How effective is contraceptive pill

[surabhi singh]

Hey can any one tell me how contraceptive pill effective for transexuals any ideas ???

Since Iam planning to be on harmones that's why iam asking ..so pls help ...


regards

[Stephenie S]

Contraceptive pills have estrogen and sometimes other medications in them. The amount of estrogen is designed for birth control for women and not estrogen replacement for transexuals.

Everyone who transitions will tell you to get your HRT from a doctor rather than feminine birth control pills. If you want to be safe, don't take 'em. And for goodness sake, moniter your blood levels, kidney function and liver function.

Steph

[GypsyKaren]

I've heard the same thing as Stephanie said, birth control pills will do nothing for you. Hormones are not to be treated lightly, make sure you have a doctor keeping an eye on you.

Karen Starlene

[melissaK]

I agree with StephenieS and GypsyKaren. You still need to learn more from your own doctor, professional websites, and professional articles and books. Here is a useful link to start. It has links to other sites, that link to others, etc. Take the time to learn.

http://www.tsroadmap.com/

Hugs,
'lissa

[ToyGirl]

You 3 SHOULD know this ^ and if you actually talked to your doctors about hormones than I can't see why they did not offer birth control as an option. It implies none of you did see a doctor about your hormones at all.

Birth control and HRT is basically the same thing. Except with HRT there mostly just estrogen and you take progesterone seperatly, birth controls tend to have both. You can now get premarin with progesterone in it. One of my real life friends who is post op, completly transition on birth control and i had them for a couple of months , they are quite powerfull and come in different sizes just like HRT.

Now remember that none of the drugs we take are designed for us. Sticking birth control pills in you is no more weirder than using aldactone for a side effect or taking pills to help you through menopause.

So TS' usually take 2 birth control a day. "Microgynon" is perscribed in alot of countries for transition.

Look it up on google. Or ask your Doc.

[GypsyKaren]

You 3 SHOULD know this ^ and if you actually talked to your doctors about hormones than I can't see why they did not offer birth control as an option. It implies none of you did see a doctor about your hormones at all.

Birth control and HRT is basically the same thing. Except with HRT there mostly just estrogen and you take progesterone seperatly, birth controls tend to have both. You can now get premarin with progesterone in it. One of my real life friends who is post op, completly transition on birth control and i had them for a couple of months , they are quite powerfull and come in different sizes just like HRT.

Now remember that none of the drugs we take are designed for us. Sticking birth control pills in you is no more weirder than using aldactone for a side effect or taking pills to help you through menopause.

So TS' usually take 2 birth control a day. "Microgynon" is perscribed in alot of countries for transition.

Look it up on google. Or ask your Doc.

Actually, I did see an Endocrinologist, I guess he's just not as up on things as you are. Everything I've ever seen says that birth control pills have such a low dose of estrogen in them that makes them ineffective for a transsexual's needs, I do suppose you could just take a fist full everyday but it'd be a lot cheaper to just get the proper dose of Estrodiol in the first place. In any event, I'm also a post-op who's been at this for awhile, thanks for straightening me and my doctor out.

Karen Starlene

[Cai]

Everything I can find says agrees with Karen - there's just not enough hormone in BC pills to cause the effects you want.

[Kieron Andrew]

Actually, I did see an Endocrinologist, I guess he's just not as up on things as you are. Everything I've ever seen says that birth control pills have such a low dose of estrogen in them that makes them ineffective for a transsexual's needs, I do suppose you could just take a fist full everyday but it'd be a lot cheaper to just get the proper dose of Estrodiol in the first place. In any event, I'm also a post-op who's been at this for awhile, thanks for straightening me and my doctor out.

Karen Starlene


Everything I can find says agrees with Karen - there's just not enough hormone in BC pills to cause the effects you want.

i agree with both Karen and Cai, BC do NOT have enough estrogen in them alone to cause transitional effects for transsexuals....

[melissaK]

Toy Girl! Good to hear your 2cents. Good guess, part right, I do self medicate (fool that I am) but part wrong (fool that I am not) as I have seen an MD throughout, and have had blood work done. I just don't ask for the prescription so the office visits are legimately billed under other health care provided. It was important to me that an MD knew and had some oversight.

