Let’s say that I suggested you eat something everyday that could potentially cause weight gain, mood swings, breast tenderness, breast cancer, blood clotting, heart attack and stroke, migraines, gall bladder disease, increased blood pressure, nausea, benign liver tumors, and had no ingredient list to be found, would you eat it? What if I suggested you bathe the cells that make up your body in synthetic chemicals and petroleum waste, oil-slick-style like that wee little unlucky ducky up there, would you bathe in it?
The answer, ladies, is yes. Yes you would. Well most of you would, most of you do and for several years I did too.
Oh The Pill. It has brought us the freedom to have careless sex whenever our sweet little libidos desire. Too bad The Pill kicks the libido to the ground, packs extra junk on to the trunk and makes us crazier than we already may be. I’ll admit I did it from the age of 17 to about 24 I think. I got a little fat, a lot crazy and increased my risk of cancer. Seven years later when I realized this was doing nothing for my health, I went off it and promptly grew a beard. Seriously! My team of estheticians and I have been battling my furry face ever since.
That is what f-bombing around with our hormones does, and that is just the parts we can see.
Before you get your knickers in a knot and email me the thousand and five ways The Pill has helped you manage things like acne, heavy periods, ovarian cysts etc., all I will ask is this, has it healed anything? Has it cured anything? Has it resolved the root of the problem? As long as you are relying on anything to function ‘normally’, the problem or health challenge has not been healed or resolved and that is all I am going to say about that.
I am at a bit of a loss as to where to start with this so here we go with some interesting factoids pulled from here:
- 73 percent of women admit they have purchased one food item over another based on its ingredients
- 60 percent have bought an item of clothing based on its materials.
- Although 82 percent admit to not knowing what’s inside their birth control pills, 74 percent believe there are differences between birth control pills and 71 percent agree that certain ingredients may have certain advantages for them.
- More than 75% of women believe the specific type of progesterone in their birth control pills is important, but only two percent know that drospirenone is a form of progesterone.
Most of us failed to get out of our teens without being prescribed (often on our own request) a prescription drug that we would take daily, for years on end, that controlled something that was not fully developed, and definitely not in a balanced place; the endocrine or hormonal system of our body.
The birth control pill is considered by many to be the most socially significant medical advance of the twentieth century. I can’t help but wonder if the birth control pill didn’t also contribute to the dramatic level of breast cancer in the women who were getting it on free-love style in the 60’s as the first Pill Guinea Pigs. I wonder if the common mood swing side effects don’t contribute to the incredible quantity of mood and nervous system altering drugs we are now being prescribed (what’s a little zanax, celexa and zoloft between friends?). I also wonder if the pill (perhaps better referred to as the estrogen supplement) has also contributed to how digestively dysfunctional most women are through their 20’s, infertile into their 30’s, raving sex fiends into their 40’s and viciously sweaty and angry at all men into their 50’s with menopause.
See, the pill wreaks havoc on our body biochemically, from a hormonal perspective as well as from a nutritional perspective. If we never correct these imbalances, don’t we continue to tip further and further out of balance? Yes we do ladies. Yes we do. And then we grow beards and have to get IVF in order to get knocked up after spending ten years doing our best not to get knocked up.
The pill works by inhibiting the development of the egg in the ovaries. Lower estrogen levels will trigger the pituitary gland to sneeze out the hormone that triggers egg development. The pill, however, releases enough synthetic estrogen to inhibit that hormone from being released. The pill also contains progestin, another synthetic hormone that increases the thickness of cervical mucous and puts a hold on the development of the uterine lining which further helps to prevent the spermees from making its way to any eggy. But since you’ve taken the pill, you of course know exactly how that works, right?
