Breast Tenderness

naughtoj

naughtoj

Cathlete
I am on the pill, Yasmin, and have been for over a year. It is my understanding that they are monophasic pills. I am wondering why I still experience breast tenderness to the extent that it hurts to touch them? They get all heavy and swollen and pretty much just feel GROSS. I went running the other day and wished deserately for a breast reduction! LOL! I haven't really seen a for sure pattern, but it seems to be that when I get my period they feel smaller and when I go back on the pills (for the first two weeks or so) they feel absolutely huge and tender. When I take my bra off at night it feels like two bombs dropping! LOL!


I am just curious why this is happening since the hormone levels in the pills remains constant all month. I thought when you were taking pills that your own body's natural hormones were suppressed.I can't figure out what causes the tenderness if the hormone levels remain steady. OB GYNS out there? What say you????


Thanks!
 
I have breast tenderness the same as you are describing...my cat always loves to walk on them and it freaks me out when they are so sore. I love her dearly, but aggghh! I don't take any pills, etc., but for me, my breast are always worse when, and if I have too much caffeine such as diet soda or just chocolate protein bars. Feels like my breast are large boulders..as you can see they are not. LOL! It can be a very miserable time for me. If I can stay away from caffeine altogether, the condition considerably improves.
Sometimes if I am not careful of the caffeine, it gets so bad for me that I have to make sure I don't do the Cathe chest exercises around this time period or I get a double dose of pain/discomfort and no one wants to be around me then! LOL.
Charlotte~~
 
I also suffer from breast tenderness, to the point where I can't even stand under the shower. I was on the pill as well, have been off them now for over 2 years and still have breast tenderness sometimes for months on end, (I am 39). I recently realized that any soy product sets them off big time. I stopped drinking soy milk last week and my breats are no longer sore or hurting. Try eliminating differenty foods you are eating, that could be your problem. If you eat soy, try eliminating that first, soy contains estrogen and if your body has enough, these types of side-effects will occur.
Debbie in OH
 
That is really interesting you guys! I did not even know food played a role! Hmmmm...I'll have to start thinking about it!!:) I don't know if that is a pattern though, since they have been sore all this week.......
 
I used to suffer terribly with breast tenderness constantly. (I'm 38). I also cut out caffeine & chocolate. But I notice that my problems resurface when I eat sweets. Anything with sugar in it. And I also get night sweats. I rarely eat sweets anymore. But sometimes I go on a binge for a weekend here and there, and sure enough my breast tenderness comes back and also my night sweats! Hope this helps..
 
Hi Janice,

You have received some great advice. As long as you are comfortable that you are experiencing benign breast changes, you could try dietary changes, vitamin supplementation, and/or the use of evening primrose oil.

Let me preface this by admitting I don't know your gyn and pill history, but another option is a pill change. Breast tenderness is associated with estrogen excess... sometimes progestin is the problem. Yasmin is a 30mcg pill with an estrogenic activity of 30, so a pill providing less estrogenic activity (this could still be a 30 mcg pill) may alleviate the complaint. The same adjustments could be made with progestin, but estrogen is usually the culprit. Of course, a pill change could introduce a new complaint. :)


I can pm or email ya some stuff on vitamins and dietary changes. Vitamins did wonders for me. I can palpate lumps in the upper outer quadrants of each breast the size of a golf ball that decrease signifcantly after my period. Eliminating caffeine works but is not my choice. So, I started vitamins and my problem was eliminated. I had amazing results, which are likely not typical but an option to consider.

Autumn
 
I have to second, or is that third, the vote for caffeine and sweets. Mine were sooo bad that I gave up caffeine completely!
 
I started having breast SORENESS (sorry, not tender, but plain right down SORE!) and after a friend explained to me about estrogen dominence and how most women have too much estrogen and too little progesterone (and also going to Dr.John Lee's website and becoming informed) I started with a Natural Progesterone cream and by my next cycle, I could feel a HUGE difference. ahhhhhhhhh :)
It was that (the Phytoprolief) and the anti-aging and thermal fusion enzmye mask that made me decide to join Arbonne. (no, this isn't a sale's pitch, just telling how for the first time in my life, I visibley saw and felt results from something and was so amazed, I knew I just had to sign up.)

This summer I decided to paint our bathroom and I so since I wasn't planning on showering in the morning till I was done painting, I didn't want to 'waste' my phyto, so I opted to wait till I was done showering. Well it happened that I never got around in the shower till about 4 or so (this happened like a week or so) and so I was only doing the one pump at night but oh my, my breasts started getting sooooooo sore and I realized it was from not taking my pump in the morning. I will NEVER do that again!!!

My suggestion would be to start doing some research on hormones and see if you are estrogen dominent. And of course the food thing too, that is awesome for the one who quit drinking soy milk and it helped her :)

Good luck
 
Thank you all so much for the advice. I had no idea so many factors could go into having sore boobs!! Autumn....to put my mind at ease then.......are you saying that my own hormones are suppressed by the pill hormones or that my body is still producing estrogen on top of what is in the pill? Don't you have to go thru ovulation to produce estrogen? Geez, when you are not a GYN this is soo confusing!:)



So far the problem has not been too overwhelming....I can still lay on my stomach. I was just more curious as to why it was happening. None of my friends seem to have it, so.........
 
