Dealing With Periods After Stopping OCP

[TheConfusedOne]

Hi,

So the last time I posted here, I only just moved to the US and have not had the opportunity to see a gyne. I saw one shortly after that post and had my pap smear come back negative, so all good there.

When I saw the gyne, I was also on my last book of Qlaira, which I had been prescribed due to very heavy and painful periods. The previous gyne who prescribed it had hoped that the Qlaira would lighten my periods for a long time, even after I stop taking them. I had been on the Qlaira non-stop for about a year and since my blood tests didn't reveal anything wrong, we thought maybe the knee pains I've been having were due to blood clots from using OCP for so long and not some form of arthritis or other tissue disease. I decided to just finish my last book and then stop, see if things improve...

Well, I am now a whole month off the Qlaira and this is my first period in a long time where I actually did ovulate and all that stuff. And it is back to being very heavy and painful... I can't remember the last time I was in this much pain, tbh. Due to my joint pains, as well as other health risks of being on ocp for too long, I'm not too keen on starting again. So how does one deal with it? I had taken 2 midol this morning and another 2 four hours later... It has not helped with the pain at all.

I'm planning to switch from pads to a menstrual cup soon, so that might help with the heavy periods, but at the same time, has anyone found a way to... I don't know, reduce the amount of flow without using synthetic hormones? I don't want to be anemic again! D: (Iron pills do not help as I get extremely nauseous from them... and I've tried many different kinds...)

No surprise that I'm finding it difficult to deal with this after being light for so long... I had definitely enjoyed being able to take a stroll or even get up from a sitting position without having a bloody waterfall happen. Bad enough that alone feels gross, now I'm even MORE demotivated to do any exercising! Urgh! Being a woman is hard!

[Mo]

I'm sorry you're having such painful and heavy periods! We do have some thoughts about how to deal with painful cramping in this article: Stamp Out Cramps! so if you haven't read that before, that's one to check out.

Does your doctor think that any other birth control methods would be safe for you to use, without the same health risks you went off your pill to avoid? Some people find that a contraceptive implant or IUD, for example, can help with painful periods. It sounds like experimenting with other birth control is a bit trickier for you because of other health concerns you need to keep in mind, but your doctor may be able to come up with some other options you could try.

I hear you on iron pills making you feel sick; that's sadly a fairly common side effect and one I noticed myself when I was having anemia issues. Adding more iron-rich foods to your diet, if you haven't already done so, can help, and eating foods high in Vitamin C at the same time allows your body to absorb the iron better.

[TheConfusedOne]

I have read that article a long time ago, before I was prescribed the ocp, actually. Still good to re-read though, thanks!

Unfortunately, I have no clue about eating healthier. I have been eating a lot more greens than I used to, but I still don't enjoy them as much as I should. Being afraid of actually cooking is also limiting my options... =/ I *did* feel a bit better and healthier back when I was riding regularly, but IIRC, it didn't really help much at all with my periods. I still had to take painkillers and still had bloody waterfalls which usually meant I had to skip my riding lessons for that week or risk having to end the lessons early because the saddle would be soaked lol. I have also tried those hot water pillows that is electronically heated, the only thing they helped with was keeping me warm in a cold room. Orgasms actually make the pain worse, for some reason (same goes for headaches getting worse from orgasms, sadly...). Infact, before buying myself a basal thermometer, I used to orgasm everyday of the week when I'm expecting my period to see if I cramp up from the orgasm. Because that meant my period will start shortly, perhaps within the day or the next day.

I'm not sure that my heavy flows and painful cramps are entirely due to poor habits too, because my mum had the same problems and she was an athlete. Which thinking about how pads were made back in the day... Poor mum! D:

As for birth control methods, my new gyne did recommend IUDs, but apparently the one without the synthetic hormones cause even WORSE cramps?

I am definitely eating more dark meat now that I'm in the US, but as I've never had access to a diet that has a lot of iron before, I don't know how much dark meat I have to consume to avoid anemia. Back in Malaysia, beef is very expensive and although I ate plenty of chicken thighs, it just wasn't enough

[Sam W]

I feel you on having trouble eating your greens. One way to get them in is to blend dark greens like Kale or Spinach into a smoothie (if you search for "green smoothie" online you can find a bunch of recipes). It's weird, but it can work to bypass the taste (I'm by no means a nutritionist, but I am someone who has to trick themselves into eating veggies).

