Endometriosis affects one in 10 women and causes severe pain during periods. The contraceptive pill is often offered to provide relief to patients. We explain why.
Written on 06/16/2024
The Health Mag – France 5
Endometriosis is a common disease that affects 10% of women. The pill would have positive effects on this disease and would be one of the most effective ways to reduce painful symptoms, according to Doctor Isabella Chanavaz-Lacheray, obstetrician-gynecologist specializing in infertility. “The pill is a treatment that can be taken continuously or discontinuously” she specifies.
Continuous pill, the “first treatment”
Be in “amenorrhea”that is to say no longer having periods, constitutes “the first treatment for endometriosis” says Dr. Chanavaz-Lacheray. “It’s the one we should be able to offer to everyone”. This treatment involves taking the contraceptive pill continuously, which will suppress periods. It is most often a progestin-only pill, which contains only progesterone and is taken continuously, 365 days a year.
As endometriosis is strongly linked to the functioning of periods, stopping them reduces the harmful effects of the disease. “The lesions are no longer maintained.”
Also read: Endometriosis: why you should be wary of alternative therapies
Pain reduced, but present
Some pills – estrogen-progestin pills called combined pills – are not taken continuously but only 21 days out of 28. During the seven days without the pill, bleeding which is not quite a real period occurs. “This is called a withdrawal hemorrhage.” specifies Dr. Chanavaz-Lacheray. In this case, the lesions continue, but are less violent than for real periods.
The problem is that a patient with endometriosis often takes the pill very early to reduce their pain. Then the day she stops this contraception to have a child, the pain suddenly returns.
If you suffer from painful periods, do not hesitate to talk to your doctor, gynecologist or midwife. Other treatments than the pill can be implemented, such as a hormonal intrauterine device (IUD) or an operation in the most severe cases.
