Birth control pill halts women's periods

[Listener]

I’m sorry, but I don’t understand what all of the fuss is about. I grew up in an era when periods were referred to as “the curse.” Mine were totally from hell, and I ended up with a hysterectomy. I didn’t spend very much time on the pill because I didn’t like the side effects. However, the periods I had while on the pill were so light, you could hardly even call it a period.

When women stop the pill for a week, this isn’t a real period anyway. Why would anyone get upset if they didn’t have periods at all? I sure didn’t miss mine!

 

[bunnynessuk]

I definatley do not like my periods as they result in being bed bound for a week at a time BUT their is no way in hell that I am putting my body and what little chance I have of fertility at risk by taking this new pill or any other. Women have endured periods since time began and they will endure them for centuries to come its a natural cycle what the hell do these women think happend 100 years ago or 600 years ago! Its known as the ‘curse’ for a reason for some women it can be hell but heck its natural and its their for a reason!!!

The only way I will ever do anything that will affect my female parts is if they tell me I have cancer aside from that I am gunna put up and shut up - its natural it happens its gods will.

 

[StratusRose]

I recently started an NFP course w/DH and I was listening to the audio cd that comes with it. I cannot recall the name right now, but it talks about the social and moral changes the pill has brought to our world.

Is it called “Contraception, Why Not?” by Dr. Janet Smith? That lecture sealed the deal for my husband, after he heard that he was 100% against artificial birth control.

 

[laariii]

i wouldn’t take these because how would you know if something was wrong with you?
Your period stopping can be a sign of ill health.

 

[whatevergirl]

Birth control article

What an atrocity!! Don’t they think of what this can do to a woman’s body???

I thought this was pretty sick, myself.

 

[pink]

The only way I will ever do anything that will affect my female parts is if they tell me I have cancer aside from that I am gunna put up and shut up - its natural it happens its gods will.

If someone gets cancer, isn’t it gods will too?

 

[whatevergirl]

If someone gets cancer, isn’t it gods will too?

hi pink;
Not really…God didn’t create disease. God heals…But, I suppose if one had a loved one die of cancer…one could say…that it was God’s will for so and so to be taken to Heaven. It could be a positive way of looking at a tragedy. Is that what u mean?

 

[pink]

hi pink;
Not really…God didn’t create disease. God heals…But, I suppose if one had a loved one die of cancer…one could say…that it was God’s will for so and so to be taken to Heaven. It could be a positive way of looking at a tragedy. Is that what u mean?

Yes, that is what I mean, thank you!

 

[whatevergirl]

Yes, that is what I mean, thank you!

In that regard…yes, I would agree. It’s interesting, in the Bible…people would come up to Christ and say…‘if it be Your will that I’m healed, then please heal me.’ And He would say…your faith has healed you. That sentence has always made me wonder…‘if it be your will for me to be healed…’ Wouldn’t that be a given? But, then I think Jesus wanted people to stretch themselves a bit…and believe. To show their faith. I am not 100% sure on that–but that’s my take on passages like that.

 

[Feanaro_s_Wife]

Could it be there are millions of women out there who literally have NO IDEA what it actually feels like to be a woman, unhindered by artificial hormones? Now there is a scary thought.

**I was one. Doc put me on the pill at age 14 to “treat” irregular periods. I didn’t go off of the hormones until I was 27! (I had so many negative side effects too…but no one ever told me that’s what they were from)…

and I had absolutely no idea what it felt like to be a real woman. The difference is like night and day!

Malia**

 

[HouseArrest]

At the risk of sounding like I’m from the dark ages - what are the side affects of birth control pills? I know about the breast cancer and the blood clots (right?) but are there other, daily discomforts that go along with it? I think I do remember some people saying they can cause weight gain… is there more?

 

[astegallrnc]

is there more?

Yes, there are more (scroll down to adverse reactions on page 3). This is the prescribing information for Ortho Tricyclen, but the side effects of BCPs are the same with a few exceptions.

 

[Julianna]

BCPs and HRT do not contain the exact same hormones. The women in the WHI study were taking conjugated equine estrogens 0.625 mg each day and medroxyprogesterone acetate 2.5 mg each day. BCPs contain different estrogen and progestins as well as different dosages of these hormones. Also, the WHI studied the use of hormones in post-menopausal women. The WHI findings are limited to the HRT used and age group (though it can’t be assumed that alternative post-menopausal HRT is safer).

Maybe that is why I couldn’t take BCP in my 20’s…I got headaches like you wouldn’t believe, and I got psycho. Turns out my moms sister had the same symptoms and could not take them. I got off immediately. Didn’t use NFP either…sheer luck.

I do find that most women see their natural cycles as a negative event.

