Combined pill and insulin resistance

[CFitzgerald]

I have Type 1 diabetes but also PCOS and would ideally go on the combined pill to help with symptoms. However I tried Gedarel for a few months and it made me quite insulin resistant and blood sugars hard to manage. What are others experience with contraceptive pills?

 

[EllieM]

Haven't been on the pill, though mirena (IUD together with hormones that reduce period bleeding) was a good contraceptive for me.

If you have issues with insulin resistance and PCOS maybe metformin would be a good option? (Though obviously you'd still need a separate birth control).

Good luck.

 

[Seacrow]

I take norethisterone, which is a hormone which can be used as a contraceptive. It's not prescribed as that, it's to control mood swings, severe pain and excessive bleeding. My husband says it makes me possible to live with.

I don't know if it increases insulin resistance (the accompanying leaflet says : progestogens can decrease glucose tolerance) but it smoothes out the variation in blood glucose over That week.

There are options, really the best you can do is discuss it with your GP and keep trying options until you find the best for you.

 

[CFitzgerald]

Haven't been on the pill, though mirena (IUD together with hormones that reduce period bleeding) was a good contraceptive for me.

If you have issues with insulin resistance and PCOS maybe metformin would be a good option? (Though obviously you'd still need a separate birth control).

Good luck.

Thanks! I did actually quite like the Mirena although they dont actually recommend it as a PCOS treatment, maybe I should reconsider it...

 

[CFitzgerald]

I take norethisterone, which is a hormone which can be used as a contraceptive. It's not prescribed as that, it's to control mood swings, severe pain and excessive bleeding. My husband says it makes me possible to live with.

I don't know if it increases insulin resistance (the accompanying leaflet says : progestogens can decrease glucose tolerance) but it smoothes out the variation in blood glucose over That week.

There are options, really the best you can do is discuss it with your GP and keep trying options until you find the best for you.

Thank you!

 

[Rose22]

I took the combined pill for help with period pain, which it didn’t help with but I had the worst hba1c I’ve had in the past four years so stopped. I’ve now been advised to try the mini pill as this doesn’t impact blood sugar levels apparently. It can be so hard finding what works for you. Will see how it goes. At least with the different options you can always stop if you find not helping or sugars becoming harder to control.

 

[CFitzgerald]

I took the combined pill for help with period pain, which it didn’t help with but I had the worst hba1c I’ve had in the past four years so stopped. I’ve now been advised to try the mini pill as this doesn’t impact blood sugar levels apparently. It can be so hard finding what works for you. Will see how it goes. At least with the different options you can always stop if you find not helping or sugars becoming harder to control.

Thats interesting to see you had similar struggles! I hope you find something to settle the pain, that is no fun :-(