His and Her Health

i was wondering what constitutes a b/c pill to have a low dose of hormones? what is the lowest number? i'm taking ortho tri-cyclen lo currently; the white tablet (the highest number) has .180 mg norgestimate and .025 mg ethinyl estradiol. i also wondered if it's high or low, if it will mess with my sexual drive. lately, i have none and have talked to people about it and they suggest it might be a hormonal imbalance or testosterone level and i'm just curious what someone thinks. let me know anything please.

Hello puprawr-

Low-dose OCPs are those with estrogen levels of 35 mcg or less, so your Ortho pills are certainly in that category.
It's uncommon for any OCP to cause a decrease in sex drive, but possible. Many other causes exist that don't have anything to do with hormones, like stress, fatigue, anger at one's spouse, or pain. Before you start taking supplemental testosterone, I'd discuss this with your doctor.

hello! Dr. Bruce Bekkar

Dr can I ask something i need an information regarding the medicine that can elemenate pregnancy or an anti pregnancy.Hoping to your reply and the information that i need thanks you and more power to you..

Birth control medicines must be prescribed by a doctor.You both may get some good info from www.teenwire.com

OCP absolutely can cause a drop in drive--they bind the sex hormones. Yes, Dr. Bruce, I know you say it's a small #; but, given what we've heard on the boards pretty consistently and the number of women who've successfully gotten their libido back by changing pills or going off of them, it's MHO that isn't entirely correct. I've been on them for...well, more years than I care to count and I am fine--I have an amazing libido. Several of my friends have had issues, though.

So, if your drive has noticeably dropped since you started taking bcps, you may want to consider either switching pills (low-dose is great, but there are several to choose from and one may be better for you than another--it took me 3 different pills to find the best one for me). Or, you may want to consider the patch or the ring. These transdermal methods have been shown to not bind the sex hormones as oral contraceptives do, and have the same success rates. Your doctor should be able to provide a prescription for a new pill or a transdermal method without an exam if you are already on bcps.

Dr. Bruce,
I have just recently was on Depo Provera (Jan 2006) and went back to using the pill. Now when I take my Birth control my period starts at the last 3 pills of the pack. I am a little worried since the cycle has been like this since I stopped the Depo injections. I was wondering in order to get back on track should I stop the taking the pill until the Sunday following my next period?

Questions, questions!
First, to address the issue of pills and sex drive (again): dona1 is correct that pills may do this, and switching to "the patch" or "the ring" may be a good idea; this works b/c less estrogen goes to the liver, where the binding protein is made that can block testosterone. However, I just want to be clear that most low sex drive is not chemical, and we shouldn't always think of "taking something" to get relief.
Next, there was a question about interrupting pregnancy with "a medicine;" I'm guessing that this was a reference to Plan B, the morning-after pill. It's pretty effective if taken within 3 days of sex, but it shouldn't be relied upon as a regular form of birth control. See a doctor to learn more and get an Rx- and better birth control so you don't need it again.
Finally, to the question of irregular bleeding when starting new birth control pills: in the absence of other complaints, I recommend women try the same pill for three cycles before making a change. Often the body gets used to the hormones and the bleeding becomes regular.
Good luck all!