They were always heavy and lasted 6 days, cramped the first 3, invested in Midol alot. Then came the fibroid at 31…

This has been my experience too. Someone has to share this information with women. I have never felt so liberated about my sexuality.

That liberation came in totality after the hysterectomy. A new lease on life for both DH and I, and 18 yrs later…still great…perpetual honeymoon…and soon to be empty nesters…could it get any better.

Doctors are concerned about the risk of endometrial cancer related to unopposed estrogen. These pills provide estrogen/progestin.

When the ovaries start to shrink up…(uterus is gone)…I’m worried about the mustache Italian women get…does Nair work for this,…I got a few years…I hope.

 

[His_Ruby]

Ruby… I like your signature…

Thank you

In my very misinformed teen years, before I discovered the Catholic faith, I was on birth control pills for a short time & then the Depo-Provera shot … thanks be to God I got my period and a usually very normal schedule back after I quit using it 3 years ago. I’ve heard such terrible horror stories, not to mention just how strange what it does to your body really is, and I gained a good 20-30lbs of weight on it.

 

[Maria1212]

Thank you for starting this post. I agree with much of what everyone wrote. I have been taking the pill because of excrutiating periods that lasted 12 days at a time, and were very heavy. Some days I could not leave the house. I had all sorts of medical tests done but have yet to find the root cause of the problem. I am not sexually active so am not using it for birth control.

For a tiny few, the pill can make a huge and postiive difference. It has for me. For most people, however, the risks outweigh any possible benefit. But sadly, most people are unaware of the risks. Many women also lie to themselves and convince themselves they need to take the pill for a medical reason, when that is not the case. What I find extremely frustrating is, doctors push the pill, which treats the symptom, rather than correcting the problem.

I have always had a troublesome period but it got much worse in my mid-twenties. The pill has made things bearable, but is not without side effects. I think of the pill as the option of last resort.

I currently live overseas, and when I am back in the States, will continue the search to identify the problem, and correct it. Before I moved overseas, I had wonderful doctors who did all sorts of tests and everything came back fine. They used all the latest technology, and did every possible test. I was very satisfied with my medical care, but disappointed they could not find the root problem. Most doctors, however, push the pill on you, in an attempt to mitigate the symptoms, without bothering to try to find out the problem. In my case, I tried every available option, before resorting to the pill.

I know we are not able to give medical advice online. I also do not wish to disclose personal medical details online (well, more than I have already!). But if anyone has been in my shoes, and found a solution, please PM me.

Sincerely,

Maria1212

 

[jules11]

I saw this today too, and I just think this whole trend is very disturbing. Why are we, as women, so eager to shut down all parts of us that are unique to womanhood? It makes me so sad…

Plus, I have found great benefits to my natural cycle. My sex drive is much higher and I enjoy sex more when I am only my natural hormones. (I was on the pill briefly in college before I learned to know better.) My body just works better, sexually, when I am au naturale, too. (Meaning climax is easier, sorry for TMI.)

One thing that doesn’t get talked about is how the hormones in these pills are the EXACT SAME ONES that were in that HRT study they halted because there was such a high rate of cancer occurring. So how would their effects be different or better over a lifetime as opposed to being used for only a few years?

After my first child was the last time I took any kind of hormonal birth control. (Yes, I am hard-headed and it takes me a long time to learn things!) I got talked into the mini-pill, because of course you HAVE to take something don’t you?! (Military clinic…no respect for NFP at all and I was fairly ignorant of it at that point.) Unfortunately for them though, I had done a lot of reading and learned how those worked. I had an anxiety attack every time I took one of those pills, thinking, what if this aborts a baby I conceive? I lasted about 3 or 4 days, then threw them out, and never looked back. I am now pregnant with #5 and we celebrate our tenth anniversary next month!

Women have been so taught only to see the negative of their natural cycles (witness my thread on menarche here: forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=153865) that I think some of them never notice the positives. Or do they ever even know them? Some women go on the pill as soon as they become sexually active, go off it only to get pregnant, and then go right back on it again. Could it be there are millions of women out there who literally have NO IDEA what it actually feels like to be a woman, unhindered by artificial hormones? Now there is a scary thought.

I’m one of the ones that you say, responded negatively. I have never been taught the negatives and in my defence, I never said I don’t see the positives in being a woman, being able to have children, and all that involves… but I am not pretending that I enjoy my periods. I was just stating a fact. Mine have never been easy or pleasant. Why would I celebrate it? Just because I and others don’t think that we should mark the occasion or celebrate it does not mean we are not happy about being women. I do think that you have made generalisations and you refuse to hear what ‘us, negative’ ones were saying.
We are all different.

