's best.

[Winged_Muse]

I’ve only tried the 3 pills I talked about in my first post, I haven’t tried anything else and I have talked to my doctor about the IUD but neither of them (speaking of my normal doc and my gyno) say I should get it simply because I have not had kids. I have thought about nuvaring but even then it will have hormones. Once this pack is done I’m not gonna take anymore, I just can’t keep feeling like this and yea, while both my partner and myself hate condoms with a burning passion, we’ll just have to go to that for now.

I believe what you all say about me being sensitive to hormonal BC. My boyfriend’s mom was the same way, she couldn’t take it at all because of how sick it made her. I know the patch made my sister super sick a lot but she swore by the nuva ring when she got it but there again, as said, it has hormones. I’m pretty dizzy today and of course I have to work and where I work, they don’t care that their employees are on the verge of death, they want you there soo I guess I’m stuck..again.

[KMonte85]

You could try Nuvaring just for curiousity's sake. Most likely with your history of bad luck on hormonal BC, it won't be what you're looking for. But it might be worth a shot just in case!

Worst case scenario, your body doesn't take well to it so you take it out and use condoms... no harm no foul, other than a little more time feeling "off"

[Winged_Muse]

I was thinking that maybe I could just be sensitive to the pills themselves. I know my sister had issues and I know a few of my friends had issues as well so maybe that could just be the problem but yea, maybe i'll give the nuva ring a shot and if it happens again then we'll know.

[ItsASecret]

I was thinking that maybe I could just be sensitive to the pills themselves.

Pills do not contain the exact same chemicals so one brand may be fine while others do not work out. Each brand will vary in the progesterone-like compounds found in it as well as the amount. It can be as simple as one of those particular progesterone-like compounds does not suit your body while the next brand it may elicit zero effects. Countless millions of women suffer absolutely zero side effects while others do, hence the creation of different brands and why a doctor will try different brands if a patient asks. Going from Alesse (which contains ethinyl estradiol 15µg + levonorgestrel 100µg) to Tri-Cylen (ethinyl estradiol 35µg + norgestimate 180/215/250µg) can mean those particular progestins do not suit you well, or the concentrations just are not working...since both brands have different levels of both synthetics. NuvaRing will contain ethinyl estradiol (15µg) and etonogestrel (120µg) which overall is about the same as Alesse (100µg) but contains less of the progestins than the Tri-Cylcen (180-250µg). NuvaRing in general has lower release levels so it could be the way to less symptoms, or no symptoms at all since there is no way to predict whether or not something will happen.

[Winged_Muse]

Hmm good information with that, thanks ItsASecret.

What I find quite interesting is that when I went to see my OB, she mentioned how I shouldn't be getting dizzy and all these things, it was as if she has had no other patient with those symptoms when I know every single women is different. Honestly, I have no idea what to do. I could be sensitive to the pill or I could not be. I could just be sensitive to hormonal birth control as a whole and honestly, I wanna try a different kind but I don't want to deal with the same symptoms over and over again and I don't want to waste the money on something that'll just end up giving me the same issues.