I just learned that an old friend who had been taking the pill incorrectly (missing some here & there & not taking it at the same time) Had to have surgery to remove an ovary (a direct result from misuse of the pill)gasp


Apparently its actually common & something alot of GPs dont warn you about!

Tsk! Tsk!!

huh i think that should be a known fact so many people take the pill how can they not tell you

i took the pill once for a year and i never got told about it

I know!! Fair enough that they dont want to scare the pants off of the many women who use the pill, but I think it's something we females have a right to know BEFORE we start using them.

Im not on the pill anymore. Havent been for a long time. But when I was, I wasnt always great at being consistant.

She's only in her early 20's too sad

thats terrible and i wasn't consistant either forgot one here and there i think that if they got told people would be more inclind to take it properly
i think it is really bad that they dont tell people

and sorry about your friend

Wow!! I took it as a teenager and was SHOCKING with taking it. I used to use it to "skip" a period if I was going to a friends house or swimming or something. Maybe that's why I have issues? I was never told anything like this could happen. My doc told me the reason they say take it the same time every day is so it's easier to remember not because it causes problems if your not taking it regularily!

GOSH!!!

What kind of pill was she on? This has got me really worried...

I have never heard of this but I was told that when I was on the pill that you must take it at the same time everyday because if you don't it will not work properly and if you miss the pill then it also stops working too.

So for me if I was to be on the pill then I would take it properly and when I was supposed to unless I slipped up.

I do not take it now at all because of the dangers of it and have always been amazed that people not only misuse it because it is a drug that can have serious concequences even if taken properly and also because I took it to prevent falling pregnant and it wouldn't have worked if had not taken it properly.

i didnt know of that issue ... tho, lots and lots of women have all sorts of issues, some that you wouldnt think are in any way related to taking the pill....and they are. I had a gp say to me once....Oh, the pill gets a lot of blame for lots of things. Depression, anxiety, weight gain....skin issues... i spose are the most common ones.... tho i have heard of and know alot of women who simply cant take it as it makes them "mental".... I choose not to take it anymore.... thats sad to hear such a young women with a prob like that.
If you go and ask for a pill the doc simply goes and gives you one. I personally think blood tests nd stuff should be done to give you one thats more suited to your body....and you should be warned of ALL poss side effects...
sorry, bit of a rambly post.

I think there are risks associated with everything we do and this case should be looked at realistically. i don't think this is a big risk as taking the pill is so frequently used as a contraception method and i have never heard of this before. there are lots of different pills you can take and some have higher risks that others

i took the pill for 5 years and it worked prefectly as soon as i stopped taking it i fell pregnant with my dd1. not trying to offend anyone on their ttc journey btw. and i used to miss like 3 or 4 days and just take them all at once i wouldnt take the sugar pill for a few months so i didnt have a period. its scary to know now that doing that can cause problems i had no idea. wish the doctor did warn me would have probly been alot more onto it with taking it each day correctly

I know that a lot of women skip the sugar pills.... as they don't want to get their period. It's just asking for trouble.

I think the Dr you're talking about might have worded it wrong. The fluctuation in hormones in a woman's body can cause ovarian cysts. MOST of the time a cyst will burst on its own, although its painful when that happens the ovary will still be intact and function again on the next cycle. The thing is.... each egg we produce starts out its cycle as a cyst. It grows until the sac around it bursts, which is when we feel ovulation pain. So it doesn't take much to make that cycle be a little off....and then you get all that pain and problems with it. Some women have been reported to have cysts the size of a tennis ball.

It's diagnosed by ultrasound.... and its quite common that the cyst will burst from the pressure applied during the ultrasound or just after.

So.... its not 'common' to have to have the ovary removed, but rather cysts are a common problem.

xcitedmummy, not sure exactly the name of the pill, but it was an oral contraceptive pill.


Chalys, thats a much better way of explaining it, thankyou! thats what my friend told me she had. Cysts on her ovaries & lots & lots of pain.


