The Secrets-Out and Burning

In my searching for answers I came across a site that gives detailed information and advice on Marvelon. An oral contraceptive that I was on. So ladies, what are you not being told? Click read more to know some of what you are not being told!

To save space here, I would like you to open this link in another window:- http://www.rxmed.com/b.main/b2.pharmaceutical/b2.1.monographs/CPS-%20Monographs/CPS-%20(General%20Monographs-%20M)/MARVELON.html

I’m going to snip and apply the interesting points extracted from this delightful little write up that corresponds to smear/pap tests and the cervix.

1) “Physical Examination and Follow-up: Before oral contraceptives are used, a thorough history and physical examination should be performed, including a blood pressure determination. Breasts, liver, extremities and pelvic organs should be examined. A Papanicolaou smear should be taken if the patient has been sexually active.” I don’t know about you but I never, ever had this examination prior to going on the pill. “The first follow-up visit should be done 3 months after oral contraceptives are prescribed. Thereafter, examinations should be performed at least once a year, or more frequently if indicated. At each annual visit, examination should include those procedures that were done at the initial visit as outlined above…” Didn’t get this either!

2) “The identified groups of women that may be at increased risk of developing breast cancer before menopause are long-term users of oral contraceptives (more than 8 years) and starters at early age. In a few women, the use of oral contraceptives may accelerate the growth of an existing but undiagnosed breast cancer.” But wait, you don’t need to come off the pill (or not take it to begin with)! Cause in the same paragraph we get “Since any potential increased risk related to oral contraceptive use is small, there is no reason to change prescribing habits at present.” Seems very much like going “We say one thing, we change our mind – no one’s reading too deep in this right?” Now here is another gem ladies:- “A yearly clinical breast examination is also recommended because, if a breast cancer should develop, estrogen-containing drugs may cause a rapid progression.”

3) “Laboratory Tests: Results of laboratory tests should be interpreted in the light that the patient is on oral contraceptives. The following laboratory tests are modified.” I’m just going to cut to the test that is “modified” that applies to the situation. That’s where it says “Tissue Specimens: Pathologists should be advised of oral contraceptive therapy when specimens obtained from surgical procedures and Pap smears are submitted for examination.” So you have to ask yourself now why are these results modified? And what are they modified too? Something I had to ask myself was if I had not told the nurse on the day I had my smear that I had come off the pill (yeah I delayed updating the medical records cause remember, when I came off it my decision was swift and final), would my smear have come back as normal rather than abnormal? Read on! It's still interesting!

4) “The following adverse reactions also have been reported in patients receiving oral contraceptives: (long list of stuff till you get to…) endocervical hyperplasias…”. What is that? What is endocervical hyperplasias? When I looked up on Google for a definition, it is clearly defined but the Australian Society of Cytology as “Microglandular endocervical hyperplasia is a localised proliferation of endocervical cells which can mimic adenocarcinoma.” But what does that mean? It means it copies the appearance of cancer cells. So what looks like cancer cells at first glance might not be. They go on to say “The lesion usually occurs in younger women and has been described in association with oral contraceptive use and pregnancy.” So does this link with point (3) I made? About results being modified? If they know this happens in pill users it makes me ask again, if they thought I was still on the pill would my results been normal? “The predominant cellular findings are nuclear enlargement and hyperchromasia, a finely distributed chromatin pattern and nuclear crowding. The cytoplasm is usually abundant and finely vacuolated. Degenerative features can present diagnostic difficulties and reparative changes have been described in a significant proportion of cases and resulted in a false positive diagnosis (Selvaggi and Haefner, 1997).”
This is very interesting to me because the day I had my colposcopy I asked the Specialist if being on the pill can affect results and the cervical landscape and I swear to you, with no hesitation at all, she replied with “No! Absolutely not, that does not happen.” Great big fat lie there!

If you want to do some reading for yourself about what the Australian Society of Cytology have to say, the link I viewed their definitions on is:
http://www.cytology-asc.com/cec/endocx/endocxpitfalls.htm

So all I wonder and ask myself over and over is why the modifications to results? What are the modifications? Am I actually normal rather than abnormal? Should women be more aware of the more serious side affects of the pill? I know my answers. What are yours?