Birth control pills and female homones

Dear Ms. HeartBeat:
When I was 13, I had painful periods. I had to change my 8 hour tampon every hour. According to the gynecologist, that was normal for some women (rolls eyes). But where I had to go to school, I had to do something. So I started on some birth control pills.

I got very sick and stopped them after 5 months.

Then when I was 16 I started having sex. Still being in school and wanting to finish, I started to take them again. I told my current gynecologist of my problems before. Told them that I was worried about the side effects and asked if I would have any. He said, no. No side effects with this stuff. So I took lo estrin fe. For about 6 months.

I started to get hairy. I look like Frida Kahlo and I don’t even have any hairy ancestry.

I started to get many breast cyst which caused me pain.I probably got breast cancer in my right breast. My teeth became soft and cracked and chipped when I was flossing or chewing gum. I got rashes and acne.

I got hormone sickness and stayed nauseous and dizzy. It has been 8 years and I STILL have these side effects. I am so embarrassed. I can’t work cause I am so sick and it is hard to be sick for 8 years straight, I just want to die at this point.

My gynecologist kept telling me I am fine and it would pass but its been so long and I am still sick. MY hormones are still imbalanced. I went recently and the incompetent fool went to do a breast exam, did not do it, but later charged me for it. I am getting so sick of gynecologist that have no fucking clue what these pills do to the female bodies. And now I am stuck in this sickness?

Why do they give this to women when there is so many WORSE things that can happen?

I want to die. And there is nothing any doctors will do to help me.

I went to another gynecologist and recently went to an endocrinologist but they both say there is not much they can do. I want to sue this gynecologist that lied and never told me of the side effects when I asked him. I want to die. And don’t say go to a therapist cause those bastards just want to pop paxil and xanax down my throat.. which makes me MORE NAUSEOUS.

I can’t handle being sick any longer. I can’t work and no one can look at me and can tell I am sick, so I get judged as a lazy fucker when in reality I probably do more work at home then they do in a week. I feel so screwed. I should have never even went to the doctor. I should have been taken out of school and put on homeschooling, but guess what? My doctor would not sign for the home schooling cause I could walk!

So doctors are out. They have no clue what they are doing anymore and I don’t trust any of them anymore. What can I do? IS there anything I can use to balance my system out?

Signed,
At Wits Ends

Dear Ends:
Though I am not a doctor and certainly unable to diagnose anyone, I have known many friends and women in my family during my lifetime with symptoms such as yours. And it sounds like what they were ultimately diagnosed with – PCOS (Polycystic Ovary Disease). PCOS causes many of the symptoms that you describe. You may also have something else on top of it due to lack of hormonal regulation for so many years. Birth control pills do help SOME girls, but it depends on the type of hormone that you have that is out of control. It could be thryoid or adrenal glands contributing to the problem as well.

If you are near a major research university, see a doctor THERE that specializes in women’s hormonal and gynelogical issues. I’m talking like Mayo Clinic, Johns Hopkins, Stanford, Baylor – big hospitals with top notch doctors on staff, not someone that barely made it through medical school and passed his or her state boards by a squeak. You are too young for all this and need some skilled help right away.

Start by doing a GOOGLE search for PCOS as I said and review those symptoms. There are things that can help you, but you have to get into the hands of the right doctor. I wish you the best.

MsHeartBeat

Relationship and dating advice columnist of Ask HeartBeat! Has enjoyed dishing out insightful yet hilariously funny advice, tersely worded reality checks and "let me slap you upside the head" wake up calls to men and women around the globe since 1991.