Hormonal Birth Control is just not for me.

I'm not baiting with the title, I think birth control is absolutely necessary and important for many reasons, and I'm a huge advocate of it's use, and will promote it to anyone.
However, I don't think hormonal birth control is for everyone, and for very good reason.

Pop a birth control pill and your baby-maker isn't the only thing that's getting the treatment. That's because each of those little pills contains hormones and changes the hormones in your body, says Toni Stern, M.D., Chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Coney Island Hospital.

Source

Sounds innocuous enough, right? Take a pill and your body is given signals to change what it does, so you don't end up with a little pooper. Awesome. Hooray for science.

What if, though, women aren't supposed to be taking Pills to prevent pregnancy? Should we not let our bodies run its course naturally?
After-all there are other ways of preventing pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases and infections.

Taking a hormone pill, we're basically telling our bodies, "Don't behave normally. Stop what you're doing and listen to me. I don't want you to get pregnant, so just absorb this, and let's carry on with our lives."

You've probably heard some guy somewhere slur, "Man, my gurl be CRAZY!"

It's listed as a side effect of every hormonal pill, "mood swings". Mood swings is an understatement.
Let me give you examples.

Three women, all of child bearing age.
One was on anti-depressants for years and years. Thinking it was just a bad relationship she was in, she kept getting her anti-depressants. Until she stopped taking her contraceptive pill after more than 7 years, and her depression just stopped. Sure her skin became dry, and she got bad acne, but she was no longer depressed. When she went back on another contraceptive pill after meeting a new man, she began getting depressed again to the point where her depression was so bad, her boyfriend broke up with her. Not needing the contraceptives, she stopped taking them, after which she became stable again.

One woman within days of taking the contraceptive pill became highly strung. Everything made her cry, and she became sensitive and moody. She took everything as a personal attack. She would break down and cry at work. When she stopped taking her contraceptive pills, she became happier. More easy going and less antagonised by everything. She tried another thinking she might just be sensitive to the one she had been taking. The same thing happened. She went on the Mini Pill, and became even worse.

The other woman became rage inducingly angry by the end of the first week of every pill she tried. To the point where she felt like she would end up attacking someone, because every little thing would get on her nerves and make her angry. Despite the fact she had a medical condition that required her to offset the level of testosterone she had, she couldn't take any hormonal contraceptives lest she become demonic.

These three women are my two friends, and myself. Now all three of us don't take the Pill because of how it affects us.

We've all discussed it and seen how it affects each other. We agree that making your body STOP doing what it's supposed to be doing, is massively detrimental to our own mental health. Hormonal pills make us crazy!
Our bodies are delicate, and yeah maybe one person's levels for this and that hormone are higher than someone else's but who's to say that that amount is not normal for that individual? Clearly increasing or decreasing the amount of other hormones is only making things worse.

Whether you are trying to clear up your skin or ease disruptive and painful PMS, keep in mind that birth control pills are merely addressing the symptoms and are not solving the problem. Your body is actually trying to tell you something. Acne may indicate that your colon, lymph and liver need cleansing because they are toxic, that your hormones are out of balance, that your life is too stressful, that your thyroid and adrenals are fatigued. Acne is also a common symptom of a yeast infection or candidiasis.

Source

People take pills for many reasons, as shown in the paragraph above, and I believe it's spot on.

There are other non-hormonal contraceptives available, which are more effective than the pill (which only has a 95% success rate when taken within the specified guidelines). Coupling one or more of these contraceptives can also help prevent STIs and well as pregnancy. (Condom's I'm looking at you!)

IUDs Are Most Effective
A study published last spring in the venerable New England Journal of Medicine found that intrauterine devices, or IUDs, are 20 times better at preventing unintended pregnancies than the birth control pill, patch or ring.
Why? Because IUDs -- which are small t-shaped devices inserted into a woman's uterus -- eliminate human error. They're currently the most effective long-acting, reversible option available -- and they are safe, despite lingering belief that they aren't.

