Is Hormonal Contraception Masking Underlying Female Hormone Issues?
Hormonal contraception is a reliable method to prevent pregnancy, but it can also be prescribed to women to ease symptoms that could be related to female health problems such as PCOS or endometriosis.
We take a look at how prescribing hormonal contraception could be masking underlying female hormone issues.
How Does Female Hormonal Contraception Mask Health Issues?
The menstrual cycle is a barometer of a healthy endocrine system. By taking a hormonal contraceptive any changes to a woman’s hormones will go unnoticed until she comes off the contraception.
Women are often prescribed hormonal contraception to manage symptoms related to their hormones. However, if a woman’s period is irregular, unusually heavy, or painful then it’s a sign that something is wrong and further investigation is needed.
Far too often women are prescribed hormonal contraception to manage these symptoms when they are in fact a sign that there could be a health issue such as endometriosis, functional hypothalamic amenorrhoea, or polycystic ovary syndrome.
Although hormonal contraception like the combined pill, is sometimes used to manage certain conditions like polycystic ovary syndrome and endometriosis [5], there are certain conditions where its use is not advised.
Functional hypothalamic amenorrhoea (FHA) is a condition that is associated with weight loss, exercise or stress and leads to metabolic and hormonal issues. A consequence of this is the hypothalamus doesn’t release enough GnRH and causes periods to stop [6]. The Endocrine Society advises against using oral contraceptive pills to treat FHA to help regain regular periods or for improving bone mineral density [6].
It is also important to establish the underlying cause of changes to a woman’s menstrual cycle so that the correct treatment can be prescribed.
Being given hormonal contraception without ruling out other conditions related to female hormones could result in a woman experiencing long term fertility issues as well as poor health.
How Do You Know If Your Contraception Is Masking A Health Issue?
In the first instance, you should only choose to use hormonal birth control if you have regular periods or if the cause of irregular or painful periods has been diagnosed.
If you have been prescribed hormonal contraception to manage irregular or heavy periods, then you may want to gain advice from an endocrinologist to help rule out any health conditions that may be impacting your hormones.
If you are concerned, you may want to consider coming off hormonal contraception and using other barrier methods of contraception. That way you can allow your hormones to return to their natural state and see if your periods are normal for you.
You can also use our Female Hormone Mapping product once your periods have returned to map all 4 key female hormones across your entire menstrual cycle. This will give you in-depth detail on the health of your hormone network and by logging symptoms at the time of doing the test, we can correlate any symptoms to your hormone fluctuations.
Conclusion
Hormonal contraception should only be prescribed to women having regular periods. It should not be prescribed to manage symptoms such as heavy, painful, or irregular periods without other conditions be ruled out first.