Girl Stuff

[bertine]

This is my least favorite day of the month. My back aches, I have weird bruises and my gums are swollen and tender (they only get that way right before my period starts). While the nuvaring has made it so I don't get migraines (I haven't gotten any menstrual ones since I went on the ring) but I don't like how I get this day every 4 weeks instead of every 6 weeks.

At least I have ibuprofen. Sometimes I think about having these annoying pains 150 years ago and having to work through them and I am pretty thankful.

Comments

[scorpi084.livejournal.com]

That's really interesting that the ring has helped stave off migraines. At the PP I thought migraines took estrogen-containing methods off the table.

[bertine.livejournal.com]

It depends on the method. The pill doesn't work for me because you have a spike in hormones every day when you take them and then they become less over the next 24 hours and that is a trigger for migraines for me.

However, my doctor talked me into trying the ring because it gives you a lower level of hormones at a steady rate all day long. It also prevents ovulation hormones so I don't have that spike (which is when I get migraines). So far it is working.

[bertine.livejournal.com]

BTW, as much as I love PP, it was hard to get them to help me out with this sort of thing.

[scorpi084.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's what I figured. We are generally limited by what the higher ups say is our standard of care. And I think they have generally ruled that migraines = no estrogen. Which is unfortunate, since you know your body better than we would, and you obviously like the effect the ring has.

[bertine.livejournal.com]

That was sort of my feeling on the matter. I like my doctor now because her theory was that if this sucked then I could go off of it and try something else. That is part of why I went on depo because they didn't like the idea of me being on the pill. I think depo was much worse for me.

[scorpi084.livejournal.com]

OMG depo freaks me out. The needles, and the fact that it's there for 3 months without anything you can do. Noooooooo. If a pill starts to make me crazy, I stop taking it. If the ring makes me crazy, I take that fucker out. The patch confuses me, but I'm sure I could take it off if it started to make me crazy. Depo? You're stuck!

This is also why I am afraid of Implanon and the IUD (the fear of pain also figures prominently).

[bertine.livejournal.com]

EXACTLY. Plus, for me they sort of just built up and got worse and worse. It wasn't like I all of a sudden started crying and gained a lot of extra weight, it took a year or so and I just thought it was normal.

I have been thinking that the IUD wouldn't be so bad because I have a few friend that have them. However, it seems like it takes a couple months for you to get used to it!

It is good we have options but there are so many side effects to everything!

[scorpi084.livejournal.com]

I've had pretty good luck with pills (except the very first one, EVERYTHING made me run to the bathroom to cry), so I'm not fucking with what works, lol.