14 year old on birth control

[Anonymous]

I don’t have time to read all the responses, but this was standard medical advice for my daughter at age 16, over 15 years ago. It was a lifesaver for her. She us still doing it. Please do it for your daughter

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wonder if girls on swim teams or active competitive sports would love to be on birth control pills not for heavy bleeding or cramps but for convenience reasons. As a parent, would you let your daughter do that? I assume that we have to lie to get insurance coveraged for these.

Yes I would support it and no you would not need to lie to get it. The medical justification for BC is that you could get pregnant and want BC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is OP, thanks for all of the comments. We have her scheduled for the pregnancy test later this week, I'm sure it will be fine. She currently bleeds through the most absorbent tampons in less than an hour and has crippling cramps so we really need to do something. The pediatrician said that they won't prescribe birth control for anyone without a pregnancy test and I trust our doctor, hopefully this solves her medical issues.

If the results of the pill are not as effective as you hope, I encourage you to see someone besides your pediatrician for this. My daughter's ped initially prescribed for her, but it was the CNM who does my well woman care who saw her later and adjusted her meds to something more suitable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wonder if girls on swim teams or active competitive sports would love to be on birth control pills not for heavy bleeding or cramps but for convenience reasons. As a parent, would you let your daughter do that? I assume that we have to lie to get insurance coveraged for these.

Umm, you can take a teen to the doctor and say you want birth control pills for the purpose of birth control. Why would you lie and say your daughter has heavy bleeding and debilitating cramps?

[Anonymous]

I didn't read the comments but my daughter has been on continuous birth control for 2 years from 14-16yrs old when she was diagnosed with PMDD. It has been the absolute best. She skips the placebo weeks per her pediatrician and hasn't bled at all. No hormones, no bleeding, no mood swings, no feminine products to buy. Her face is crystal clear, and honestly it worked so well, she went off prozac - because she was first misdiagnosed with anxiety/depression but it was literally hormones, cramps, huge mood swings, excruciating bleeding, etc...

For any girls on BCP - skip the placebo week. You already do not ovulate on the pill. There is NO reason to bleed. The male doctors thought woman would feel more "womanly" still getting their period each month but it's just mimics hormones not needed. Don't fall for it!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I didn't read the comments but my daughter has been on continuous birth control for 2 years from 14-16yrs old when she was diagnosed with PMDD. It has been the absolute best. She skips the placebo weeks per her pediatrician and hasn't bled at all. No hormones, no bleeding, no mood swings, no feminine products to buy. Her face is crystal clear, and honestly it worked so well, she went off prozac - because she was first misdiagnosed with anxiety/depression but it was literally hormones, cramps, huge mood swings, excruciating bleeding, etc...

For any girls on BCP - skip the placebo week. You already do not ovulate on the pill. There is NO reason to bleed. The male doctors thought woman would feel more "womanly" still getting their period each month but it's just mimics hormones not needed. Don't fall for it!

Don’t just skip the week- have your prescriber make sure the prescription writes it for continuous use so you get sufficient prescriptions to cover 4 weeks of continuous use per month. Otherwise you will end up paying out of pocket to cover the skipped placebo weeks and/or run out of scripts too early.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:The pregnancy test is most likely required by insurance.

It's also a best practice. Don't go on the pill if pregnant. I had to take one before my colonoscopy because I had had a period within the last year. It's just a best practice.

I'm not sure if you're concerned about the test (being inappropriate based on her lack of sexual experience) or the Rx for BCPs.

It’s not best practice. I have been on and off the pill many times and never had to take a pregnancy test.

Teens are different than adults. She is a minor. A teen may be lying to their parents. It has happened.

So? Do teen girls need to be required to take pregnancy tests whenever a Dr says just in case? Again this is not like Accutane that causes birth defects.

Which is why OP should ask why.

It’s the standard of care and no doctor is going to hand over a scrip for the pill without a clearance pregnancy test. This is a medical liability issue. Sometimes girls aren’t honest with their parents, sometimes one of the parents or some other trusted adult is doing things they shouldn’t be to the girl and she is groomed and brainwashed not to speak of it. Just have her pee in the cup and be done with it.