As for the BC pills, they are intended to regulate a menstrual cycle in a body that is already producing estrogen, mainly by adding progesterone. For general reading, here's the wiki page on BC pills. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birth_control_pills It says nothing one way or the other about transsexuals using them, but I thought it would be a useful starting reference for girls who want to read more.

I have seen mtf hrt programs that duplicate natural GG cycles and give a week off. Haven't seen documentation that such programs really make any difference.

Hugs,
'lissa

[ToyGirl]

Toy Girl! Good to hear your 2cents. Good guess, part right, I do self medicate (fool that I am) but part wrong (fool that I am not) as I have seen an MD throughout, and have had blood work done. I just don't ask for the prescription so the office visits are legimately billed under other health care provided. It was important to me that an MD knew and had some oversight.

As for the BC pills, they are intended to regulate a menstrual cycle in a body that is already producing estrogen, mainly by adding progesterone. For general reading, here's the wiki page on BC pills. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birth_control_pills It says nothing one way or the other about transsexuals using them, but I thought it would be a useful starting reference for girls who want to read more.

I have seen mtf hrt programs that duplicate natural GG cycles and give a week off. Haven't seen documentation that such programs really make any difference.

Hugs,
'lissa

:) I also take progesterone it's helped with the cup size and also has alot of other benefits for health and wellbeing. I have read a bit also about natural cycle as far as I recall you are correct it's pointless for transition.

It doesn't bother me that you are self medicated. Transition can be very in difficulty from country to country and you have to do what you have to do. I have self medicated when I was younger (with birth control as it's pretty damn easy to get) As long as we all agree it's alot safer to being doing this supervised by specialists and you will get better results then I think we all are happy.

Hugs.

[GypsyKaren]

This thread has started to take a personal bias, posts have been deleted, it will stop right now.

Karen Starlene

[Stephenie S]

You 3 SHOULD know this ^ and if you actually talked to your doctors about hormones than I can't see why they did not offer birth control as an option. It implies none of you did see a doctor about your hormones at all.

Birth control and HRT is basically the same thing.

Dear Toy,

The reason my endocrinologist and my PCP do not recomend or prescribe birth control pills for my HRT is that the dosages of birth control pills are not appropriate for me. Modern BC pills contain as little as .25mg of estradiol (sometimes less), an amount that would have little or no effect on my body at this time. Other BC pills contain differing amounts of estrogen, but current medical practice tends to minimize doses of available estrogen in birth control to protect the health of the women taking it.

30 to 40 years ago, this was not true. BC pills contained far more estrogen than they do now. Even then, however, the dosages woud have been inapprapriate for many transgendered women.

Are birth control pills and HRT basically the same thing? Sort of, but I'm glad I'm not trying to do this on my own. A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing. I trust my endo and my PCP with my life.

Lovies,
Stephenie

[AmberTG]

I look at it this way, where and how you actually buy your meds (as long as they are good quality) is not as important as having the regular blood work to monitor the effects on your liver, etc. I was buying my estradiol and spiro through the internet from a well known British on-line pharmacy well before I got my prescriptions, but I had regular medical care and blood tests during that time, and the Doctor knew I was taking the meds. The DIY meds were on my official medical records at the V.A.
The only thing I strongly suggest is that you err on the side of caution when going the DIY route, start with small doses, and know your health condition before you start!
Even now, my HRT is fairly conservative, I'm not in such a big hurry as to take a chance on damaging my liver and not being able to complete my transition due to medical issues.

[GypsyKaren]

Stephanie is quite right, most b/c pills only contain 25 mcg. of estrodiol, which is .25 mg. This means that you'd have to take at least a one month supply each and everyday in order to do any good, which makes absolutely no sense at all.

Karen Starlene

[surabhi singh]

thanks yaa all for ur valuable advice ... the pill I was planing to take was containing

0.15 Mg of levenoungestrol and .03 mg of ethnylestradiol

[Kieron Andrew]

thanks yaa all for ur valuable advice ... the pill I was planing to take was containing

0.15 Mg of levenoungestrol and .03 mg of ethnylestradiol

definitely not strong enough for any changes, its a pill for genetic women

[Cai]

I learned something Monday in class that might explain why some people in the past may have used BC pills for transition. When the pills first came out, and for several years after that, the dosages were MUCH stronger than they needed to be for BC purposes (by an order of magnitude, I think). So the old-style pills might actually have been strong enough for transpeople.