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I've been taking Microgestin 1.5/30 since early September.
Before that, I wasn't taking anything and was having all kinds of crazy bleeding.
I went to Planned Parenthood back in March '07 (was uninsured then) because of postcoital bleeding- I also hadn't been to a gyno in about eight years, so I was like, "Great; now it'll come back and bite me in the arse. Shoulda been getting those yearly PAPs."
At PP, they told me I had a very small polyp on my cervix. I had never heard of this, but have since researched it, and it's common. 5-10% of women who have had two or more children have these polyps. They're nearly always benign.
So anyway, at PP they did a PAP (which came back normal) and removed the polyp- just pulled it off with tweezers, apparently it was just kinda hanging there. They sent the polyp in to the lab for analysis, it came back benign, which was what I expected.
They told me the polyp was what was causing the abnormal bleeding, and that now it would stop.
They tried to put me on birth control pills, but I said no.
September of '07, I was back at Planned Parenthood. The bleeding hadn't stopped; it was worse. It was so heavy I couldn't stay at work.
I saw the same nurse practioner again. She didn't want to examine me again, she just kept pushing birth control pills on me, claiming that was the answer.
So I started taking them.
They did control the bleeding somewhat, but I had a lot of side effects; nausea, headaches. I have trouble remembering to take them on time, and if I'm 4 hours late, the spotting starts up and lasts until the end of the pill pack- three weeks, in one case.
So, I got insurance in January '08, and used it to go to a real gyno.
I told him my history and everything, and as soon as he looked in there, he goes, "They're baaa-aaack."
The polyps. Apparently, now there's more than one.
He did another PAP (normal again) and gave me a scrip for my pills, so I could get them for a $5.00 copay instead of $22 dollars at Planned Parenthood.
The heavy bleeding, the irregular bleeding, the postcoital bleeding are all caused by these polyps, according to him.
He did not remove any of the polyps to send to the lab for analysis because, he says, "They aren't cancer. They're just a nuisance."
He told me he could remove them if I wanted; it would be a minor surgical procedure in which he would "shave them off", then cauterize the tissue so they'd never grow back. He said that if I had this procedure done, I should never get pregnant again, because it would compromise my ability to carry to term.
He did not seem very encouraging about this procedure. He kept stressing that it really wasn't necessary, that the polyps were "only a nuisance, not dangerous", didn't really require any treatment, and would go away after I go through menopause, since they're caused by estrogen.

So, I've been considering this since March, but I've decided to go ahead and have this procedure, whatever it is. I certainly don't want any more kids, so that part of it's not even a consideration.
My quality of life is compromised by this condition; dangerous or not, I think about it all the time, and it grosses me out.
I need to be off these pills. I originally thought a hormone imbalance was causing the heavy bleeding, which was why I got on them in the first place; when they seemed to help, this confirmed my suspicion. But the doctor I saw in March told me I don't have any hormone imbalance.
In light of the side effects of the pill, and my dislike and distrust of medicines in general (I'm not a fanatic about it; pills have their place. But I don't think a healthy person should take pills every day, forever. It just doesn't seem right)
I figure I might as well just quit them. In fact, I took my last one today, and I'm not planning to get any more, even though the prescription's for a year.
And I guess I'm going to call the doctor and make an appointment to get this procedure done, this surgery. I'm pretty scared about it, even though I think it's minor- they do it in the office, apparently, with only local anesthesia.

My questions are- what can I expect from going off the pill after 7 or 8 months? Will I be sick? Will I lose weight? What will happen?
And has anybody else here ever been diagnosed cervical or endometrial polyps (they're not the same thing, but I think they're similar, and often appear together; doctor says best as he can tell from an ultrasound he did, I don't have any endometrial ones) and if so, what- if anything- did you do about it?

The thing is, I only have a guarantee of medical insurance until next january (my dad's paying for it, specifically so I can get this problem dealt with).
He's committed to providing me with a year of medical insurance; after that, he may or may not continue to provide it. I can't afford it on my own.
This procedure- especially with it being elective and all- is not something I'll ever be able to afford, if I'm uninsured.
So, I feel like my window of opportunity for having it is going to close, and I need to move on this. I feel some urgency, here.
I know I can't live with this crazy bleeding for the next 20 years or more, waiting for menopause; I'm already anemic, I can't afford this.
But I'd like to talk to someone who's had this procedure, or anything similar (not even sure what it's called; if he told me, I can't remember).
I'm really kind of scared about it. It sounds painful. And kind of serious, if it changes things to the point that you can't carry a pregnancy anymore.
But I need to do something. This is not merely a "nuisance' to me. My whole quality of life is ****ed ever since this started. I've been living with this for well over a year now, closer to two years. This near-constant, awful bleeding.
It's just a hard decision.

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