On the Pill...reluctantly...

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Poetpeace

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I’ve recently seen my doctor for the health problem I have, and even though I know the Pill is only for medical use, and is one of few medication options I have (I have done A LOT of research into my disease, and sadly I can only agree with what I’ve been given). I wish to God there was another option, and whilst this is helping, I cannot help but feel wrong about that choice. It’s strange I know, but it’s making me quite upset and depressed that I have to mess up my body to help my body.

There wasn’t the assumption that I’d be needing the pill as a contraceptive – as I’ve known my doctor for many many years now.

Any other women here feel the same way?
 
I am not a women but I recall talking to my Priest back in the early 90’s about this and he said that in cases of health there are exceptions to using the pill.

Another option is you can still have NFP and during the fertile times/signs of the month abstain.
 
Poetpeace said:
…but it’s making me quite upset and depressed that I have to mess up my body to help my body.
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All medications have side effects that can potentially “mess up your body.” There is nothing wrong with taking a physician prescribed medication to control a medical problem - even if that medication also has other uses.

Prayers that you are feeling better.
 
1ke said:
This is not an option. You cannot observe fertility signs while on the Pill.
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I know you don’t ovulate but I didn’t realize that the mucus, etc, would go away. My apologies for the mistake.
 
Sorry to hear about your health concerns. As with any medications, there can be side effects, some dangerous, some just annoying and you need to weigh that against not treating your disease. Talk to your doctor about dosages of the hormones you need and other treatments or remedies that may assist you in getting better faster.

The book *Fertility, Cycles, and Nutrition *may be helpful to you in seeing if there are any natural remedies that will assist your healing. But whatever the case, you do not sin in taking the pill for a health need that is not contraception.
 
While I don’t doubt you’ve done a lot of research, and I’m not saying the pill is immoral…

there are many many many docs who would never prescribe it…ever, because it is so dangerous and not helpful at all. It is a class 1 carcinogen.

Go to www.omsoul.com and maybe you can find a doc who can find alternate treatments.
 
Poetpeace said:
I wish to God there was another option, and whilst this is helping, I cannot help but feel wrong about that choice. It’s strange I know, but it’s making me quite upset and depressed that I have to mess up my body to help my body.
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Can you find an NFP-only physician? (One More Soul has a list of NFP-only physicians on their website, across Canada and the States.) You are obviously not comfortable with taking OCs, so you should talk to someone who won’t prescribe them–they might have other options for you!
 
The Pill causes cancer, amongst other things.
There are no benefits from the pill.

For the sake of your health, please get another doctor.
I will pray for you.
 
Vangaurdian said:
The Pill causes cancer, amongst other things.
There are no benefits from the pill.

For the sake of your health, please get another doctor.
I will pray for you.
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I’ve been to quite a few doctors - in fact this was the gynecologist who prescribed this - nit my gp. I went to the gynea to get another option and she said there wasn’t one - that if this fails, they’d start giving me Pills that Stop ovulation :eek: Lord help me if it gets that bad…

The only natural cure is pregnancy - but with me only 19 - thats not an option right now.
 
Poetpeace said:
I’ve been to quite a few doctors - in fact this was the gynecologist who prescribed this - nit my gp. I went to the gynea to get another option and she said there wasn’t one - that if this fails, they’d start giving me Pills that Stop ovulation :eek: Lord help me if it gets that bad…

The only natural cure is pregnancy - but with me only 19 - thats not an option right now.
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You realize of course, that the Pill your are taking is stopping ovulation right?
 
OP, please, please stop beating yourself up about this. If you have done your research and determined that hormonal therapy is the best treatment for your condition, then have confidence in yourself that you have made a perfectly moral decision. There is no need for hand-wringing and guilt inducement if you are not using them for contraception. Contrary to what you will read here, BCP, especially the newer, very-low dose ones, will not necessarily “mess up your body”. Babies are born to mothers who were previously on the Pill at an incredible rate in today’s world.
 
If you’re not married and therefore its not acting as contraception I wouldn’t feel bad about it.
 