Really? I've had multiple different gyns in my life, and I've never needed a pregnancy test to be handed a pill prescription. Likewise, my DD started on the pill around age 15, and her doctor also didn't require a pregnancy test.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I didn't read the comments but my daughter has been on continuous birth control for 2 years from 14-16yrs old when she was diagnosed with PMDD. It has been the absolute best. She skips the placebo weeks per her pediatrician and hasn't bled at all. No hormones, no bleeding, no mood swings, no feminine products to buy. Her face is crystal clear, and honestly it worked so well, she went off prozac - because she was first misdiagnosed with anxiety/depression but it was literally hormones, cramps, huge mood swings, excruciating bleeding, etc...

For any girls on BCP - skip the placebo week. You already do not ovulate on the pill. There is NO reason to bleed. The male doctors thought woman would feel more "womanly" still getting their period each month but it's just mimics hormones not needed. Don't fall for it!

Don’t just skip the week- have your prescriber make sure the prescription writes it for continuous use so you get sufficient prescriptions to cover 4 weeks of continuous use per month. Otherwise you will end up paying out of pocket to cover the skipped placebo weeks and/or run out of scripts too early.

Yes, we get 16 packets a year. It's so convenient. I also can't believe the money saved not buying tampons and pads.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:The pregnancy test is most likely required by insurance.

It's also a best practice. Don't go on the pill if pregnant. I had to take one before my colonoscopy because I had had a period within the last year. It's just a best practice.

I'm not sure if you're concerned about the test (being inappropriate based on her lack of sexual experience) or the Rx for BCPs.

It’s not best practice. I have been on and off the pill many times and never had to take a pregnancy test.

Teens are different than adults. She is a minor. A teen may be lying to their parents. It has happened.

So? Do teen girls need to be required to take pregnancy tests whenever a Dr says just in case? Again this is not like Accutane that causes birth defects.

Which is why OP should ask why.

It’s the standard of care and no doctor is going to hand over a scrip for the pill without a clearance pregnancy test. This is a medical liability issue. Sometimes girls aren’t honest with their parents, sometimes one of the parents or some other trusted adult is doing things they shouldn’t be to the girl and she is groomed and brainwashed not to speak of it. Just have her pee in the cup and be done with it.

Really? I've had multiple different gyns in my life, and I've never needed a pregnancy test to be handed a pill prescription. Likewise, my DD started on the pill around age 15, and her doctor also didn't require a pregnancy test.

My daughter's general pediatrician ordered her BCP and she did not make her take a pregnancy test either. I've never heard of it actually

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:14 year olds have sex. How are you surprised that they verify before prescribing? They do the same with accutane.

For the 10 millionth time, that is because Accutane causes severe birth defects. Birth control does not.

I know but parents still get indignant. She’s 14! There’s no way she needs a pregnancy yells mom as doctor rolls her eyes.

[Anonymous]

I use the pill for bleeding as an adult.

It depends how bothered she is by the bleeding.

You should get her platelets checked so you know if this is just normal every period bleeding or if it’s heavier because she has low platelets

[Anonymous]

You should take her to an OB gyn

[Anonymous]

There is always a slim possibility your child is sexually active and you don’t know it. I think drs are prepared for that scenario. My child was put on bcp pretty early, she has a pregnancy test and there was a little weight fluctuation but in general I view it as a good thing for multiple reasons.

[Anonymous]

As a nurse 14 isn’t slim for sexually active. Not at all.

Just pee in a cup. Big deal. Get the birth control to help her. And like others have said get continuous pills. You are making it out to be more of a deal than it needs to be. Peds and ER docs give out BCP like candy. And teens can get BC without a parent consent anyway. So do it together.

[Anonymous]

My friend’s daughter has surgery at almost 12 and they said if she was menstruating she’d need a pregnancy test (she wasn’t yet).

I was quite surprised for recent x-rays they didn’t ask my 13 year old if she had her period yet / could be pregnant.

I (47) just had my first X-rays in years where they didn’t ask if I could be pregnant. For a surgery recently I said no (husband has vasectomy) and they still required a pregnancy test. Pregnancy tests are so cheap that doctors err on the side of caution.