Yeah, this hormone stuff is complicated as there are always buts and ifs. ;) You have it right. The pill puts your ovaries to sleep, so your ovaries are not producing follicles and the large amounts of endogenous estrogen associated with follicular development. You also don't progesterone if you aren't ovulating. BUT, some women still have some follicular development and even ovulate on the pill (but the pill has multiple contraceptive protection). Oh, and estrogen is also produced peripherally (the fat cells). But (another but :)), endogenous estrogen levels are significantly reduced in women using hormonal contraception.

When it comes the finding the right pill, it means finding the right combination. Sometimes, it is not as simple as is sounds.

HTH. I do love to ramble about this stuff. :)

Autumn
 
dealing with birth control is what i do at my job. Breast tenderness can be a side effect of all birth controls. each pill is also different. even though the yasmin you are on is a monophasic pill, there are other monophasic pills that may actually work better for you. different hormone levels and whatnot. at my job, if you came in and complained of the breast tenderness you have complained of, we would switch you to another pill if you wanted to stay on the pill. or inform you about the nuva ring, the patch, and depo.
if you are interested in any information on any of these, toss me an email :)
maddie
 
Mine get sore and sometimes itch like crazy!

My gyno told me to try taking Vitamin E, and watch the caffeine.
 
Chemicals and sugar.... I gave up sugar ( almost all) a long time ago and processed food and the pain went away. I really think that it's the chemicals because the minute I eat anything with chemicals, the pain comes back during the last part of the month. Vitamin E works miracles for me though and was suggested by my doctor.
 
Well, I was just curious because I don't have this problem all the time. More often than others it seems. Freaks me out a bit this time because I was on antibiotics (Augmentin) several weeks ago for that cat bite I got. I took 10 days of it which happened to coincide partially with my period, but it did overlap some into a few pills and hubby and I did you-know-what. I know the odds that I would be pregnant are very slim, but that kind of stuff runs thru your mind. I have a well woman in the first of March, so I will ask my gyno this question too....


I think if I were to switch BC, I would now do the FAM method. Looks interesting and I would like to see what my body is like naturally.
 
I usually get breast soreness every single month before my period. Some months are worse than others, but I always get it. I'm not taking any contraceptives, and I haven't for nearly 15 years.

This month I had NO soreness. None. I was amazed. I have to assume it's because I cut sugar, caffeine, alcohol and processed foods from my diet. (But I still have those little Dove dark chocolates sometimes.)

This is literally the first time in YEARS that I've had no breast soreness before my period. Diet must matter.
 
just curious if you know what all the family planning method contains. There is the temperature method, Each morning take your temperature, as soon as you wake up — before getting out of bed, talking, eating, drinking, having sex, or smoking. Either insert the thermometer in your rectum or place it in your mouth for a full five minutes. Read the temperature to within 1/10 of a degree and record the reading.
Then there is the cervical mucus method, The mucus secreted by the cervix collects on the cervix and in the vagina. It changes in quality and quantity just before and during ovulation.
The calendar method attempts to predict ovulation using a woman's menstrual history. A written record is kept — an ordinary calendar can be used to note each cycle, counting from the first day of one menstrual period up to, but not including, the first day of the next. The day bleeding starts is Day 1, and you mark this by circling that date on the calendar. Continue to circle Day 1 for at least eight months (12 is better).
With PERFECT use, with the 100 women on the temp method, two got pregnant. With PERFECT use, of 100 women who use the mucus method three got pregnant. With PERFECT use, of 100 women who use the calendar method nine got pregnant. few couples are able to use these methods perfectly.
It's very in depth, and can be effective when done correctly. Basically though, this method is used by women who are trying to get pregnant because they know when they will be the most fertile.
Just a little beginning info on the FAM method for you :) Whichever your choice, as long as you use your method consistently, you should be good.
Lecture over for the day. lol
 
Hey Janice,

Tag your it. :) I pm'd ya... with more to come. Ya know I love to talk. :)

If you decide to use FAM, I suggest picking up the book TCOYF (Taking Charge of Your Fertility) by Toni Wescheler or the Art of Natural Family Planning (this book does get into the morality issue though). Maddie quoted the stats from Contraceptive Technology, a must have in family planning clinics. I had to basically memorize it in NP school and was tested, and I still refer to it. However, those statistics are different than what your will find in other sources. For example, TCOYF states that if you use the the information in the book correctly with every cycle, the failure rate is approximately 2%. The Art of Natural Family Planning states the Sympto-thermal Method "can be used at the 99% level of effectiveness". BUT, FAM is much more detailed in these books and for some women it is much more convenient to use another method. For basic info, plannedparenthood.org has some great info on the options
http://www.plannedparenthood.org/pp.../;jsessionid=2DB67137D76047E38F7587D5DE3CFFE2

Autumn
 
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