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Topic: How many of us took Birth Control Pills?

Forum: Hormonal Therapy - Before, During, and After — This is a safe place to share your experiences of others considering or on hormonal treatment.

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Posted on: Sep 16, 2009 03:29PM

Posted on: Sep 16, 2009 03:29PM

KorynH wrote:

This same question may be burried in the 2 thousand other posts but I haven't found it. I was diagnosed at age 44 and had been taking birth control pills for the previous 13 years. Once I was diagnosed my doctor said to stop the pill immediately....even mid cycle! I at that time had not had a period in  a year but was not testing post-menopausal according to bloodwork. Then when I decided for the first time to read the pamphlet that came in the pill pack it stated right there in black and white MAY CAUSE BREAST CANCER IN YOUNG WOMEN (pre -meno) WITH LONG TERM USE yet no doctor in 13 years ever warned me to stop it and I was there faithfully every year for my paps! I took Lo-Ovral.

I was furious! When I questioned my ob.gyn she said the pill doesn't cause breast cancer.  However, now that chemo has put me into early menopause and I seek help for the hot flashes she says, oh you can't take hormones they might cause breast cancer! I find that just crazy. So I am finding many other survivors who also took oral contraceptives for many years and later developed breast cancer. I would just be curious to see just how many on these forums were too and for how long you were on it.

The pill may not CAUSE breast cancer but what it does to our cycles, creating an estrogen dominance can cause breast cancer, so says the book What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Breast Cancer.

Tell your story!

KorynH -age 44 at diagnosis (2008) , IDC 1.6cm , ILC 1.6cm ,Rt. mast. 10/08, 0/6 nodes,stage 2a, gr. 3, ER+/PR+, Her2NU+++, BRCA Neg.,TCH chemo 12/08 - Herceptin completed 12/09, T.E., silicone implant exchange July 2009
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Sep 16, 2009 03:36PM chelev wrote:

I was off an on birth control pills for at least 10 years, and then after my hyst. at age 28, I was put on various and assorted HRT therapies that did not work (I was overproducing estrogen like a fiend . . .geee, wonder why I got cancer???? - always had overabundance of estrogen).

chelev - TC - 2 rounds (allergic!), Rads - 33 rounds. Oncotype score - 27. Tamoxifen, Jan 2010-April 2013 - too many side effects! BRCA Negative. "If we couldn't laugh, we would all go insane" - Jimmy Buffet Dx 2/14/2009, IDC, 3cm, Stage II, Grade 2, 0/4 nodes, ER+/PR+, HER2- Surgery 2/27/2009 Lumpectomy: Right; Lymph node removal: Right, Sentinel Chemotherapy 3/12/2009 Cytoxan (cyclophosphamide), Taxotere (docetaxel) Radiation Therapy 5/29/2009 Breast, Lymph nodes Hormonal Therapy 1/1/2010
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Sep 16, 2009 03:43PM LynnVA wrote:

I was on BC pills for almost 17 years. No doc ever told me this would up my already high risk stats. My mother was diagnosed at 30, I was diagnosed at 35.  I know she never took a BC pills.

BL Mast w/ TE, Rads, waiting for exchange
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Sep 16, 2009 03:43PM DENRulzBC wrote:

KORYN - I took the pill for about 20 years except for pregnancy breaks and breast feeding.  I never knew that they could cause bc either, no doctor ever mentioned it to me.  Every year at my gyn exam they just gave me next years rx.  My breast surgeon also had me stop as soon as I was diagnosed.  We should talk about this at coffee tomorrow.  See you then :o)!!

 CHELEV - hi there!

HUGS, Dawn

"Slow and steady wins the race" Age at Dx: 44 Dx 1/28/09, Bilat. 3/6/09 w/TE, ILC, 1.3cm, Stage 1/2ish, Grade 2, micromets 1/5 nodes, ER+/PR+,HER2-
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Sep 16, 2009 03:58PM pj12 wrote:

I took Birth Control pills  for ten years between ages 21 and 31.  Then took Premarin for 10 years between ages 45 and 55 (post hysterectomy).  

I think one or the other has been a part of almost all of our lives.  Hard to know which to blame.

Pam 

"Nobody told me there'd be days like this ~ Strange days, Indeed. " John Lennon................... Treatment: Lumpectomy, 36 Radiation, Arimidex, now Tamoxifen Dx 3/3/2009, IDC, 1cm, Stage I, Grade 2, 0/2 nodes, ER+/PR+, HER2-
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Sep 16, 2009 04:04PM nash wrote:

I took the pill (with breaks for 2 babies) from age 21 to age 38, when I was diagnosed with bc. Also told to stop taking it immediately upon diagnosis. But my tumor was only moderately ER/PR positive, and I have a very strong family history of cancer (dad died of pancreatic, mom died of bc, among others), so I probably would have ended up with cancer anyhow. I did have one onc tell me that the pills caused my bc, but I don't know how she'd know that for sure. They probably didn't help the situation, though.

