Low dose birth control in a teen experiences?

[mommyoffive]

Does anyone have any experiences with low dose birth control in a teen? 

Pros/Cons

What kind was it? 

[Kanin]

I had that as a teen. I don't remember what kind. I had horrible cramps that would land me in bed for an entire day, it was agony. BC helped so much!

Also, the nurse practitioner said to take ibuprofen three days before my period was due to start. I still do that sometimes, but it's not needed the way it was when I was 14-18. 

[OH_Homeschooler]

It has helped my dd15 so much! She started about 6 months ago. She had terrible mood swings with PMS-I'm convinced it was part of why she ended up in a psych hospital for suicidal ideation. It's probably PMDD to be honest. I believe it has also helped her cramps and other physical symptoms. 

The name is Cryselle. I've personally been on Lo LoEstrin for similar reasons and it has really helped me. 

[Ottakee]

Mine have the Nexplanon.  Steady low dose, tiny rod inserted in the underarm and good for 3 years.  They love it as they have very light to no periods and NO CRAMPS.  The severe cramps and heavy flow were so hard on them.

 

 

[J-rap]

My dd had it for severe cystic acne, and I had it for very irregular periods.  Sorry, I can't remember what kind.  Neither of us had any problems!  I think for my dd it was one of many things that helped with her acne.  For me, as soon as I went off of it, my irregular periods came back.  (But no side effects for either of us while on it.)

[kristin0713]

My 15yo DD is on Loestrin. It's been about 4-5 months I think. It has given her back her life.  She had debilitating cramps, heavy bleeding, and anxiety leading up to her period every month.  It got to where she would not leave the house for two weeks a month (leading up to it and the week of).  She was killing her stomach with NSAIDS.  I do think she has gained some weight from it, but she's still a healthy weight.  She does not realize that it was the pills that gave her a few extra pounds.  I also think it has increased her moodiness a bit.  But having minimal cramps, less bleeding, and a predictable cycle are worth the trade off. 

[Loowit]

My DD tried about 5 different ones.  None of them were a big help for her.  She has PCOS, like me, with very irregular, heavy, and painful periods.  The biggest issue she had though was that it set off her anxiety and made it much worse, so she had to be taken off of them.  She also had some weight gain, but that could have been from the PCOS.  She talked to a gyn about her options but has decided not to do anything further at this time.  I took a low dose bcp in college for heavy bleeding and cramping and it worked well for that, but it did cause a lot of weight gain which I didn't like.

[LMD]

I'm super wary because it seems like a (sometimes necessary) bandaid rather than an actual solution, and I'm pretty convinced that using bcp as a young teen messed up my reproductive endocrine system worse.

We looked more at hormone stabilising naturopathic solutions, like vitex.

I quite like the stuff here https://larabriden.com/

Ymmv, of course.

[Farrar]

I had that for cramps and it did not really help.

I stayed on it because I started having sex, so I guess it was just as well.

I don't see many downsides for trying it. I mean, there are risks, but they're really low overall.