Another interesting factoid I discovered in my research is that shortly after the birth control pill was introduced, the high falooten ladies supposed to be taking it, began to raise concerns about side effects and safety. As early as 1961, reports were circulating claiming that the birth control pill increased a woman’s risk of suffering a stroke or a heart attack by causing blood clotting. In 1965, the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) provided a scientist to study the side effects of the birth control pill and established an Advisory Committee on Obstetrics and Gynecology to study the relationship between oral contraceptives and blood clotting, increased risk of breast, cervical, and endometrial cancer. This committee established by the FDA, reported that it had found no evidence to render the birth control pill unsafe for human use. Of course. Does this surprise any of us? I think it would be tougher to find a study done by the FDA that finds any drug, chemical, or any other man-made substance to be unsafe for human use and/or consumption. But goodness forbid hemp be grown in the United States. That would be dangerous.
To its credit, the FDA called for a larger study on the effects of the birth control pill on blood clotting later determining that the pill hadn’t been used long to study these effects. It was also determined that studies as to whether the pill increased risk of breast, cervical, or endometrial cancer were inconclusive and required longer study periods. I think those results are in.
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References
http://www.naturalnews.com/z021886.html)
http://ezinearticles.com/?Just-Say-No-to-Birth-Control-Pills&id=2763704http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/35663.php
Elson M. Haas M.D, Staying Healthy with Nutrition
Contraception, 1998; 57: 381-4
British Medical Journal, 2008; 336: 59-60
http://www.madehow.com/Volume-4/Birth-Control-Pill.html#ixzz0W6iRm3XV
http://www.madehow.com/Volume-4/Birth-Control-Pill.html#ixzz0W6hsB3Tn
http://www.madehow.com/Volume-4/Birth-Control-Pill.html#ixzz0W6i8kUUC|
http://www.madehow.com/Volume-4/Birth-Control-Pill.html#ixzz0W6hm7OQ0
http://www.fwhc.org/health/moon.htm
Great post. I have heard horror stories with the pill. It was never for me.
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Really interested in this — I just went off the pill last week. My husband and I aren’t ready to have kids (hi, grad school) and he’s very concerned about this. Would love to learn more about this.
Meghan Telpner get out of my brain! Seriously, I’ve been looking for a reason to ditch my pill and have heard of this temperature method thingy but didn’t know how to search for it on the internet (temperature sex thingy isn’t a very reliable search).
I feel guilty for entering every competition you have going, but I would love to win this Justisse prize.
Yes! Pill ditching plan = December 31st 2009.
Meghan, thank you for being brave enough to tackle this somewhat controversial issue! What you said really resonated with my beliefs and experience about and with the Pill.
Thanks for helping to keep women healthy and to spread the word about these issues!
I finally went off the pill 2 months ago. I started when I was about 14 because of super heavy periods and other then a few years for trying to get pregnant and being pregnant (2 boys) I stayed on it. It was super hard for me to get pregnant the 2nd time (the boys are 5 years apart) and since going off I’m honestly not sure I’ve ovulated. I got your moon cycle guide when you first offered it but have been a little lazy, ok a lot, and very much plan on reading through it now.
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great article! def. resonated w/my experience and relief to be off it. I’ve been using Fertility Awareness (w/’barrier’ when needed) for 3 years and I’d be charting even if i wasn’t using it for contraception! The information I’ve gained about my body & cycle & how to ‘treat myself’ throughout my cycle plus knowing exactly when to expect my periods ect ect….. priceless.
While it is important for all people to be ever vigilant over what we allow into, onto, and near our bodies, your argument against the pill smacks of the worst sort of logical reasoning:
The pill doesn’t have a readily accessible ingredient list, and it is kind of like a duck caught in an oil slick, and “I wonder” if it might cause breast cancer or make women “vicious, sweat and angry at all men.”
It is scary to put an unknown substance into your body, but all you are doing with your “I can’t help but wonder” argument, is freaking out women who are on the pill, and making them feel ashamed for being part of a patriarchal pharmaceutical system. The truth is that the pill is the most effective form of birth control available at this point. It has been developing for forty years and there are currently a variety of options, including some with dramatically lower estrogen levels. I look forward to reading any actual research you do, but please keep in mind that just because the pill was not the right decision for you, it is a personal choice that millions of conscientious and intelligent women make every day. It is not an easy decision to make for many of those women, but you are not providing any factual information to help with that decision. You are merely fear mongering and condescending.
