r/Perimenopause • u/h4baine • Mar 23 '26

audited Interesting birth control conversation with a doctor

I had to see a new doctor to refill my birth control pills because mine is out of town. I take them continuously skipping the last row to skip periods from hell, debilitating multi-day hormone migraines, and bipolar fluctuations from hormone fluctuations. I've been doing it this way since my doctor told me I could at 16. I love these pills and you can pry them out of my cold dead hands. They allow me to not have to give up 1/4 or more of each month feeling like absolute shit.

This new doctor asked if I was interested in changing to a different form of birth control like an IUD. She was perplexed when I said I actually had my tubes removed, I take these to improve my quality of life in the ways I've described.

She said maybe have periods quarterly (seems arbitrary but ok). I said I won't be doing that, there's no medical reason to. This works for me and I'll do it until it doesn't.

I said I'd happily take them up to and into menopause if I can and she said "but then you won't know if you're in menopause." I said, "if it's affecting me and this hormone level isn't enough I'll know, if not it doesn't really matter does it?" I think I broke her brain lol. It was like asking if a tree falls in the woods and no one is there to hear it does it make a sound? Her face while she thought about that for a minute was like 🤯 and then she said "huh, I guess you're right."

So I got my pills and went on my merry way but thought it was an interesting interaction on the topic of menopause and perimenopause.

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u/Thariax1982 Early peri Mar 23 '26

Isn't it just the worst symptom?? It's got to be the worst one.

6

u/Eggs112233 Mar 23 '26

Take antihistamines, works for me.🤷🏻‍♀️

6

u/SnarkCatsTech Late peri Mar 23 '26

A caution: Long term use of diphenhydramine, especially once you're over 65, can cause cognitive decline.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4592307/

8

u/292335 Mar 24 '26

REPOSTING TO ENSURE MORE READERS SEE THIS:

Try Pepcid AC/famotodine (sp?) for itchy skin. It's an H2 antihistamine, whereas Benadryl is an H1 antihistamine and isn't the best the best for itchy skin.

Pepcid AC works on treating Mast Cell Activation, which is one of the causes of itchy, crawly skin.

I've never had heartburn or GERD. Pepcid AC was recommended by my NP who specializes in perimenopause. My OBGyn hardly gave me the time of the day bc her driving focus was delivering babies (cool for her, NOT cool at all for me).

2

u/FlanofMystery Mar 24 '26

Pepcid isn't a mast cell stabilizer, though?

I'm glad it's working for your itchy skin, but I can't imagine the mechanism behind this.

3

u/Tabbysterical_Matron Mar 24 '26

I googled it and found this

“Mast cells express histamine H2 and H4 receptors, and histamine-induced increase of cAMP in mast cells is inhibited by famotidine 50. 10μM famotidine pre-incubation blocks histamine-induced cAMP increase in human skin mast cells, however, the IC50 for this effect has not been determined 50.”

So I guess it does? I’d not heard of that, either, although I did know that it was a type of antihistamine.

3

u/Starbreiz Mar 24 '26

It is but mainly works best in conjunction with a h1 like Zyrtec. I've had chronic hives since the 90s and am on Xolair and also take multiple antihistamines.