Re: Menstrual cycle and the pill

[Guest guest]

Hi :

I experienced many of the same things as you did, including the burst

cyst - awful experience. When I was hyper, my periods were all over

the place, sometimes for over a week, sometimes nothing for a couple

of months, sometimes every other week.

How old are you? I was just over 40 when I was diagnosed with Graves.

It turned out that the Graves sent me into parimenopause and then

early menopause. It made my symptoms doubly hard to figure out.

I tried HRT, but it made me very very sick. The OB/GYN thought I was

done with menopause and needed the hormones. Turned out she was dead

wrong, and I had estrogen overdose. A couple of months after that my

periods started again. Before you go on the pill, you should probably

have labs done of your female hormones - if I were you, I'd have them

checked a couple of times, because it turned out that my hormones were

fluctuating pretty wildly. I would have refused the pill if it had

been offered to me, I think it just adds more side effects and

possible serious effects. If you are low on hormones, maybe see if

topical estrogen and progesterone could help.

If you think that your experience may be related to parimenopause or

menopause, there's a great book by Christiane Northrop, " The Wisdom of

Menopause " - it really helped me.

Good luck,

> For the last four and a half years I have had my period every two

weeks.

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

Hyperthyroidism itself often causes infrequent or scant periods. Oral

contraceptives are often used to regulate cycles, but estrogens can also trigger

or

worsen symptoms of hyperthryoidism although this doesn't usually happen with

GD. Did you have lab tests that confirmed hyperthryoidism?

Most vegetarians are deficient in B vitamins, particularly B12 and folic acid.

Iron doesn't cause liver problems in most cases, although a rare condition of

iron storage disease (hemochromatosis) causes liver problems. Iron

supplements are no longer recommended much because of their association with

certain

cancers.

It's hard to tell to know what approach is best, but it would be good if you

asked for copies of your thryoid function tests to see if you have true or

subclinical hyperthryoidism. And you might check out www.ithyroid.com for some

views on copper and thyroid disease. Take care, Elaine