I went on the pill almost 12 years ago when I was 16 to fix my cystic acne… went off it about 4 years ago and the acne came back straight away… I like the idea of going off the pill but the depression of acne is worse to me than the negative effects of the pill – I suspect that a sweet tooth / love of sugar doesn’t help things in the skin department but are there other things I can do to avoid the acne if I go off the pill?
Thanks for the post, this is such an important issue for women.
In fairness, most of the women who replied to this post had realised the problems they were having with the Pill before they read Meghan’s blog, Charles. And there doesn’t seem to be a lot of fear mongering going on.
I went off the Pill about 3 months ago and am delighted I did so. I feel more ‘me’, I love being in control of my cycle and I wish that I had asked more questions before I spent 8 years on it. I didn’t have a lot of the physical side effects, but I defintely felt the mental side effects over the years – just not feeling myself, feeling down, depressed etc. I feel like I’m finally starting to be more myself now. And I’ve lost about 5lbs without trying, which I didn’t expect.
I wish this was something people talked about more – it really is so taboo. Good on you for started the discussion!!
I would love to win the prize as it would really help me and my partner in our now pill-free relationship.
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thank you!!
Oh my god! People have babies that weigh less than that!
Just what I’m here for!
Have you ever been on the pill Charles?
Thanks for having my back!
I don’t think this article is meant to make people feel ashamed. I think it helps inform women (and men) about what the pill may be (or rather, IS) doing to their bodies.
Much of the information about teh side effects of the pill is on the package insert of the pill itself, yet that no one takes seriously, because if the pill REALLY caused all these things, surely it wouldn’t come so highly recommended by so much of the medical community, right? Wrong.
It is pushed on girls as soon as they start menstruating, and for many parents, seems to be the logical thing to give to their teenage daughters so they don’t get knocked up while they are still in high school.
And for all these intelligent and conscientious women, it often IS an easy decision to make, because trusted medical professionals are recommending it! It is very difficult to argue with someone who holds the power that a physician does, and many, many women don’t even think twice when given a script for the pill.
The side effects are real, the studies are there, and more importantly than those studies, are the testimonials that i hear from women all the time about how going off the pill changed their lives, “cured” their depression, helped them re-gain their sex drive, decreased anxiety and mood swings, etc etc etc. These changes are not merely coincidence, and speak volumes about the effects that the pill really does have on our bodies and our minds.
Ironically I weighed just over 5lbs when I was born, heh
You’re welcome, no problem! I just think it’s great to talk about this, because people rarely do. It’s really sad that young women spend so much of their (our) lives trying not to get pregnant, and then when if we do decide that we want children, the hormonal contraceptives we’ve been using can cause problems.
It doesn’t seem fair, but I think we’re just not educated about our own bodies and how they work, and how there are certain times of the month we can get pregnant. Now, that’s not an excuse to just go ahead and have unsafe sex, but once we equip ourselves with the knowledge we need then we can make mature decisions that work best with our bodies.
Thanks again for opening up a fascinating dialogue about women’s health. Since the Toxic Sticks of Death week, I gave up tampons cold turkey and am looking into ordering a Diva Cup (amazingly, my local drug stores – in a university town!! – don’t carry them at all).
This post and all the comments are making me think twice about the decade I’ve spent on the Pill. I admit, the first 5 years weren’t bad. But since then I’ve had constant yeast infections and mood swings like crazy. It’s to the point that I look forward to getting my period, because I feel relatively normal (I know synthetic hormones are still coursing through my body, but the crazies do seem to go away).
I look forward to more of your posts this week!
alex! I too had the pimple beard – both me and my best friend busted out with regular pimple goatees. Mine got better on the pill, then I went off, then on, then off and only now being off for a full year are my hormones finally (kinda) balancing out.
I still occasionally rock a small pimple beard (also affectionately known as the chinple) but I up my water and say nice things to it so it goes away
you make me laugh. I rock the photo beard. Pictures taken from certain angles with certain direction of light really highlight the furry face.
i’m usually skeptical of any “pills” but if they’re made of natural ingredients, i would say why not? esp when they help with healthy body!