This is the thing: the Pill never truly treats a medical problem, and although it may help the symptoms, the real problem is not addressed. Dr. Mary Martin is a gynecologist in Oklahoma City, who is not prescribing the Pill for any gyne problem: “There is always a reason why women don’t ovulate normally, have intermenstrual bleeding, have pain, or infertility. To prescribe [oral contraceptive pills] for these symptoms may delay or prevent a diagnosis. Alternatives are available which may uncover the gynecological problem for which the Pill is prescribed.” (nfpoutreach.org/physicians/Martin_article1.htm ) I don’t know what your medical issue is, but in my own experience, when my gynecologist found out I wouldn’t take the Pill for some problems I was having, she said, “Well, I guess we’ll have to find out what the problem is, then!” Yes! It’s not just about the morality of taking the Pill or not (which because you aren’t married isn’t really an issue), it’s about your health and getting appropriate treatment. Dr. Dominic Pedulla, a cardiologist who is very very knowledgable about NFP, is another good resource, and his website is theedithsteinfoundation.com/about-2/our-work/educate/
 
I would avoid the pill at all costs. Since you’re 19 and not married and its assumed your not using it to prevent pregnancy then I suppose there is less of a moral issue here. However, I believe the pill is the culprit for many of the health issues women face today including cancer. I too was diagnosed with an issue that supposedly required me to take the pill to fix it. I was told I had PCOS and the only way to solve it was birth control pills. I was young and knew very little about this at the time. They too told me the only way my symptoms would ever become dormat is to become pregnant. Taking it was a horrible decision in my case and I do regret it. Only later did I figure out how to overcome the PCOS with vitamins, herbs, diet and exercise I am feeling better than I ever did taking the pill as a cure. I don’t know your exact situation but I would consider alternatives and go back to your doctor and research them together. Unfornately many doctors consider natural alternatives useless but I suppose if they recommended them that could become an issue between them and the drug companies. Its sad that medicine has become so much about money. The birth control pill was a genius invention for drug companies when you consider how many women take them on a monthly basis. These same companies also make the drugs these women will need when they cant get pregnant after taking them for 15 years and for whatever other health problems a woman will experience that is related to taking bcp. I will pray for you and wish you luck in your decision…if the bcp are a must then you cannot overlook that fact , I just recommend being critical of your doctors to be sure this is the case. Many doctors choose the easy way out. They get paid either way.
 
My3Stars said:
I would avoid the pill at all costs. Since you’re 19 and not married and its assumed your not using it to prevent pregnancy then I suppose there is less of a moral issue here. However, I believe the pill is the culprit for many of the health issues women face today including cancer. I too was diagnosed with an issue that supposedly required me to take the pill to fix it. I was told I had PCOS and the only way to solve it was birth control pills. I was young and knew very little about this at the time. They too told me the only way my symptoms would ever become dormat is to become pregnant. Taking it was a horrible decision in my case and I do regret it. Only later did I figure out how to overcome the PCOS with vitamins, herbs, diet and exercise I am feeling better than I ever did taking the pill as a cure. I don’t know your exact situation but I would consider alternatives and go back to your doctor and research them together. Unfornately many doctors consider natural alternatives useless but I suppose if they recommended them that could become an issue between them and the drug companies. Its sad that medicine has become so much about money. The birth control pill was a genius invention for drug companies when you consider how many women take them on a monthly basis. These same companies also make the drugs these women will need when they cant get pregnant after taking them for 15 years and for whatever other health problems a woman will experience that is related to taking bcp. I will pray for you and wish you luck in your decision…if the bcp are a must then you cannot overlook that fact , I just recommend being critical of your doctors to be sure this is the case. Many doctors choose the easy way out. They get paid either way.
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I will do further research and keep looking for other soloutions, I see this as just a temporary time on the Pill whilst I find other doctors opinions and other info. I have a very healthy diet and exercise regime, so I am hoping that has helped anyway.
 
