Caution: Girl Stuff

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Guys - you've been warned. I'm going to get a bit detailed.





Late last summer I decided to try something with my birth control pills. I had heard that if you skip the placebo week and just start your new pills pack, your periods either cease or happen rarely. I believe someone from this group had done this before (I think they wrote about it on Fab's board?) and I've heard from other people that recommended it. Like every other woman on earth, I am annoyed by my monthly BS and thought it was worth a shot.

At first it was great. No periods. No mood swings, no cramps, no gastrointestinal distress, no accidents, no tampons. Nothing. It was so freeing. I also noticed that instead of waxing and waning as they usually did, my boobs were staying big and getting bigger. I had the biggest breasts I've ever had - a solid B cup.

But after a few months I started getting discharge problems that lingered. Instead of an actual period I had weeks of not-really-a-period-but-requires-pantiliners. It would go away a bit and then come back, far more often than my period. It was enough to annoy me into going back to the old way.

In December I went in for my pap. I admitted to my (new, due to moving) doctor that I had manipulated my pill schedule. He was immediately dismissive and gave me a ton of scare stories about too much estrogen, and that the body needed to clean out the uterus, yadda yadda. He said the opposite of everything I'd heard around on the topic. I asked about other alternatives but again, everything he mentioned had dire warnings about side effects and bad reactions. No, he recommended I stick to the old school pill with the old school schedule, saying it was the safest, best way.

So, I have. Going back to having a period wasn't as annoying as I thought it would be. I guess I'm just used to having it, so it's no big deal. The other side of it has been more interesting for me though.

In the last couple weeks I've really noticed the difference in my breasts. We've been hitting the hot tub most evenings and my bikini top just isn't what it was two months ago. I think my bras have stretched out as well...or at least my expectations for my bras have changed. The realization that I'll never have those boobs again has affected me far more than I thought it would, hell, far more than I hoped it would. I know I'll get over it but it's kind of odd to confront it.

So - I checked WebMD.

Originally Posted by WebMD

9. Myth: It's not safe to use birth control pills to manipulate your cycle.
Fact: It is perfectly safe, and doctors have been using the pill in this fashion for decades. Indeed, because you aren't ovulating on the pill, the lining of your uterus does not build during a monthly cycle. Therefore there is no need to shed or "cleanse" your uterus with a menstrual bleed. In fact, the "period" you get while on the pill is not a menstrual bleed at all but instead your body's reaction to hormone withdrawal -- which occurs when you take the seven "placebo" pills in your pack at the end of each month. As such, skipping the placebos and continuing to take the pill without a bleeding break, is not harmful.

I'm thinking of looking for a new doctor who will actually talk to me about this instead of being dismissive. Thing is, I am totally aware that the main reason I would do so is because of the breasts, not the periods. And that is enough to make me think I shouldn't do it.

Sigh.

[Not Afraid]

The best way to get boobs is to get pregnant. I was a B before pregnancy and was a whopping D afterwards - and they never went away.

The second best way is augmentation.

You couldn't pay me to mess with my hormones now - not after what's happened to my body as it has gotten older.

But, I'm not a doctor nor do I play one on the internet. Talk to a second gyncologist and weigh ALL of the risks - not just the immediate gratification of it.

Seriously, though, boob surgery is not that difficult.

[3894]

Originally Posted by Not Afraid

You couldn't pay me to mess with my hormones now - not after what's happened to my body as it has gotten older.

That's my reaction, too.

[Strangler Lewis]

Originally Posted by Not Afraid

The best way to get boobs is to get pregnant. I

You also get fuller and more lustrous hair.

Women doctors? Depends. My wife went to a female OB practice. As the babies grew larger and larger inside her, she broached the subject of C-sections. No one would have a serious discussion with her, presumably because vaginal births are more positive outcomes for any practice. Like many men, these women also subsequently abandoned their OB practice as their insurance premiums skyrocketed, so they were not Mother Theresas, nor should they have been.

[3894]

Originally Posted by Strangler Lewis

Women doctors? Depends.

So true. The most incompetent, negligent ob/gyn I ever had the displeasure of dealing with is a woman. The two most competent, most compassionate ob/gyns I have ever had were men. Get the best you can find, regardless of whether the doctor is male or female.

[blueerica]

Originally Posted by 3894

So true. The most incompetent, negligent ob/gyn I ever had the displeasure of dealing with is a woman. The two most competent, most compassionate ob/gyns I have ever had were men. Get the best you can find, regardless of whether the doctor is male or female.

Well, I think the point is you were going to an OB/Gyn. We do not know if CP was going to one, or just a family physician. If you think about it, an OB/GYN is constantly in contact with this information, where as a family physician has to keep up to date on an even wider variety of topics. And we haven't even breached the discussion of age or backgrounds and beliefs of any doctor, all of which can affect the approach taken.

[Gemini Cricket]

Oops, came in here by mistake.
Uh...
I just want to tell you both good luck. We're all counting on you.
:closes door quietly:

[bewitched]

Originally Posted by Strangler Lewis

You also get fuller and more lustrous hair.

And after, all that new hair falls out. Then, every three years (the length of a hair cycle) your hair thins again. I love it.

[bewitched]

CP, when I was younger I was put on BC pills continuously for endometriosis. I didn't get a period for several years. After my endometriosis went into remission, I stayed on BC pills full time for several years thereafter (I would say in the neighborhood of 10 years in total). It wasn't even because my periods were bad (they have always been like clockwork and only last 2 days), just for the convenience. My gyno at the time (early 80s) told me then that endometriosis had been treated in that way for years and it was perfectly safe.

I haven't been on BC pills for about 8 years, but after I stopped taking them full time, I would still manipulate my period just for convienience sake, say taking an extra week because I was going on vacation.

IMO, the hormones in BC pills have been used safely for decades. Some people do have problems with them but if you want bigger breasts, the pill seems the easiest and safest (elective surgery is by no means "safe") route.

Just my $.02.

[Not Afraid]

Originally Posted by bewitched

IMO, the hormones in BC pills have been used safely for decades. Some people do have problems with them but if you want bigger breasts, the pill seems the easiest and safest (elective surgery is by no means "safe") route.

Just my $.02.

This is based on my own personal experience (and I've had my share of medical fun) but most surgery now is such a piece of cake and had so few side effects that I don't see it as being unsafe at all. But, I've also had some pretty terrible experiences with hormone manipulation, so give me a one time surgery over a something that has caused some awful effects to my body.

But, I also come from a place where boobs are not enough for me to choose any of the options CP has brought up. I had a partial mastectomy 3 years ago and haven't done a damn thing to "correct it". There are parts of my body I'm not especially thrilled with, but I can deal with whatever the boobage gods have to dole out - as I can deal with the rest of my body.

And, regarding the doctor - if you're NOT seeing an ON/GYN then don't even make a decision until you do.