PipPop, I agree, the pill shouldnt be handed out so easily.




Wish they warned us more about these things before we started using them. I dont think it would stop people from taking the pill completely, just make them be more aware of how important it is to take it everyday, at the same time everyday. I always just thought missing some pills just decreased its effectiveness as a contraceptive.

Missing the sugar pills is actually prescribed for some women like myself, I only have one period every six months. I obviously was told this by a gynecologist, not a GP.

all depends on the pill i was on levlen ED for 5 years and i was always missing one a few times in one cycle i never took the white ones and it was allover the place with them. i went of the pill the 7 cycles later i fell pregnant, my daughter is now 14 weeks old

i was on the pill for about 9/10yrs before i decided to get pregnant. it worked fine for me. i didn't regularly miss pills & i always took it at the same time everyday. i used to skip my period every second month (which i was tols was fine). i never took the sugar pills, as they are just sugar. it'd just wait until the first day of my next pack & start again...
i did have some trouble with spotting in between periods, which my doc told me was common when taking the pill.
i stopped taking it to get pregnant & the first month my cycle was 5wks, then 6wks, then the next month i got pregnant...
i don't take it now, as i took it for four months after i stopped breast feeding & i had trouble remembering to take it (too much to worry about with a bub) & i didn't like the hormonal changes i experienced, plus i felt like it contributed to my slight case of depression...
i never knew that the pill could make you need an ovary removed... they should definatley tell you these things!

Missing the sugar pills is actually prescribed for some women like myself, I only have one period every six months. I obviously was told this by a gynecologist, not a GP.

Same here. I was on the pill at 14 - 2 years before I became sexually acitve, for medical reasons and only having a period 2-3 times a year. Mine was through my GP, but she did alot of research first and consulted other doctors including the gynecologist at her practice.

That is a horrible thing your friend has gone through and I hope she recovers well.

Taking the pill is a big deal and it should never be a decision that someone takes lightly.

I was given the pill in my early 20's and ended up with a huge blood clot in my hip that was not only extremely painful, but I could have lost my leg!

Obviously my case is very extreme and quite rare, but increased risk of blood clots, increased risk of heart attack and stroke, benign liver tumours etc are all something that can happen and are to be taken seriously.

I think that doctors don't want to scare or overwhelm thier patients so they don't necessarily give them all the info. But ladies should know what giving yourself a synthetic hormone can do to your body. Obviously we all take medications everyday without thinking about all the side affects much, but maybe we should?

Also, in every pill box I have ever had there has been a leaflet inside with all the information about that pill. If you have every read this you may notice some of the more uncommon side effects to taking the pill.

I also developed a blood clot that travelled to my lung and could have travelled to my brain if not caught which my specialists are now speculating was due to the pill as I concieved whilst on the pill and the hormones interacting caused the blood clot to form. I can NEVER go back onto any hormone based contraception and I was on the pill to assist with my cycles due to PCOS since I was 16.

As much as our GP's should assist us in understanding the risks I think as weomen we need to educate ourselves on what we put into our bodies before we do so. The problem with a GP going through all the side effects are that most medications have to potential to effect a minority of the population in a severe way whilst most will be fine.

Im so sorry to hear your friend has gone through this.

Wow I'm a bit worried about this now, I've been on Monofeme since I was 16, got pregnant at 18 and obviously stopped taking it until I finished BF, which will be a whole year ago soon. I often skip the sugar pills as my GP told me it was safe as long as it wasn't every month! Scared as we are planning another baby but not for a couple of years...

interesting. come to think of it I didn't start to get painful periods until I started the pill. went off it for a few years and problem came right but I had never really linked the two.

I agree with pp that the pill is handed out very readily. I remember as young as 13 friends who were on it for 'skin problems' that was really just normal teenage acne.

I was out on the pill to help my ovarian cysts!!!!!!
Iv never had them back either and I'll admit as a teen I'd skip the white sugar pills too!!!
I'm not a fan of the pill really I have trouble remembering appointments let alone a pill everyday sad