My gyno told me the same thing. I have heard that it is true, and that you may never have a symptom. But...my gyno also told me that on the "off" week of pills, when in perimenopause and/or menopause you may have some hot flashes or night sweats. I guess this is one of those things that is hit or miss depending on the person. Actually, 41 isn't too early to start thinking about menopause because perimenopause can start up to 10 years beforehand. At this stage it is good to be aware and take preventative measures to protect bones and such. Good luck.

It depends on how you define menopause. You will most certainly cease to be reproductive at some time in your life. If you define menopause as the *symptoms* of menopause (excluding irregular periods) then there's little evidence that oral contraceptives will be of much benefit in "preventing" it.

Leigh K,

By any chance, are you a doctor?

I am assuming my doctor told me this because he has tried it on many other women and it has worked. Why else would he even bring up something that wasn't true?

No I'm not a doctor. I suggest you ask your doctor what s/he means by "never go have to go through menopause." I *can* guarantee you that you will not remain reproductive for the rest of your life and that you will become post menopausal at some time - probably within the next 15 years. Whether the birth control pills keep the menopausal symptoms at bay during that time is very much an individual matter rather than a certainty. Once you have become post menopausal there are very few reputable physicians who would continue to prescribe the high doses of hormones present in oral contraceptives because of the risks these drugs pose in the post menopausal woman. So-called "hormone replacement therapy" contains much lower doses of both estrogen and progesterone and is thus safer than oc's.

I am sure the original poster meant to say the *symptoms* of menopause. I understood what she meant. I think the Dr termed it "you will not know you are going through menopause, as the pills will help with the symptoms". Of course everyone at some point will stop being fertile.

I think the message that no-one should carry on taking birth control pills indefinitely is based on sound common sense; however, I am sure the original poster is not intending to do this, but will return to her M.D. for further check ups/advice as time goes by. It seems a shame that some really informative and interesting postings to this forum can seem very negative because of the tone in which they are written ( can you write in a tone? sounds a bit odd, but 'genre' sounded so pretentious!)

Pupa, Yes, you can write in a "tone". It's a perfect word to describe the "flavor" of a piece of writing whether it is a paragraph or a book.
Anne M

Many people read here without ever posting. Unless the posts are clear and everyone is using words to mean the same thing those people reading aren't getting good information. Most of the women I know had no problems with menopause. They never saw a doctor about it and took/take no drugs. Most of them are now several years past menopause, but according to the way the word is being used here it seems they haven't "gone through menopause." Yet they are fully postmenopausal by any rational definition of the word. This strikes me as a linguistic absurdity. YMMV.

Oh sigh......

LindaAussieDog - You are such a hoot!
Shari - You know it's funny, I started asking questions of my OB/GYN about getting my tubes tied... with one of the benefits being I could go off the pill.

His response was: Even if I had my tubes tied, he would want to see me continue on the pill to "reduce the chances of cancer".

I just can't believe that this would be healthy, and it really makes cynical me wonder if these Dr.'s get a kickback or goodies from the drug companies.

It kinda makes me go HMMMMMMMMM!

Jerri

Maybe you should point him in the direction of the studies that show that tubal ligation provides the same "protection" from ovarian cancer that oral contraceptives do - without increasing your risk of heart attack, stroke, pulmonary embolus and breast cancer.

Speaking from only my personal experience, my GP told me that I could stay on thepill forever if I didn't mind getting my periods, and thus could drift effortlessly through menopause. I thought he was joking. Until I went on them for four years at the age of 46 and then last summer he asked me to go off them to see where my FSH levels were. He determined that they were fine and that I was "through" ovulating and post menopausal. I switched to HRT without any spotting, minimal flashes and sweats. I am now established on this, with my only side effect being some decrease in sensitivity sexually, and dryness. I feel like he was right. I did not experience much in the way of "symptoms". Just my own experiences.

Daphne: What was the name of the birth control pills that you were on? I was on Mircette for seven months and they did not agree with me, I felt like I had a chronic vaginitis even though when I was given a test it was negative. GYN said it could be dryness, so now I am aware of this. Also a lot of breast tenderness. Please advise.