Fantastic article(s)! I have never taken any birth control in my 27 years, and I don’t intend to. Even from a young age I wondered how safe and healthy something like this could be… And as I became an adult, and then a nutritionist, I realized these things aren’t safe or healthy!! Thanks for exposing the facts in such a simple, enjoyable way.
p.s. Too funny about the beard – I think we all have a few whiskers here and there, but I really LOL’d when I read about your team of estheticians.
Ok, and I just had to say that I find it SO funny and ironic that the only person who really disagreed with this post was a man. So telling.
I have been using the Natural Methods “Lady Comp” for almost 3 years now (with no pregnancies to date!). It is easy to use, has no side effects, and gives us a lot of freedom (we only have to use a barrier method 5 or 6 days a month – although for the first few months it was more than this, as it takes a few cycles to get to know your body. If it seems a little pricey to you, think of the money you will save on future health care and days of work lost by not caring for your body. I think it is an excellent investment in your health and relationship and you can pay for it in monthly installment, which makes it easier.
This is also a great tool for those trying to get pregnant because you know when you are fertile. I love understanding what is going on with my body. Being fertile is not somehting that we should be able to shut on and off, but this allows us to make choices based on all the information that our bodies are constantly relaying to us. I highly recommend Natural Methods, especially for those of you who want natural birth control but are not organized enough to chart it yourself. By doubling up as an alarm clock and a thermometor, not to mention tracking and storing your basal temperature, the lady comp makes natural birth control (or family planning) a cinch! Check out the website that Meghan has posted and tell your friends! Let’s stop leaking synthetic estrogen into our water supply!
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Yes! I am with ya, Sheila! My face is a wreck lately. It was never great on the pill, but since I quit it about 3 years ago I am even worse. I took antibiotics for over a decade, and now suffer with chronic yeast problems. I had been thinking about getting back on the pill lately, but now, Meghan, you are reminding me of the reasons that I stopped taking that poison to begin with. Thanks so much for your blogs!
This is interesting.
I know about the side effects of the pill, luckily haven’t experienced many, if any. I was on the pill for about 8 years, then went off for a year, and am now back on. I’m 32.
Your comments about the ailments of women in their teens, 20s, 30s, 40s, menopause… really very interesting, and will be something that I will chew on for a while.
I don’t think I’ll go off it. Not for a while anyway. It’s helped me in some areas, and I really do prefer this method of birth control (as does my husband).
However, again, I will let this marinate for a bit, and I do thank you for posting this.
What an interesting subject. I have been on the pill for 13 years and I’m only 27! Yikes! I use it to control acne, mostly. It has definitely given me horrible mood swings, depression and just where has my youthful sex drive gone? I also tuned in when you posted about tampons. It really made me wonder why I mindlessly put things into my wonderful body! Oye! No more!
Thank you so much.
Start addressing the yeast issues and you’ll be a-okay. All that stuff wants to get out somehow and all too often- it’s through our skin.
I am forever amazed at how silly we can be by abusing our insides for the sake of our outsides. This attitude is definitely the majority!
The pill saved my butt though.
I was far, far more emotionally stable on it. I didn’t get horrendous cramps that kept me in bed for the first 2 days on my period. I was so exhausted with fatigue, but cramps too strong to be able to fall asleep, and a bucket next to my bed because the fatigue was too strong for me to be able to get up and puke in the toilet.
I never, ever want kids so I honestly don’t care if I end up infertile.
Hey everyone…I’m a guy, so like Charles, I’ve obviously never been on the pill, but I’ve often thought about how unfair it is that women are expected to take something that can have such unpredictable effects on their bodies.
I noticed a lot of people here talking about taking the pill for acne. Doesn’t the pill often cause acne too? I know some pills are designed to combat it, but I thought some of them could cause it.
[...] have surgery at the relatively young age of 34 is due in great part to being on the Pill. (The pill has many dangers; this is just [...]