Source

I realise and appreciate women's bodies are their own, and it's absolutely your choice to do what you want to do with them, whether you want to prevent pregnancy or alleviate your hormonal symptoms your way, you have my full backing.
I just wanted to share my findings and personal experience, in the hopes that maybe some people might:
A - Stop seeing women as crazy b*tches, because there is almost always a reason beyond "she's crazy. Full stop."
B - Recognise some of these symptoms in themselves and consider whether their birth control is best for them, as opposed to just being handed off with the first contraceptive pill the Doctors have a cupboard stuffed with (it happens, gynaecologists will prescribe the pill they have the most experience with or the one they currently have free samples of in the closet.)

Have a great day!

a reply to: Lulzaroonie



Whilst I agree with every thing you have said..... In the normal cycle

of women's lives some do quite naturally get moody or depressed with

the natural hormonal changes which occur every month in the

build up to menstruation, and all back to normal after.

It's not for me either..Im am pregnant now with our 3rd child (a surprise baby). Im due in Feb and have already discussed having something permanent. They are doing a procedure where a stint like thing is put in both tubes. It's not an IUD..I am 40 years old and the risk is just too great of having more pregnancies after this one..

I have never been on any birth control. We used the rhythm method and chinese fertility calendar for our other 2 girls. We tried and tried for a 3rd about 5 years ago and nothing came of it. I didn't want any fertility treatments and chalked it up to getting too old..but low and behold late spring I found out we were expecting our 3rd just by chance..so this will be our last one (also a girl

a reply to: eletheia

Absolutely, but what isn't normal is that these mood imbalances should be prolonged and out of character because of the use of hormonal contraceptives.
That some of these mood imbalances should be so pronounced that they cause depression and aggression is not normal, even by 'natural menstrual moodiness' standard

I haven't taken a birth control pill for 20 years (since I had my youngest child). They gave me mood swings, migraine headaches, weight gain... it was horrible.

I made the decision to stop them and just sort of have faith in my body. That sounds crazy, and it is. But I was sure I didn't want kids, and felt sure my body was on track with that.

Once, a few years ago, my husband started talking about having another, and I considered it, sort of almost swayed. I missed the next period, and the question became serious. As soon as I was absolutely sure that I did not want another, my period came on. I still think I may have gotten pregnant, and then miscarried when I made my firm decision.

I don't tell my kids I did that, because I think it was really risky, and not sure it would work for everyone. I think a deep spiritual path must be undertaken to be at a point where the subconscious is following the conscious will, and that is not a simple task.

But I know that birth control pills were not good for me. All my problems cleared up once I stopped taking them.

2 months ago, my daughter began taking the pill under the advice of her mother, who never took the pill... I wasn't too sure about it because A) there are alternative ways, even tho you need to take a minute or 2 of pause to install ( lol ) and B) I don't like the idea of seeing women filling their bodies with chemicals just so we can have fun.

But they went to see the doctor, and had a brand prescribed.

After 2 weeks, they were both wondering why she kept having headaches, feeling constantly nauseous and, having IMPORTANT mood swings, which is something she never had before.

I told them it was probably the pill. After 2 more weeks, she started having big bruises appearing where she had had mosquito bites, 2 MONTHS EARLIER!!!

She stopped immediately and they went back to see the doc. They got another brand prescribed. I was against it, but after a week of pause, she began taking her new pill. And even if it was a pill with even less stuff in it then the one she took before, she felt the same way, possibly even worse.
I told her to stop this nonsense after 4 days.

It's been 6 weeks now since she stopped, and she still gets the occasional nausea and mild mood swings. She regretted not listening to me the second time, but at least she seems to be getting back to normal.

What bugs me is the leftover symptoms that I hope will go away forever soon... ( nausea and mild mood swings )

---

PS: I'd rather be a grand-father now than seeing my daughter go thru chemical hell just for the sake of it. At least, I know she is responsible, so I sleep fine... lol

I'm with you OP.

It's not natural or good for you. The twice I tried it, I went into a tailspin each time. My husband begged me to stop taking them.

