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Did your mother take Diethylstilbestrol (DES) while pregnant with you?

Posted by cyndiefromnc @cyndiefromnc, Sep 6 6:17am

I am a DES baby, which means my mother took the drug Diethylstilbestrol (DES) while pregnant with me.

DES was prescribed to prevent miscarriage from 1938-1971 in the US. (1977 in some other countries.) A 1953 US study proved it did not prevent miscarriage but did cause cancer in the mothers and a slew of problems for the babies in utero, including.......premature births, infertility, cancer, severe depression........the list goes on.

Because DES was developed in a public lab, any pharmaceutical company could manufacture it. They all profited greatly and thus continued promoting it regardless of the 1953 study.

It was also prescribed for morning sickness. (And possibly to dry milk? I'm not sure about that. Someone else may know.)

I would love to hear from other DES babies. I had many female problems over the years. I was able to have children, but it was a long road. I also suffered depression throughout my life and have now been diagnosed with an autoimmune disease.

I am wondering if any other women whose mothers or grandmothers took DES have suffered with severe depression and/or have developed the autoimmune disease, Polymyalgia Rheumatica?

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Women's Health Support Group.

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dee1956 | @dee1956 | 3 days ago

I, too, am a DES daughter. Now 70 years old, I experienced dermoid cysts of my ovaries, a T shaped retroverted uterus that was septated, an ectopic pregnancy, fibroid uterine tumors and a complete hysterectomy with oopharectomy at 48. I am now being followed for 5 cysts in my pancreas, 3 called IPMN and 2 called MCN, all potentially being able to become cancerous. I have been prediabetic my entire adult life. Interesting to me is the MCN are almost always found in women and have receptors for estrogen. I never could take estrogen as I would develop awful migraines when I tried. As I have aged and learn of new problems in myself, I check research papers being done as the researchers are able to study our aging cohort. Dr. Rebecca Troisi has studied DES exposure for a long time and had an article published in 2021 on DES/diabetes and pancreatic cancers. I will be followed every 6 months for MRI MRCP alternating with endoscopic ultrasound with fine needle aspiration. Right now I am on the search for learning the best nutritional approach for me to take for pancreatic health. I wish for each person here the best of health outcomes!

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kmfdallas | @kmfdallas | 1 day ago
In reply to @dee1956 "I, too, am a DES daughter. Now 70 years old, I experienced dermoid cysts of my..." + (show)
Profile picture for dee1956 @dee1956

I, too, am a DES daughter. Now 70 years old, I experienced dermoid cysts of my ovaries, a T shaped retroverted uterus that was septated, an ectopic pregnancy, fibroid uterine tumors and a complete hysterectomy with oopharectomy at 48. I am now being followed for 5 cysts in my pancreas, 3 called IPMN and 2 called MCN, all potentially being able to become cancerous. I have been prediabetic my entire adult life. Interesting to me is the MCN are almost always found in women and have receptors for estrogen. I never could take estrogen as I would develop awful migraines when I tried. As I have aged and learn of new problems in myself, I check research papers being done as the researchers are able to study our aging cohort. Dr. Rebecca Troisi has studied DES exposure for a long time and had an article published in 2021 on DES/diabetes and pancreatic cancers. I will be followed every 6 months for MRI MRCP alternating with endoscopic ultrasound with fine needle aspiration. Right now I am on the search for learning the best nutritional approach for me to take for pancreatic health. I wish for each person here the best of health outcomes!

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@dee1956 It is good that you are being followed closely.

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