Stage IV Pleomorphic ILC, initially diagnosed at age 38. Mets to brain, cranial nerves, bone and breast Dx 6/7/2007, ILC, Left, 2cm, Stage IV, metastasized to bone, Grade 2, 0/4 nodes, ER+/PR+, HER2- Surgery 7/19/2007 Lumpectomy; Lumpectomy (Left); Lymph node removal Chemotherapy 8/1/2007 CAF Radiation Therapy 12/27/2007 Whole breast: Breast, Chest wall Hormonal Therapy 3/1/2008 Tamoxifen pills (Nolvadex, Apo-Tamox, Tamofen, Tamone) Dx 4/24/2015, ILC, Left, 1cm, Stage IV, metastasized to other, Grade 2, 0/10 nodes, ER+/PR+ Surgery 5/15/2015 Mastectomy; Reconstruction (Left): Latissimus dorsi flap Dx 2/1/2018, ILC, Right, 6cm+, Stage IV, metastasized to other, Grade 3, ER+/PR+ Chemotherapy 2/15/2018 Cytoxan (cyclophosphamide), Taxol (paclitaxel), Taxotere (docetaxel) Dx 6/20/2018, ILC, Both breasts, 6cm+, Stage IV, metastasized to brain/bone, Grade 3, ER+/PR+ Targeted Therapy 7/1/2018 Ibrance (palbociclib) Hormonal Therapy 7/1/2018 Faslodex (fulvestrant), Zoladex (goserelin) Radiation Therapy 7/3/2018 External Local Metastases 7/3/2018 Brain Radiation Therapy 7/27/2020 External Local Metastases 7/27/2020 Brain Radiation Therapy 2/23/2021 External Local Metastases 2/23/2021 Brain Chemotherapy 3/1/2022 Other Dx ILC, Other, Stage IV Radiation Therapy Other part
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Sep 16, 2009 04:38PM cakeisgreat wrote:

I never took the pill and still got BC unfortunately.  Totally Est positive.  I'm only 37 yrs old.  I think we are genetically dispositioned to get bc or other cancer, but then the "environmental" stuff may hurry it along a bit.  :)

~Cake (is always great!)
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Sep 16, 2009 04:46PM Enjoyful wrote:

I wondered that myself but never read the pamphlet.  I was on birth control pills from age 19 to 33, then intermittenly to address some cycle issues.  There's a lot of press on hormonal therapy for menopause and how it's linked to breast cancer, but none on birth control pills.  Why would one increase risk but not the other? 

BENGHAZI! Dx 9/2004, IDC, 1cm, Stage IIIA, Grade 2, 4/14 nodes, ER+/PR+, HER2- Dx 8/28/2009, IDC, 2cm, Stage IV, Grade 2, ER+/PR-, HER2-
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Sep 16, 2009 04:48PM Kleenex wrote:

I think I started a thread about this last summer, as this is one of my favorite theories. I saw three different gynecologists in three states, and all of them promoted a theory that I could "skip" menopause by continuing to take BCP's, which I took for at least 20 years (with time off to attempt to conceive, to be pregnant, and to nurse from about age 17 - last summer). The plan was to keep me on them until about 51 years of age, and then see if we missed it. (I was 45 at diagnosis.) Interesting how they allegedly do not cause breast cancer, but hormone replacement therapy does. And you can not take them if you develop breast cancer. Perhaps the theory is that some of our bodies handle estrogen irresponsibly... And of course, now I'm enjoying menopause symptoms by the hour. Yay.

Dx 6/19/2008, ILC, 2cm, Grade 1, 0/2 nodes, ER+/PR+, HER2-
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Sep 16, 2009 04:48PM caaclark wrote:

I took the pill from age 18-25.  Then had children (3 pregnancies in 4 years) and post kids used the patch.  My twin sister was on the pill from around age 18 until I was diagnosed, which was when I was 40.  No cancer for her and she has way more risk factors.

I have often wondered if it was the Patch that threw me over. 

Carol Clark- Author of WHEN OUR MOM HAD CANCER Diag.1/06 at age 40, 1.6cm, 6+nodes, stage IIIa, er/pr+, her2-, chemo, mast. rads, no recon
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Sep 16, 2009 04:50PM Kleenex wrote:

I bumped my earlier thread on this - it's in the ILC forum.

Dx 6/19/2008, ILC, 2cm, Grade 1, 0/2 nodes, ER+/PR+, HER2-

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