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Show Ask The Doctor The pill upsets hormonal balance By WILLIAM J. GOLDWAG, M.D. Q. I'm sure this Is a very unusual problem. 1 am 26 years old and I have a complexion problem, it was pretty clear while I was on birth control pills, but since I went off them, my skin breaks out every month. I also have to shave my legs every day. It Is very embarrassing, especially during the summer. The only time it wasn't real bad was when I was pregnant. Could either of these problems prob-lems be a hormone Imbalance? Imbal-ance? If so, what could be done about them? I appreciate appreci-ate your help because I have trouble talking to anyone about these problems. A. Actually your problem is not that unusual. Birth control pills which consist of a combination of hormones definitely throw your normal nor-mal hormone balance out of kilter. , This is exactly how the pills work. They interfere with the normal cycle of hormone secretion so that you will not ovulate. There are other side effects besides be-sides this inhibition of ovula- tion and in many cases any other symptoms are relatively rela-tively minor. The individual usually decides de-cides when the side effects are too much to be worth taking the pill. Stopping the pill doesn't correct everything every-thing immediately. Sometimes Some-times it takes several months or longer for the body to resume its normal pattern. Occasionally the body seems to forget what its normal pattern Is and it adopts a new balance point. This may be what has happened hap-pened to you. During pregnancy, a whole new set of hormones begins to operate in order to preserve the placenta and the growing embryo. Some of these have very beneficial effects on the mother's body. Hormones from other glands also enter into the picture. The adrenal gland and thyroid have a very close relationship with the , sex hormones. All the endocrine endoc-rine glands are under the control of a portion of the brain called the hypothalamus. hypothala-mus. This means that whatever what-ever affects any part of the brain may eventually influ-- influ-- ence the glandular secretions. secre-tions. It is probably through this mechanism that tension and stress can have such widespread effects on body function. It might be wise to have your thyroid gland activity checked since it may reflect changes that you describe. Care to limit the amount of sugar in the diet would be helpful and note if your response re-sponse to inner tension may have become an issue in your life at present. Temporarily, the use of a depilatory to remove the ej cess hair from your legs may be advisable. Q. I would like to ask about "erythematosis nodosum" nodo-sum" or Just "erythema nodosum" or Just "erythematosis." Are they one and the same? Is this also called "lupus?" My doctor told me there Is no cure for It, so far. I have red knots on my legs. They come with fever and hurt. Then after a while they quit hurting but are sore to touch, and they don't go away. I couldn't take cortisone. They bled. So he's giving me Motrin. It kills the pain as long as I take them. Could you please tell me something about this disease? dis-ease? A. You have the names of two diseases confused. The one you are describing is erythema nodosum, a fancy way of saying red bumps on the legs. The other disease is lupus erythematosis which is an entirely different condition in which the Joints may be inflamed and a rash often occurs across the bridge of the nose and cheeks. Lupus often involves the kidneys and other internal organs and is more serious than erythema nodosum. The painful red spots on the legs seem to be the body's altered reaction to an infection somewhere in the system. Even after the infection in-fection is gone, this pattern of response may persist. It isn't known for sure what sets It off again. It may be a new infection, or it may be some other influ- ence not yet appreciated. It does tend to diminish in time of its own accord. The treatment is purely to reduce some of the inflammatory inflam-matory reaction that occurs with the flare-up. This is what the Motrin does, so does aspirin. Improving the resistance to infection in general may be very helpful. This is aided by a nutritious diet and according to some authorities, vitamin C in large doses may be of assistance assist-ance in this regard. |