 

[His_Ruby]

I’m one of the ones that you say, responded negatively. I have never been taught the negatives and in my defence, I never said I don’t see the positives in being a woman, being able to have children, and all that involves… but I am not pretending that I enjoy my periods. I was just stating a fact. Mine have never been easy or pleasant. Why would I celebrate it? Just because I and others don’t think that we should mark the occasion or celebrate it does not mean we are not happy about being women. I do think that you have made generalisations and you refuse to hear what ‘us, negative’ ones were saying.
We are all different.

Periods are really not convenient or pleasant at all (for most women I know, including me!), and it’s just a suffering that we, as women, must bear – a little cross we must carry, perhaps – unique to our gender. Not that all women suffer with their periods, but many do. I must say, though, that after I was on the Depo and had stopped getting periods, I was terrified when I learned the truth about it and thanked GOD when I got my period many months later… I was afraid it would never come again and I’d never be able to have children. That’s probably the only time I thanked God for a period, but hey

I am a feminist in that I want what is best for women and I rejoice in all aspects of womanhood. With the Blessed Mother as my example, I try to follow her guidance in my womanhood and find joy in being a wife and someday a mother. So I do find a little joy in every aspect that is a part of being a woman, even though I definitely do not jump up and down when that time of the month comes.

 

[aurora77]

There’s a difference between being uncomfortable when having your period and having a serious medical condition that makes the normal female cycle excruciating. I participate in a hysterectomy forum and so many of the women there had to finally have hysterectomies because they simply could not live normal lives with their cycles.

I feel, if taking a BCP is the way for a woman to regulate a seriously abnormal cycle, and all the risks are carefully considered, this is an ethical way to go. But, if a woman has cramps, or is just “inconvienced” by having their period (remember, it’s just annoying, not debilitating), taking a BCP is just silly. I have a problem with the way the BCP companies are making normal female cycles sound like a horrible thing. OK, so they aren’t fun, but life isn’t perfect. This pill isn’t directed at women who need medical help for a serious problem–it’s directed at those who don’t want a minor inconvience in their lives.

 

[astegallrnc]

This pill isn’t directed at women who need medical help for a serious problem–it’s directed at those who don’t want a minor inconvience in their lives

Exactly!!! This goes back to duskyjewel’s observations. The negativity regarding menstrual cycles is not limited to those with dysmnenorrhea, menorrhagia, metrorrhagia, menometrorrhagia, etc.

I do understand that not every woman rejoices when she gets her period. Hey, I don’t thanks to endometriosis and a fibroid. However, there is a line between negativity and sharing facts.

That liberation came in totality after the hysterectomy. A new lease on life for both DH and I, and 18 yrs later…still great…perpetual honeymoon…and soon to be empty nesters…could it get any better.

When the ovaries start to shrink up…(uterus is gone)…I’m worried about the mustache Italian women get…does Nair work for this,…I got a few years…I hope.

It is great you are healthy.

Hmmm, I think Nair will do the job… if not maybe waxing. My cousin gave up Nair and waxes now.

 

[yessisan]

I just want to ask, for those who really have problems with your periods, ie. very long, very painful, really irregular, is it worth it? I mean, the pill has so many side effects it’s incredible a well informed woman would even want to use the pill.

I studied human sexuality while I was in college, in fact it was the emphasis of my major. In my biology/phisiology class we learned most can cause temporary to permanent fertility. That’s just not worth taking it. I rather suffer than not be able to have children.

They also can cause breat cancer, blood clots, strokes, heart attacks, birth defects on babies, migraines, unexplainable pains here and there, mood swings, low libido, weight gain or loss, blurred vision, change in vision, spotting, bleeding between periods, dark spots on skin, missed periods, depression, anxiety, nausea, bloating, cerival cancer, vaginal infections that could cause HPV which can result in permanent infertility, UTI’s diziness… should I go on?

The side effects are enourmous compared to the advantages.

This is why I want to ask to those who use it for heatlh purposes, is it worth it? Were there any alternative treatments to your problem?

Please, don’t be mad, I am not attacking you. I used the pill for a long time, 6 yrs to be exact, but the side effects were horrible. I had excrutating migraines, blurred vision and changes in vision, unexplainable pains, low libido, depression, mood swings, ovarian cysts, vaginal infections, UTI…

When I went to my Ob-Gyn she switched me to Nuva-RIng, which caused heavy bleeding, horrible cramps, along with all the other side effects so I went back to the pill for another 3 months and finally stopped. I used it for birth control w/my DH and just because I’d know when I was to get my period, lame excuses. I was ignorant of it being against the CC’s teaching for the longest time, then when I found out I didn’t stop right away, it took me about 3 months to stop. The fact that I was sinning plus those horrible migraines made me look into NFP.

I know for many NFP won’t help w/the irregular periods, but just wanted to share my part and see if it’s worth it to be putting your body through such risk?