I get that it may be medically necessary for some but to most it's just a convenience - but at what cost? They are known to contribute to strokes and other health problems and hormone imbalance contributes to many issues for women.

a reply to: Lulzaroonie
my wife went through the same thing, started taking a pill for birth control, and was unbearably emotional....i mean it was bad, we tried multiple diff ones with the same results, then we tried the nuva ring, and praise the lord she was no longer moody, crying, and emotional...i dont know what its like, but i know the results firsthand, and its poop, thankfully we found something that works.

Never taken the pill and never will.

My cycle has never been regular, when I was younger I use to have bad pms, but after each child I had my body settled a little more and I was a little less "Raaahh!"

When I was 17 a doctor told me my cycle would regulate if I took the pill, I asked what would happen if I came off it, he said I would return to an irregular cycle...didn't make sense to even try it.

I did take some fertility tablets when I wanted to have kids, as I don't think I ever would have had children without it, they seemed to do the trick as my cycle setteld to being once every other month...the pills didn't get me pregnant though, that little miracle occurred about two years later.

My take on it has always take hormones if it is pro pregnancy, never take them if you are trying to prevent it.

There is a reason we have these cycles and to mess with that is playing roulette with your chances of having children.

Personally I think it is highly irresponsible that we still push hormone based contraception in any form, as it goes against our bodies natural order, however chaotic it may be.

a reply to: Lulzaroonie

You are right, IUDs are an excellent form of birth control for women who don't want to become pregnant, and there is an IUD that doesn't use hormones.

en.wikipedia.org...

A ParaGard prevents pregnancy thanks to a tiny copper filament wrapped around the T. ParaGard contains no hormones of any kind—it’s the only super-effective non-hormonal birth control method around.

I can remember reading about a few women who's systems basically made them violent/erratic except when they were on their period and thus couldn't attract a partner and the only solution for them to get a partner was hormonal treatments was to take the pills which did work for them so like anything your mileage may vary

Not every woman can or should take them, but millions do without any side effects. Condoms aren't that bad if you do have issues with the pill.

a reply to: Lulzaroonie

I agree with you.

I have migraines, and when I stopped taking the pill in order to get pregnant ... it was like a whole new world without migraines opened up to me.

Needless to say, when I had my son, I never went back on the pill. The lack and reduced intensity of migraines was just to great a benefit to ignore.

a reply to: Lulzaroonie

i dont think it is wise to play with your hormones. take care

My body could never handle hormonal birth control i absolutely agree it is not for everyone! I have had 3 kids and i had my tubes tied after my 3rd baby back at the end of 2012 i was 21 , i had already had 3 c sections and every pregmancy was at risk of a still birth because every single time i got obstetric cholestasis from around 27 weeks and it was bad! but apparently women who suffer from that during pregnancy can't handle taking the pill or injections either and i definitely can't! the pill makes me tired and nauseous, pretty much how the first trimester of pregnancy feels! and instead of regulating periods it made mine irregular, its weird (and great) how it can work so well for others though!

originally posted by: Neopan100
It's not for me either..Im am pregnant now with our 3rd child (a surprise baby). Im due in Feb and have already discussed having something permanent. They are doing a procedure where a stint like thing is put in both tubes. It's not an IUD..I am 40 years old and the risk is just too great of having more pregnancies after this one..

I have never been on any birth control. We used the rhythm method and chinese fertility calendar for our other 2 girls. We tried and tried for a 3rd about 5 years ago and nothing came of it. I didn't want any fertility treatments and chalked it up to getting too old..but low and behold late spring I found out we were expecting our 3rd just by chance..so this will be our last one (also a girl

My 3rd was a surprise too! Lol! We had decided a week before that 2 was enough for us and that we wouldn't have any more! Haha then the next week i was like uhoh.. You sound like you have a good age gap aswell i envy that mine are all close in age and its chaos! Lol. I have never heard of this stint procedure with my tubes they clamped them and tied them (tubal ligation) the only down sides i have found with this is that i get hot flushes sometimes and i am only 23 so i feel like thats probably not something i should be suffering just yet, my mum is 53 andonly started menopause recently and also ovulation is extremely painfull! I was never offered anything with stints though it sounds alot less invasive.