Migraine support - micronor and pancreatitis

Author

micronor and pancreatitis

asylumboss

2005-01-20, 2:07 am

Hello all! I felt it important to write briefly about my short
experience with Micronor. I was told to switch to it because of its
lack of estrogen- I am a migraine sufferer and get auras- also smoked
for 20 years while on Synphasic. I never had any problems with
Synphasic, but was cautioned to stop because of my increased chance of
strokes. I am 36 years old (and a non-smoker now)and have only had
migraines since the age of 30, and thankfully have only had about 6 of
them.....enough to know how absolutely aweful they are. They run on my
mom's side of the family and my sisters have also gotten them- not to
the extent my mother has- she has a headache all the time and
migraines several times a month....she "controls" them with
Imitrix....

That is just to give you a brief history- the point of my story is
that I did some research before switching to Micronor and was aware
that there were some side effects such as weight gain, etc. I made the
switch and within a month I had pancreatitis- a painful inflamation of
the pancreas which can actually be deadly for some. This condition
usually occurs in drinkers and/or people with high cholesterol and/or
people with gall stones or who are over weight. I am none of the
above. I am in the 10-20% of people considered to be "cause unknown".
However, I looked into it on the internet and pancreatitis comes up as
a side effect for Micronor!!! I only took it for a month and within a
week a believe I began to have this condition....it became much worse
within a month and then after going to the hospital I stopped taking
it, believing that there was a corrilation (sp?) and that was a month
ago. My lipase amounts (the enzyme in your blood that tells you that
you have pancreatitis) has been going down since then and I am feeling
better. I have only had spotting twice and that concerns me as
well....with most birth control pills you get your period after
stopping your pill for two days. I have now been off of this pill for
a month.

So i don't know what the heck is in this pill....but I will never take
it again and would be very leery to take it whilst breastfeeding...

Hillary Israeli

2005-01-20, 7:07 am

In <b209fbf0.0501192128.62d7c866@posting.google.com>,
asylumboss <griffrules@hotmail.com> wrote: [regarding Micronor]

*
*So i don't know what the heck is in this pill....but I will never take
*it again and would be very leery to take it whilst breastfeeding...

I can tell you what is in this pill. Each tablet contains 0.35 mg
norethindrone (a synthetic progestin) as the active ingredient. Inactive
ingredients include D&C Green No.5, D&C Yellow No.10, lactose, magnesium
stearate, povidone and starch - pretty typical inactive ingredients for
any kind of pill.

Of note is that norethindrone is found in many many oral contraceptives,
not just Micronor. Like, Brevicon 28 contains 0.5 mg norethindrone (along
with the estrogen component), Norinyl contains 1 mg norethindrone, Ortho
Novum 7/7/7 contains amounts of norethrindrone ranging from 0.5 to 1 mg
depending on the color of the tablet...

So, if Micronor were to cause pancreatitis due to its active (or inactive)
ingredients, it is extremely likely that most other birth control pills
would as well. For the record, I am unable to find anything in the
manufacturer's literature describing pancreatitis as a known side effect,
as a possibly associated condition, or even as a reported adverse reaction
found in users of oral contraceptives but with no proven or
refuted association! Pancreatitis simply doesn't appear at all. A Medline
search for norethindrone and pancreatitis reveals one article on
estrogen-induced pancreatitis, in which the pancreatitis was attributed to
the estrogenic component of her combination pill, NOT the norethindrone
(they called it "oral contraceptive induced hyperlipidemia" and suggest
always monitoring serum lipids during estrogen therapy). Also I found 3
other articles with no abstracts available but which are likely also
regarding combination pills.

I really do not think that a progestin-only pill is associated with
pancreatitis. I would like to see *any* reputable source which states
otherwise! Thanks.

-hillary

ps I'm so sorry to hear you had pancreatitis. That sucks. I hear it is
excruciating.

--
Hillary Israeli, VMD
Lafayette Hill/PA/USA/Earth
"Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it is
too dark to read." --Groucho Marx

Sarah Vaughan

2005-01-27, 8:31 am

In message <slrncuvanu.cii.hillary@manx.misty.com>, Hillary Israeli
<hillary@hillary.net> writes
>In <b209fbf0.0501192128.62d7c866@posting.google.com>,
>asylumboss <griffrules@hotmail.com> wrote: [regarding Micronor]
>
>*
>*So i don't know what the heck is in this pill....but I will never take
>*it again and would be very leery to take it whilst breastfeeding...
>
>I can tell you what is in this pill. Each tablet contains 0.35 mg
>norethindrone (a synthetic progestin) as the active ingredient. Inactive
>ingredients include D&C Green No.5, D&C Yellow No.10, lactose, magnesium
>stearate, povidone and starch - pretty typical inactive ingredients for
>any kind of pill.
>
>Of note is that norethindrone is found in many many oral contraceptives,
>not just Micronor. Like, Brevicon 28 contains 0.5 mg norethindrone (along
>with the estrogen component), Norinyl contains 1 mg norethindrone, Ortho
>Novum 7/7/7 contains amounts of norethrindrone ranging from 0.5 to 1 mg
>depending on the color of the tablet...
>
>So, if Micronor were to cause pancreatitis due to its active (or inactive)
>ingredients, it is extremely likely that most other birth control pills
>would as well.

Including the combination pill that the OP was on previously
(Synphasic), which uses norethindrone as the progestagen.

All the best,

Sarah

--
"I once requested an urgent admission for a homeopath who had become depressed
and taken a massive underdose" - Phil Peverley