Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards | Re: IBS and The Birth Control Pill

There's been lots of discussions on this board about connections between the pill and IBS symptoms - some say it causes theirs, while others have gotten worse after going off the pill.

Like you LM I'm freaked of getting pregnant and I also love the easy periods on the pill. Well, I'm on the patch now actually, as I duscssed this with my doctor in the summer (mostly on the issue of trace amounts of lactose in the pill I was on, Alesse). He thought it would be better too since the hormones don't have to go through my digestive system and just go straight to the blood stream. I can't say it's made a huge difference in my IBS symptoms though, as the time I started it my life also started getting more stressful (went back to school after the summer break). But I like the patch more anyway cause it's sooo much easier to use (you don't have to remember to take a pill every night at the same time etc.) I know some women who've gotten skin reactions to it but it's worked great for me.

I think that any messing around with our hormones is going to affect IBS. I considered going off contraceptives that do that, trying a diaphragm and condoms or something, but I think I'm going to stick with the patch (which is, btw, the same hormones as the pill, just in patch form) for now anyway (and I just got a 1 year prescription refill so at least for that long!)

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