[leahbia_83008]

hi ladies. before i begin to rant i would like briefly explain my health history so you can help me come to a conclusion about the problems i'm experiencing . . .

i had the paragard IUD placed in april 2011 as my only form of birth control up until sept. of 2011 when i was diagnosed with endometriosis by laparoscopy. luckily we caught it at an early stage so my ob/gyn, who is also a gynological surgeon, was able to remove all traces of the endo (he said it had grown deep into my pelvic cavity on both the right & left sides of my abdomen, although he did not say if there were any adhesions on other organs or the stage of endometriosis i was suffering with, only that it was more severe on the right side, but he was confident it was a very minor case). he then put me on lo loestrin fe for pain management as well as to help lighten my heavy periods (the amount of blood i was losing had nearly doubled since having the paragard inserted).

so to come to my current complications. i have been having some pain lately and although my gyno assured me it was my body taking it's time healing, i also did come to find i had BV, although we did not discuss how the infection came to be (it has since been treated with a 7 - day vaginal antibiotic). most BV infections are caused by being with a new sexual partner or multiple partners, and i have been monogamous with my boyfriend for the past 3 years. so coming to my first question, could the BV have been caused by my IUD? my doctor seems really intent on keeping the IUD in place, although i am not so sure this is ideal for me . . . i plan on discussing this with him at my next appt. in january.

secondly, since being put on the lo loestrin, i have been having multiple periods throughout the month (totalling 4 in the month of october with some spotting in between & 2 "regular" periods in the month of november). i made an appointment with my ob/gyn and he educated me that lo loestrin can cause spotting the first few months of use but will regulate in about 3 - 4 months, so i have been trying my best to put that behind me. however, the past 2 - 3 weeks my emotions have been up and down like a roller coaster, i feel a small pressure deep within my pelvic cavity & my breasts have been tender non - stop. i do not believe pregnancy is possible at this time considering i am now on TWO forms of birth control & have been bleeding throughout the month, but my symptoms are troubling. is it possible to get pregnant on the paragard IUD AND lo loestrin fe? or is the pill or IUD the culprit for my symptoms? i hate to bother my doctor yet AGAIN but i'm not sure if how i am feeling is normal in my situation. any help would be appreciated.

[ItsASecret]

BV can be caused by almost everything in the environment from new partners, to not washing yourself thoroughly in the shower one day, to changes in diet. To pinpoint it is actually very difficult. All you can do is treat it.

The pill can cause women to go "hormonal" but it does not occur with all women. Since you are experiencing emotional changes then your doctor can simply change you to a new brand. It really can be that simple because there are several different kinds of pills, or depending on how your body reacts you could have another roller coaster with the next brand-it can be a trial and error process. The thing is, if you do opt for a new brand you have to go into it not expecting an emotional change, you have to clean-slate it,...even thinking you will become emotional with a new brand can trigger the placebo effect and you can cause emotional disturbances without the pill actually creating the problem (it is quite possible to have a different type of pill work perfectly with your body). So definitely have a talk with your doctor, they should be able to answer your questions and guide you to new pill methods...though they will likely not give you a full lecture on how pills work because they simply do not have the time to cover huge amounts of information. Personally I recommend a pharmacist if you are really wanting some information on different types of pills, they know the drugs through and through, a doctor merely prescribes and the time constraint means they cannot spend vast amounts of time with patients explaining everything that can happen with them.

[leahbia_83008]

i also wanted to add nausea as one of my current symptoms . . . like i said before, i am not sure if this is because of the birth control pill or something else. i have also been very stressed with work & the upcoming holidays. i am due for my regular monthly period in 3 days so this too could be a cause of the way i've been feeling but i think 2 - 3 weeks of pmsing is a bit much.

[leahbia_83008]

thanks you itsasecret for your comment. i agree, it is very hard to pin point the cause of my infection especially since my body has gone through so much trauma the last few months. it is still odd to me & i wish i could get an answer, but i guess that is something i will have to continue to question. lo loestrin is the 4th brand of pill i have been on in the past three years . . . first it was yaz (which actually agreed with me, but my doctor does not prescribe it to his patients anymore bc of the potentially harmful side effects), ortho ti cyclen lo, ortho novum and finally lo loestrin fe. it is frustrating to try pill after pill & not find anything that i am comfortable with. i am open to other forms of birth control, but i am worried it will be another failure all over again. i do not like using condoms with my boyfriend either because, since we are in a commited relationship, i feel like condoms makes sex more inpersonal. i feel like i'm running out of options and it seems to be getting harder and harder to find something that works for me.