the Pill?

[elinor]

What is your experience with birth control pills? Do they cause flares, help reduce flares?

I've heard that they can make periods lighter, reduce the risk of ovarian cancer and inflammatory pelvic disease...but I wanted some first hand information from fellow icers.

Thanks!

[Jinny Jean]

Hey :) My experience with the pill unfortunatley is not a good one. I realized that every time I would start a new pack of pills I would flare really bad, for about a week and then it would calm down to the point of being tolerable... but it never failed every month my hormones went nuts and so did my bladder. I wish I could still be on the pill .. I was on it for 10 years! I went off about 3 months go and realized that my blader felt SO good.. so this was part of MY healing process I suppose. After my body was allowed to regulate is own hormones I started to get better and better...

Each person is different though, some it helps alot! Other they find it contribute to making the IC worse. Its all trial and error...

Jenn

[passion4life]

I have been on the Pill since December 2010. My flares are significantly better! Be warned, it was not an overnight miracle. Over time, I began to feel better!

[skybluesoul]

It's been kind of a trade-off for me. I didn't get cramps while on the pill, but my bladder would flare horribly, and I got pain too in my bladder (which isn't usual for me). Off the pill, my bladder doesn't hurt, and my pre-period flares aren't as bad, but I do have one day of bad cramps.

For some women, the pill can also cause/contribute to vulvar symptoms. I have no idea if it had a role in mine, but I had been on the pill for about 10 years before stopping it this past spring. Since then I've also had less vulvar burning and irritation.