Birth Control Pill Treatment

Last Updated: May 1, 2003

Your doctor may suggest birth control pills for you if you’re perimenopausal – that is, you’re still getting your periods. In this case, it’s likely that your doctor has suggested “the pill” as a way of helping you cope with symptoms. This is becoming a more common treatment because you’re still producing a fair level of hormones on your own.

Your hormone levels are usually fluctuating a great deal in perimenopause, so there could be days when HRT (hormone replacement therapy) would provide you with too much and lead to symptoms from excess estrogen or progesterone. In addition, since irregular bleeding is often one of the mostly widely experienced symptoms of perimenopause, birth control pills will regulate your bleeding.

The estrogen in birth control pills is a synthetic form called ethinyl estradiol. It’s a potent form of estrogen that is roughly four to ten times stronger than that used in different types of HRT. Because it’s so much stronger, a number of doctors feel it’s a wise choice for younger women going through premature ovarian failure or early menopause, as young women’s hormonal needs are often far higher than those of older women in menopause.

The synthetic estrogen in birth control pills does have its drawbacks. It is less easily metabolized. There have been studies linking use of birth control pills with an increase in strokes and blood clots, so doctors will tell you not to go on the pill if you smoke, have untreated hypertension, or a history of stroke and other blood clot related disorders (such as thrombosis or pulmonary embolisms). Birth control pills also may cause breast tenderness or nausea.

Learn more about birth control pills used as treatment.

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