You're right that this is probably not only the result of your habits, especially if your mom had similar issues. Some people just have very intense periods for awhile, which can suck in a big way. For the cramps, have you tried stick-on heat patches? As someone who still gets hit with the killer cramps, those are one of the few things that worked.

Did your new OB-GYN mention options besides the synthetic IUD, like copper IUDs or the implant?

[TheConfusedOne]

Oh, interesting way of eating greens... I know parents mix them into stuff like omelettes for their kids, but never thought about smoothie... I must look into this... Thanks! It's not the taste that gets me, like, I like eating chinese spinach... I just... Let's put it this way: I'm a carnivore XD I just don't naturally THINK about eating greens!

Yeah, judging by how intense my cramps are atm, I'm willing to bet that my mum had a lot worse pains than she had led me to believe. She has high pain tolerance, but I'm a wimp, so her explanation was probably very "whatever" lol. She never had to take painkillers for hers.

I have heard about those stick-on heat patches, but I've never actually seen them being sold and if I did, it's usually meant for joint and muscle pain rather than cramps. I was also worried about getting burned...

She mentioned 3 types of IUDs, the one without hormones (I'm guessing the copper?), the one with a *little* bit of hormones and the one that has more or something. I don't remember exactly, as we discussed them mainly for a birth control method and not a period reducing method and I would rather go with condoms than an invasive procedure just to avoid pregnancy. We didn't really discuss what my options would be to control my periods besides the pill as we just went with the "wait and see, then decide". She didn't mention any implant either.

[Heather]

Can I ask if anyone has actually investigated the cause of your painful periods?

I ask, because if orgasm makes things worse, I'm particularly interested if they have at least done an ultrasound or other checks for something like PCOS.

Ultimately, when periods are this painful, before anyone suggests ways to remedy that, they should know WHY your periods are so painful to be sure they are addressing the correct issue and doing so correctly. Just throwing solutions at something without having done any investigating into the cause just isn't a sound way of doing healthcare.

[TheConfusedOne]

My mum insisted to my previous gyne that I get an ultrasound done because SHE had cysts in her ovaries as well as a hernia. The gyne told us the ultrasound didn't show anything suspicious or abnormal, so... The only other test I've had done is a pap smear which the new gyne did. I probably should've done a discussion with the new gyne about my periods being painful, but I kinda forgot lol. Being on Qlaira for so long, I forgot how incapacitating it used to be.

Other than that, no. I've never had any doctor attempt to find out why I have such heavy and painful periods. They usually just wrote it off as being irregular (though I'm very regular lol why would they think that...) or "normal"

[Heather]

Okay. Do you have healthcare access so you can do that? In other words, can you make an appointment with a GYN -- maybe not this one if they didn't seem compelled to investigate when you said you had very painful periods, if you have a choice -- expressly about this?

Irregular periods don't cause painful periods, btw, so any healthcare provider who told you that was obviously being lazy or, more likely, was talking outside their education (probably didn't have any education or training with OB/GYN).

[TheConfusedOne]

I have a new gyne, yes. As I said, I forgot to tell her that I had painful periods. I do plan on seeing her again soon, but I first need to get an allergy test done on Tuesday as I may be allergic to silicone or latex, not sure. So irregularity is not related to cramps? That is very interesting.

I am definitely not going back to the previous gyne. For one, she is on the other side of the world, and two, I dislike her very much lol. She was a bit insensitive and very rough with the hands...

[Heather]

Oh right. I forgot about your old GYN and how she wasn't great.

But no. Being irregular won't cause pain or be the cause of pain. And many people with regular cycles still experience severe menstrual pain, so regularity also doesn't protect anyone from pain or prevent it.

