[sopranoellen]

I am a healthy, youthful, 57 year old, with good blood pressure, am not overweight, and exercise regularly. I have been taking birth control for many years and currently am on Nora-BE. My OBGYN told about 3 years ago that I should continue on birth control since I was in good health and it would help me cruise through menopause, not having to experience mood swings, severe hot flashes, etc. I have cruised through menopause with no problems. Haven't menstruated in more than 2.5 years. Since I feel so good and don't have any gray hair, I'm wondering whether I should still continue taking the pills? If I stop, will my hair turn gray? Will I experience more severe symptoms of menopause?

[JudyKayTee]

I would do nothing without consulting with my Physician. Depending on what you take there is a great deal of discussion about what is safe, what causes cancer, what is not safe. Physicians cannot agree in many cases.

No, your hair won't turn grey if you stop.

Hormone therapy is used to ease the symptoms of menopause. This is another question for your Physician to address.

[tickle]

I have been reading a little about these issues lately based on the downside of taking HRT (hormone replacement therapy and I have found out that women continuing the because pill way past its use are receiving three times as much estrogen as HRT delivers.

I am with Judy. Don't make any drastic changes until you speak to your own doctor. I would ask what the drastic drop in estrogen (from the because pill) would create should you go off it. Would you have severe menopause symptoms right away, or what? I don't know the answer to this and it is worth finding out from your doctor.

Tick

[JudyKayTee]

Tick, NoraBE is progesterone only.

I've read a lot of the articles, too, and you almost need to be a Physician in order to make the decision.

Some of that is scary stuff and it weighs hysterectomy vs menopause vs just anything else.

[tickle]

Here is part of article I was reading, my guess was actually lower, low dose because pills delivery five times more estrogen:

Studies suggest that oral contraceptives might even protect against colorectal cancer, uterine fibroid tumors, Alzheimer's disease and rheumatoid arthritis.

Taking the pill has always meant an increase in the risk of blood clots, which can cause a stroke. But a woman who does not smoke, does not have high blood pressure, and takes a low-dose oral contraceptive can almost eliminate that additional risk.

So why not just stay on the pill and enjoy all the benefits of hormone-replacement therapy, known as HRT?

Because even low-dose birth-control pills deliver five to seven times as much estrogen as HRT.

HRT simply gives the body back what the ovaries were producing before they were shut down by menopause. The birth control pill delivers a dose of hormones large enough to shut down the ovaries, and it's pointless for a woman to keep taking hormones after menopause has begun and she has stopped ovulating. She would be better off with hormone-replacement therapy, which would provide her with the same benefits but a lower dose of hormone.

"The trick is figuring out when she is in menopause,'' Dr. Lynch said. "There are a couple of ways to test this, but they're not 100 percent reliable. She can go off the pill and see if she's still cycling, but if she's sexually active, there's an outside chance she could get pregnant.

"While it's rare for pregnancy to occur at the age of 50 or 51, it can happen if you're still ovulating.''

Tom Valeo is a freelance writer specializing in medical and health issues. Contact him c/o Seniority, St. Petersburg Times, P.O. Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33731, or e-mail [email protected].