Hormone therapy? Moral dilemma?

[catholicgel]

Help! I’m having HUGE issues with my hormones and my doctor wants to put me on hormone therapy (aka…the pill).
I’m married and have 2 kids, and I’m worried about the whole church and birth control issues and especially the idea that the pill can cause an abortion.
So, is it a sin to go on BC? What if I still practice NFP with an incredibly supportive and faith filled hubbie (we’re very disciplined at it)?
HELP this is keeping me up at night and I don’t’ know what to do.

 

[Linda_Marie]

Apart from the moral argument against taking hormones, there is the whole health issue. There was another article in our newspaper recently about how breast cancer rates have plummeted here in Australia since the last scare about the HRT/Breast Cancer link made women quit taking HRT. If HRT, which is the same hormones at very low doses causes breast cancer, what must the full strength pills do?

IMO, doctors shoving the PIll at women who suffer from hormone irregularities are taking the easy way out and just treating the symptoms, not the underlying cause of the problem. Find a Catholic OB/GYN for a second opinion and try to find out why you are having hormone problems.

I would avoid the Pill like the plague.

 

[Brenda_V]

Actually hormone therapy does not mean that you are taking “the Pill”. There are so many other types of hormones from insulin and thyroid to the most menacing of them all of birth control pill.

I would say that there is a possibility for the OP to take hormones but to ask her Dr. if he would be willing to use “bio-identical” hormones instead of the straight hormones of “the pill” or even the ones used in HRT which stands for Hormone Replacement Therapy - this is not the Pill as the hormones in this treatment are either single hormones and might even include testosterone! We do know though that this is not a good route unless you have no other possiblities!

The reason for bio-identical hormones is mostly because they are natural and not man made. It is also because you get the hormones you need and not just some hodge-podge which might mask the symptoms but isn’t a “cure”. Google bio-identical hormones and you will get some decent information.

BTW, it is not sinful to use “the Pill” as a treatment as long as you are not using it as birth control.

If you have further questions about what you can do contact the Pope Paul VI institute, NaPro technology. popepaulvi.com/

 

[1ke]

In addition to what’s already been said, if it is indeed the hormonal birth control pill that the doctor wants to use for your hormone therapy (as opposed to other hormone therapy options) you cannot practice NFP. The pill alters your fertility signs including temperature and mucus.

 

[Geremia]

it is not sinful to use “the Pill” as a treatment as long as you are not using it as birth control

Well, it’s not sinful inasmuch as putting Group 1 carcinogens in your body (like asbestos, ash, benzine, nicotine, etc.) is not sinful.

“The Pill” is a Group 1 Carcinogen according to the World Health Organization. Group 1 carcinogens are the most carcinogenic substances for human beings.
**

Find a NaPro doctor in your area.

NaPro is very amazing. It’s more than just assessing fertility. It can do all these things (source):

• **Targeted hormone assessment of the menstrual cycle. **
• Sonographic classification of human ovulation disorders.
• Evaluation and treatment of premenstrual syndrome, postpartum depression, ovarian cysts, and unusual bleeding.
• Applications in infertility evaluation and treatment (and its effectiveness), osteoporosis, cancer detection, follicular and luteal phase deficiencies, and thyroid system dysfunction.
• Effects of hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian dysfunction, endometriosis, polycystic ovarian disease, pelvic adhesive disease, amenorrhea, and anovulation.
• Perinatal applications: progesterone use during pregnancy, preventing preterm birth, evaluating and treating recurrent spontaneous abortion, and diagnostic laparoscopy.
• Surgical techniques for endometriosis, pelvic adhesions, uterine leiomyomata, ovarian wedge resection, and tubal occlusions.

Most gynecologists today would just prescribe some carcinogenic pill before seeking the underlying causes that NaPro can discover. E.g., NaPro can assess eversion or ectropion, a cervical erosion or cervicitis, with 75% accuracy. NaPro is also more effective than in virtro fertilization (IVF) for achieving pregnancy!
**

 

[TheRealJuliane]

You can get another opinion. Try to find a Catholic OBGYN who will not put you on birth control pills for a hormone problem.