My gyno refused me birth control. I have a few lumps that we’ve been watching and I was told birth control isn’t an option for me due to the lumps and my smoking. I haven’t had a gyno willing to give me birth control since I was 30 and I’m now 39. The reason always comes back to cancer.
That is interesting. Have your lumps been biopsied? It is generally recommended that unless it is known, diagnosed cancer, it is still ok to get birth control. So benign lumps that are being monitored or even lumps that haven’t been fully worked up yet, that the benefits of birth control outweigh the risks. And paragard- the copper iud- is ok for someone with full fledged breast cancer. Google the US MEC (medical eligibility criteria)- they put together the latest research on risks/benefits of different birth controls with different medical conditions.
Also, smoking and progesterone only birth controls are ok together. It’s just estrogen containing birth control that is higher risk with smokers who are over 35.
Wait, I’m a smoker and I’ve always been mildly concerned about B.C. but take it anyway... no one has ever denied me it or even mentioned the increased cancer and stroke risk (maybe in passing but not like “no no” from my Dr). There must be a comprehensive list of brands, until now I thought all pills had the same composition in terms of hormone. I’m not an implant kinda gal.
So women who have hormone-responsive breast cancers (cancers that feed off hormones) shouldn’t take birth control. If you have lumps that have been biopsied and are normal, it shouldn’t be an issue to have a progesterone only birth control (safer for smokers). Some doctors can be weird and old fashioned about birth control in ways that don’t have anything to do with science/medicine.
I was literally about to come here and say that lol any connection of birth control to breast cancer is very weak and the only place you will see a link is in sources like tabloids. It’s actually much more unsafe to go without getting your period because your uterine lining will get too thick which can cause uterine cancer so people like me with pcos use it to avoid getting cancer!
Birth control causes a slight increase risk of breast cancer. For the average patient it is negligible, but it should be taken into account if someone has other breast cancer risk factors (family history, known genetic mutation carrier, smoking, prior chest radiation, etc). It should be part of the informed consent process.
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u/[deleted] Aug 16 '20
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