Is birth control the ONLY answer to my problem...?

Question

I started having irregular periods in August 2006, progressively getting worse, after 8 years of on-the-dot 28 day cycles. By February, they were 7-10 days long, 2 weeks apart. My doctor ran bloodtests and put me on Yaz to help regulate me. I have irregular FSH/LH and prolactin levels. He says I do not ovulate regularly, if at all, and prolactin just a little bit higher than normal. (FSH-21.6, LH-73.1, Prolactin 26.6) Is birth control the ONLY way to stop my periods from coming so often? He did a laparoscopy to look for endo, found nothing. A D&C to clean me out, I bled red blood one and a half days after those procedures and have had a stready flow of brown since (3 weeks ago). I hate being on birth control because it makes me very moody and depressed, even very lose dose pills, and if I take just one pill a few hours late it can trigger my period to come within hours. Can anyone help? (Details...)

I am 20 years old and not currently sexually active because my husbands in the Marines so we won't see eachother until September 2008 so there is no risk of pregnancy. I just want something to help me regulate, but NOT birth control.

Answer 1

Honestly, birth control is about the best option.

However, I would suggest exercise and a change in diet. I don't know what your lifestyle is like, so this may be pointless, but i'll suggest it regardless. Try eating healthier foods, and exercising daily. At least 30 minutes. I have very irregular periods, or at least I did until I began working out and only drinking water. This is my own personal experience, I can't say for sure if it will work for anyone else. I have heard that diet and exercise make a difference, though!

I also hate birth control, and I no longer take it because of how much I dislike it. I feel a lot better being off of it, actually. Try exercise, it really helps.

Best of luck!

Answer 2

There are other hormonal treatments available besides the pill but some of them can cause problems with moodiness too. As for being a few hours late with one pill that can happen to anyone if they don't take it at the same time every day.

Something that can be done for the moodiness if the pill is the only thing you can try right now is to try taking some B6. You can find it in a bottle by itself or as part of B Complex. I buy mine at The Vitamin Shoppe but you can also find it at Wal-Mart and some of the other bigger drugstores.

At this point with your situation I would definitely recommend getting another opinion, preferably from someone that does not share the same office as the dr you currently see. An endocrinologist may also be able to help you especially because of the issue with the prolactin levels.

Answer 3

There are many things which come into play here including stress, you indicated your husband was deployed, stress can affect the hyper thalamus which in turn affects the pituitary which controls the ovaries and the amount of hormones released or and timing also the thyroid comes into play, so there is not a simple answer here, but one thing is sure your hormones are definitely out of balance if stress is ruled out because of your husbands deployment, I would seek out a certified gynecologist because treatment should have better regulation and an alternative treatment might be warranted in your case

Answer 4

Irregular periods can be caused my many many factors. Stress could be a factor that you might want to consider. Has your doctor diagnosed as to exactly why they are not regular? It's important to know the exact cause of the irregularity in order to treat the problem.