hormone imbalance after birth control pills

Hi everyone,

I know i'm sort of in the "wrong place" for this but this site has given me much information that I have found comforting as well as assuring me that I'm not losing my mind. After stopping birth control pills (was on Yasmin for a year) i have experienced many if not all the symptoms that the most hormonally imbalanced person on here has reported. Depression, anxiety, hair loss, hair color and texture changes, aches/pains in joints and hands, new bad moles, melasma (dark brown patches on face), headaches, complete loss of libido, heart palpitations, and severe insomnia. It all started about 3 weeks after stopping the pill (i stopped Oct 2008) and although i'm way better, i'm still nowhere near myself. I was always a very positive and outgoing and spontaneous person and now it seems my entire life and planning revolves around "how I will feel" that day. I find myself on certain days of the month (usually on period and the week following--opposite pms) hysterically crying for no reason and feeling total hopelessness. Based on my extensive reasearch and reading hundreds of posts by you courageous women on here, my symptoms suggest I am not making enough estrogen. I have come to this conclusion because I am the worst as soon as my period comes and the week that follows it. I seem to be the best the week before my period when estrogen peaks. Every doctor who has drawn my blood since this mess started says I am making "plenty" of estrogen. My day 20 (highest level of cycle) of estrogen is about 100 and I think that although I am not low enough to be clinically diagnosable and do not have hot flashes, I'm too low for what my body was used to all my life. I believe I have always had high hormones (i normally have big hips, butt, really thick hair, acne, etc) but ever since starting and stopping (1 year total) the pill, i have completely changed from my body type to hair texture and have not had a single pimple in 3 years (not that i'm complaining about that part but its just not normal for me) I almost feel like I have experienced post-partum thyroditis and/or depression because everything I read about the crash of hormones causing this sounds just like what I went through and although I did not have a baby, getting off the pill certainly made my hormones crash and I just dont think my ovaries have fired back up to levels of pre-pill.

So my question is, has anyone experienced or know anyone who has had this kind of issue? what have they done? any suggestions? If I try a bio-identical estrogen, will my body stop making its own estrogen like it does when you use bc pill? i'm so afraid to start playing around with hormones but after waiting 2 years and feeling like I dont know know the person looking back at me in the mirror, I am desperate. Also, someone suggested I get pregnant (i am 32 and newly married) to jumpstart my hormones and re-balance them. I know I want children but the last thing I want is to go through this whole thing again postpartum and have a baby to take care of on top of it.

Thank you all for listening and I really appreciate any help

Have you had your thyroid checked? Many symptoms of thyroid imbalance are similiar to that of an estrogen imbalance. Might be worthwhile to have that checked before assuming it's estrogen related. This site has some very helpful info about thyroid issues www.thyroid.about.com

Hi Kim,

Thank you so much for your replies. YEs, I have had extensive thyroid testing by more than one doctor. All levels are not only normal but "optimal". TSH, Free and Total T3 and T4, anti-bodies, etc. Even my vitamin D level is optimal....

I cant win. I feel like I'm 80 yrs old.

Also, I order saliva tests from ZRT Labs here and there to see where I am and they always comes back with "low estrogen" and they think I did the test on the wrong day (i do it on Day 20 of cycle when estrogen is highest) so I think whats happening is even though my blood levels are within "normal" range, I dont have any in my tissues to be used.....

Here is the report that came with my latest saliva test results:

"Estradiol is low, which is unusual unless women are experiencing anovulatory (no ovulation) cycles, collecting saliva during the follicular phase of the menstrual cycle when estrogens are low, or using hormonal contraceptives that suppress ovarian estrogen synthesis. Persistently low estradiol may contribute to symptoms of estrogen deficiency (hot flashes, night sweats, vaginal dryness, incontinence, sleep disturbances, low libido, bone loss and/or emotional instability). If none of these symptoms are problematic this likely indicates an anovulatory cycle, wrong collection time for saliva, or use of hormonal contraceptives. Hormonal contraceptive use also suppresses ovarian synthesis of progesterone and testosterone.
Progesterone is within expected range for a premenopausal woman and symptoms of estrogen/progesterone imbalance are minimal. If symptoms of estrogen imbalance become more problematic as menopause approaches it would be worthwhile to consider natural progesterone supplementation. Note: progesterone is often less effective when estradiol is significantly outside the optimal physiological range of 1.3-3.3 pg/ml; therefore, it is important to consider means to reduce the estrogen burden if estradiol is higher than optimal range, and increase estrogen with supplementation if estradiol is lower than optimal range.
Testosterone is low-normal (range 16-25 pg/ml), which may account for the reported symptom of low libido. Other symptoms characteristic of chronic low testosterone include incontinence, vaginal dryness, fatigue, memory lapses, bone loss, and depression. Testosterone is an anabolic hormone essential for creating energy throughout the body, maintaining optimal brain function (memory), regulating the immune system, and building and maintaining the integrity of structural tissues such as skin, muscles, and bone."

I'm so desperate I dont know what to do anymore....What I wouldnt give for a record of my hormone levels BEFORE this whole bcp drama so I could see exactly where I was all my life when I felt GREAT. But of course, God forbid doctors even look at your hormones before natural or surgical menopause....I really think a majority of depression issues in women are hormone related and noone even looks at your hormones. And if one more doctor looks at me with this "its all in your head" expression, I think i will scream! lol

any advice is greatly appreciated :/

Hello



I am wondering if you ever resolved your issues? I feel like i am having the exact same problems you described.

	Quote:
Originally Posted by hazel_fae Hello I am wondering if you ever resolved your issues? I feel like i am having the exact same problems you described.

Hi Hazel,

About a week after I posted this, I found out I was pregnant. My mood swings stopped completely during my pregnancy, and my daughter was born on Aug 8th and I have not had the issues rreturn (other than the normal sleepless night exhaustion and hormonal crying here and there). My hair is doing a lot better also! What is your story and where do you live? I have some really good doctors I'd recommend in the NY/NJ area if you are close by...XO

Wow congratulations!

Well I am from WI. I am 26 and I was a constant BC user since i was about 16. I used to be overweight as a child and would have heavy painful periods. So they put me on the pill to correct that. after about 10 years I was fed up with switching pills and having problems with hormonal acne. Seems like no matter waht I would still get a cystic acne especially around my period time. I wanted to get off of birthcontrol and get my normal cycle back and think about starting a family.

Well I stopped cold turkey around february/march of 2011. and it has been 7 months. The only time I have gotten a period was once when i tried to use Vitex for a week, which caused some horrible side effects for me. They did an ultrasound on my ovaries and she saw a follicle on one side so she said it looked like i had either ovulated or was about to. However, i am worried that perhaps the follicle didn't mature.

I have always had symptoms of low estrogen even when on birth control. I have dark facial hair that i constantly have to keep in check, and now my acne has become unmanageable. I am doing an antibiotic treatment to try to at least prevent some scarring. I have seen my OB and had some hormone tests done, although i am not sure how helpful they are because there's no way to know where in my cycle i am. My FSH and LH came back normal. My thyroid tested normal. I don't know if they tested "free" testosterone/estrogen. I don't have my results with me now. They basically said that my hormone tests were fine and to just wait for my body to adapt.

I would like to try a course of clomid but they say they only give that to women trying to concieve, and i am not yet although me and my bf both want children and have discussed it.

I guess my next step is to make an appointment with an endocrinologist. It is frustrating to feel so helpless and the hair and acne is affecting my confidence.