[TheConfusedOne]

That makes so much sense. I can see why my parents dislike doctors in general lol. If midol doesn't work, what other kinds of painkillers can I try for the time being? IIRC, I used to need ponstan (mefenamic acid), as simple paracetamol stopped working. That was before taking ocp and I have no idea if that's available here in the US. Over-the-counter med brands here are still unfamiliar to me

[Alice O]

Aleve is an over-the-counter pain reliever available in the US that is pretty strong and thought to work pretty well. Aleve is mean to last around 12 hours, as opposed to 4-6 hours with ibuprofen.

I like your phrasing of "for the time being," because it does sound like over-the-counter pain relievers are a band-aid solution in this situation, and making an OB-GYN app for as soon as possible post-allergy testing will be important!

[TheConfusedOne]

Well, I don't enjoy relying on medication for anything and would rather not have to take any. Even with my joint pains, the doc told me to keep taking advil or similar 3 times a day... that turned into twice a day... then none a day... And now I'm just... sort of ignoring my knees lol. But the thing is, they're now much more tolerable than they were before I saw the doc! Perhaps I got used to the pain, I don't know.

I've heard of Aleve. I'll try it out next month, thanks.

[Heather]

Do you have any access to an acupuncture provider? If that's not something you have tried, that is NOT a medication (since you prefer to avoid them when you can), and also might be something that helps with all the kinds of pain you experience.

[TheConfusedOne]

I'm not sure I have access to acupuncture. I'm not sure I want to try it either... I'm afraid of needles

[Karyn]

The needles used in acupuncture are much slimmer than the ones used to give shots or draw blood, so it could still be worth trying, but it's up to you.

Going back to the diet, too, it may be worth trying to make just a few small changes to see if that makes any difference. Cutting down on caffeine and refined sugars, for instance, can help, as can making sure you're drinking enough water.

[TheConfusedOne]

So I had my allergy test yesterday and unfortunately silicone testing is done with patches, which had to be done a certain day, so I had to schedule that for next week. I am currently waiting on results for the latex test, which was done with blood work yesterday. Also found out I have slight asthma... which was very strange to realize that my breathing problems was indeed more than just anemia and being unfit. Kinda relieving too...

As for acupuncture, well, the needles they used at the allergy test were slimmer too... I'm not sure I liked getting poked a couple dozen times, blood or no blood, so I think I'll pass on the acupuncture! D: It was not a nice experience yesterday!

I don't really drink coffee often or anything with caffeine. I tend to prefer juice, though I enjoy snapple's peach tea... What do you mean by refined sugars? I'm not sure what that is.

[Karyn]

Sorry, I should have explained that sugar comment better! Refined sugar is white or brown sugar, basically: the kind of sugar you'd usually use in baking or to sweeten coffee or tea. (Unfortunately, that Snapple peach tea probably has a lot of sugar in it - and some caffeine too - unless it's the diet variety. Some juices have added sugar too; often in the form of something called "high fructose corn syrup".) If most of your liquid intake is juice, milk, or tea, then switching to plain water is a small change that might be worth a try.

[TheConfusedOne]

Ah! Yes, I suppose that is a good idea. I'll try it and see if there are improvements next month!

[Karyn]

Hope it makes a difference! (It's not going to fix your cramps entirely, of course, but it can't hurt - just keep in mind that it may not make a huge difference in how you feel, and you'll still want to have a good healthcare provider do some more digging into why your periods are so painful and what might be the best treatment.)

[TheConfusedOne]

I am now finishing my period and I have good news! I stopped drinking juices and peach teas shortly after I started ovulation, though I had a couple cups of coffee during the week before I started bleeding (PMS had me so exhausted I just had to...). I started drinking a lot more plain water as well.

Went and bought a pack of Thermacare stick-on heat patches as well, just in case... Never needed to use them! My cramps were mild this time, quite like when I was taking Qlaira! A couple midols and I got through the day easy! I was also right in feeling better and more active using softcup instead of pads, though that meant I couldn't tell just how heavy my period was this time. Still heavy, for sure, but I couldn't tell if it was like last month where I literally flooded the pads shortly after changing them lol.

I will still ask my new GYN to examine me for any abnormalities when I go see her, but I'm thinking of postponing that appointment for a while... Just to see if anything new crops up with next month's period. I'm thinking perhaps my body had to take a while to get used to not having synthetic hormones forced into my system and perhaps it will get better as time goes by!