I think a lot of us are missing the point here. The OP is not asking about whether the pill is a moral choice in this case, or whether we recommend it as a treatment option, or what the risks of pill use are. She is looking for women that feel similarly, that she is doing something she really doesn’t feel right about but that she has no other options for now. Correct me if I’m wrong, OP.
I appreciate the fact that people want to educate her or enlighten her, but I fear all these urgings to look for an alternative are only going to make her feel worse, as well as needlessly guilty. Just my take on it, of course, and no offense intended. 🙂
 
Poetpeace said:
I’ve recently seen my doctor for the health problem I have, and even though I know the Pill is only for medical use, and is one of few medication options I have (I have done A LOT of research into my disease, and sadly I can only agree with what I’ve been given). I wish to God there was another option, and whilst this is helping, I cannot help but feel wrong about that choice. It’s strange I know, but it’s making me quite upset and depressed that I have to mess up my body to help my body.

There wasn’t the assumption that I’d be needing the pill as a contraceptive – as I’ve known my doctor for many many years now.

Any other women here feel the same way?
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You are not doing anything wrong. This is an unwanted side effect. I have a friend who saw an NFP only doctor who did everything she could do for a friend of mine till they had to resign and put her on the pill. It was the only option she had left
 
twoangels said:
You are not doing anything wrong. This is an unwanted side effect. I have a friend who saw an NFP only doctor who did everything she could do for a friend of mine till they had to resign and put her on the pill. It was the only option she had left
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That happened to me as well. I had multiple surgeries, diet and exercise, when my NFP only doctor said “well, it’s either the pill or a hysterectomy.” I was 18 and didn’t want to hit menopause yet. I went on the pill, and the pain went away. I was on it for a year.
 
I struggled and struggled–even now I have that nagging hatred of all things hormonal BC–BUT I suffered for years with only feeling well about 1 week a month. I was able to function, but I was over-emotional, incredibly fatigued, in constant pain (back and cramps)… I went to my OB over and over–medicated with pain killers,anti-depressants, anti-anxiety–all the while debating and arguing against Birth Control–especially hormonal Birth Control. …and still, my OB/GYN–a woman who wears a scapular–told me that the only options I had was Lo Loestrin FE (a birth control pill) or a hysterectomy. However, a hysterectomy would not deal with the emotional ups and downs or the Pre-menstrual fatigue, only the excessively heavy periods. I have 6 children, work full time and need to be “present” for my family, but I felt completely lost and unable to be the woman God calls me to be. I could not reconcile taking the hormonal BC and my very strong pro-life perspective.

I was distraught–literally crushed by my doctor’s advice–so I made a phone appointment with the ethics adviser at Pope Paul VI Institute to discuss my moral quandary. Sister Rene was*** very*** helpful.

I take the medication–I*** do not*** consider it “birth control”–I consider it hormonal treatment. I had tracked my fertility signs for years prior to making this decision and I still follow the pattern of necessary abstinence, though the mucus signs are absent. I am confident that even should the hormones somehow allow ovulation, my periods of conservative abstinence will prevent any potential loss of life.

I feel soooooo much better. I can live again. I am present to my family again rather than wracked by emotionalism and physical ailments.

I HATE birth control. I’m literally disgusted by “birth control.” However, I needed medication and I believe God does not intend me (or my family) to suffer when a medicine can help. I had a hormonal imbalance that went beyond the norm and more than just me suffered from it. I take a drug that is identified as “birth control”–but I consider that I take “hormonal therapy.”

I have no illusions about the fact it could easily be abused and I could lie to myself and not still practice a form of NFP–but I can’t do that because I know God knows my intentions and my heart. I don’t want to control my fertility–I want to medicate an abnormal hormonal problem. I TRUST God knows my heart and knows my concerns and knows I love Him above all things.

So even though I HATE that my prescription constantly says “birth control” --I know it’s not–it’s helping me with a legitimate problem. I am medicating an unhealthy condition rather than thwarting the healthy functioning of my reproductive system. And I thank God for the health I am experiencing.

I do not feel I sin in taking this medication. I am conscious of my responsibility and I act accordingly.

I just wanted to share my experience. I hope the OP can relate, and I hope others understand–I trust God does.
 
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