Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really wish this could be be called "hormonal treatment" or some such that has a "side effect" of preventing pregnancy for these young girls (and their mothers) and maybe even me!
I've been on birth control pills at different times when I was not having sex. The pill had nothing to do with preventing pregnancy for me, but was treating a medical condition.

So I was put on the pill for medical reasons when I was 16. When my mom handed it over she said- “I know it’s called birth control but yours is just a lose dose to get normal periods so it won’t prevent pregnancy.” Fast forward to me getting a college boyfriend at 19 and walking into my college health clinic telling doc I needed “regular” birth control now. She laughed so hard and said my mother was a genius.

haha +1

PP here, sorry, should read “low” dose.

Anonymous wrote:I really wish this could be be called "hormonal treatment" or some such that has a "side effect" of preventing pregnancy for these young girls (and their mothers) and maybe even me!
I've been on birth control pills at different times when I was not having sex. The pill had nothing to do with preventing pregnancy for me, but was treating a medical condition.

So I was put on the pill for medical reasons when I was 16. When my mom handed it over she said- “I know it’s called birth control but yours is just a lose dose to get normal periods so it won’t prevent pregnancy.” Fast forward to me getting a college boyfriend at 19 and walking into my college health clinic telling doc I needed “regular” birth control now. She laughed so hard and said my mother was a genius.

I'm 40 and take BC to clear up my acne, not for birth control. It's kind of a miracle drug.

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.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Anonymous wrote:I think I know the answer here and I just need to get over my unease, but my 14 year old daughter has been having heavy periods and bad cramps for over a year and her doctor has recommended we put her on the birth control pill. This seems like the right medical answer, but it took me aback for a minute when they said we needed to have her come in and take a pregnancy test first, which is standard protocol, before the give us the prescription. She is in 8th grade and hasn't kissed anyone yet, I know this isn't being prescribed because of her having sex but somehow it just seems very young. Has anyone else put a daughter this young on the pill?

Way back in the 80s I pleaded with my mom to let me go on BC pills at age 14 after I read in Teen magazine that it could help with painful and heavy periods.

It wasn’t until years later that a different GYN told me I had a tipped uterus which caused dysmenorrhea. My periods were so heavy I became anemic every month and would sometimes soak through a large pad in a short period of time, leading to more than one embarrassing leakage/staining incident in school. I couldn’t do my paper route on my bike because it was so bad and my mother would get pissed when I asked her to drive me on the route on the couple of days it was so heavy.

The worst two things about that experience is that both my mother and her old white guy GYN insinuated I was a slut for wanting to go on the pill, and the old white guy GYN molested me so that really sucked as well. I remember thinking it was the most awful and disgusting kind of physical exam and I felt sick and ashamed about how he touched me; it wasn’t until I saw another GYN at planned parenthood years later and then yearly for many years after that I realized I’d been sexually assaulted by the old creepy doctor because no other GYN exam I ever had the rest of my life was like the one he gave me. I’m still disgusted and angry to think about it today.

So my advice is be very accepting and supporting of your daughter, and if the GYN you’re taking her to is a man don’t leave the exam room unless he has a nurse present to observe. Now that I’ve lived decades more and been a prosecutor, I understand fully that some creepy doctors count on those early exams with teenaged patients to get their sick thrills - because the patients don’t know better and are usually too confused to say anything.

And please get your daughter a copy of Our Bodies, Ourselves.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

My 16 year old started at 14.5 due to heavy period pain. It helped with that and also cleared her skin. I don't understand the need to take a pregnancy test before being prescribed it, but honestly the birth control/safe sex discussion is a good thing to have around that age anyway.

OP, did you ask why they want to do the pregnancy test?

It is fine to go on the pill at that age. However, I would be curious what her symptoms are. How debilitating are they? If not dramatically improved, it may be time to think about surgical approaches to endometriosis.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not birth control, but my 12 year old daughter went on Accutane and had to get MONTHLY pregnancy blood tests. I had to take her to the LabCorps at her school at like 8 am once a month. It was... not fun.

Exactly. OP, I think the pregnancy test is just what's throwing you, and I get that. But they will ask anyone capable of getting pregnant about it just to cover their bases. They would need to confirm she wasn't pregnant if god forbid she fractured her ankle and needed an x-ray.

It's just a mental block. You're a good mom for listening to her and trying to get this fixed!

Except doing the test for Accutane is because it causes severe birth defects. Hormonal BC does not. I would decline the test for my DD.