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This is a bit dramatic, and only slightly mimics what I am like during my period. (I usually opt for a machete over an axe.) Plus, I would never destroy a kid’s birthday cake like that. That’s just weird.
What’s weirder is actual marketing for birth control. While the SNL skit does bash women and our hormonal episodes aka “Lorena Bobbit fest 2000” I really am starting to question the amount of information most doctors give on this “drug of convenience.”
I am by no means anti-drugs or western medicine. Just last year I was living in Switzerland and broke my ankle. The daily stomach-injection of anti-coagulants I administered, along with a few pills that were equivalent to a baby aspirin, caused me to hit the black market of my fellow roommates. My friend Jonathan had some Vicodin he had smuggled from the states and my friend Tyler had a self-made pharmacopeia. He gave me something he said was known as “Special K” on the streets. I didn’t care what it was, I just wanted the little men inside my cast, gnawing on my bone, to STOP!
But enough about me shooting up, back to birth control.
For being a drug that is so widely used, there has been little longitudinal research of its effects on women’s health. Being born into a family of eleven and spending time as a nurse, Margaret Sanger (hottie) fought with logical conviction to bring her beliefs to fruition and pioneer the birth control movement. Later developed as an oral contraceptive by Frank Colton in the 1960’s, it was initially given out at 10 milligrams of Progesterone. The high dosage led to numerous reactions, such as nausea, blurred vision, bloating, weight gain, depression, blood clots, and strokes. Today the dosages are significantly less, but symptoms still remain for many.
In researching and talking to a number of women, I know there are some who have felt few side effects on the pill. Fantastic. However, just because I don’t feel the tumor in my body, doesn’t mean its not having an effect. Extreme example? Yes.
What it is: Birth control pills are synthetic hormones that mimic the way real estrogen and progestin works in a women’s body. The pill prevents ovulation: the eggs are never released because the “magic” of the pill pulls a Pinocchio and says you are knocked up. And you are not.
Hormones in general are vital to both men and women. They are messengers that carry information from one group of cells to another. They regulate growth, development, metabolism, tissue, sexual function, reproduction, bodily reactions to food and trauma, our moods and more. That’s why, depending on the woman, some can experience, weight gain or loss, clear skin, O.C.D., anger, or the mellowing effects of an anti-depressant.
While one could make the argument that the effects of me popping a Vicodin is no different than tricking my womb into thinking its making a baby, I understand. I am tricking my broken ankle and masking the pain. However, chemicals I put in my body to affect inflammation don’t scare me as much as ones that play games with my baby-maker.
We don’t know if birth control connects to the mass amounts of infertility hitting our generation, or if partnership dissatisfaction is connected to a hormone cirque du soleil, but we are not asking enough questions. AND if I were the drug company making this bazillion dollar pill of “convenience” my research dollars would not go into proving it wasn’t as helpful to the female body as we had all hoped.
Blogs are supposed to be short, so this is simply scratching the surface of what I want to dive into. What is being discovered doesn’t set right with me. Birth control is one issue, (socially and economically, we don’t want babies popping out left and right) convenience is another, (as women we have a plethora of life opportunities before us outside of being a mother) but the overarching theme for me is women’s health, true liberation, and God’s ultimate design of the female body….
more to come…
My question(s)
What are the costs and benefits to convenience?
What questions do you have about birth control?
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joy ~ love this…it is exactly why i quit taking birth control and opted for NFP. if you're not familiar check out the book "taking charge of your fertility" – AWESOME. when i read this i was sorta pissed that no one had actually explained any of this stuff to me before. i've been off the pill for a year and a half, and we haven't had a baby yet (haven't tried either). looking forward to hearing more thoughts!
Dear Anonymous Annie (and others),
I would like to respectfully disagree with your "no baby" benefit of birth control. Research has proven that Natural Family Planning (NFP) is as effective – if not more effective – than birth control and other forms of contraception.
Like Marisa, I am baffled and frustrated that more women (and men, for that matter) know VERY LITTLE about NFP. It's natural, practically FREE, and just as effective as other birth control. I feel like the pharmaceutical company has duped us into thinking that NFP equals getting pregnant (something that I thought before researching). I'm so glad that you're writing about this, Joy – NFP needs to be brought back into the game as an option for women when they ask their doctor about types of birth control. XO
And thank you lindsay beall for taking the premise of my next blog. (-: Thank you for your words everyone–this is EXACTLY what I want to get started. There will be more to come but keep the info rollin! Lets be informed and please call me out if I am wrong on my "theories." (although I highly recommend you being anonymous if you choose to do so. the wrath of me…is not pretty.)
Joy – great conversation starter. The Colbert Report had a hilarious & informative story on estrogen in our water supply, where it comes from & it's effects: http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/232640/july-01-2009/nicholas-kristof — there are certainly environmental effects correlating to our actions. For those that are thinking they are doing the world an environmental favor by not reproducing, it is an interesting perspective.
My doctor is a naturopath who would recommend natural over drug in almost every circumstance; but she wonders if the Pill is actually closer to where our body's hormones are supposed to be, naturally. This is the first time in history where women aren't continually pregnant or nursing. If the Pill is actually mimicking pregnant hormones, isn't that what "normal" would be, without chemical intervention?
As far as NFP being easy and reliable… ummm… I have three unplanned pregnancies to show for my time in the NFP classroom of life. "Perfect use" might have lower results, but for some of us without textbook bodies, perfect use isn't an option. Particularly while breastfeeding.
So while I am supportive of NFP (it's what we're using right now), I somewhat resent the "It's the miracle solution!" blogs that seem to be cropping up right now. Viable alternative? Yes. Single ideal answer to solve the brokenness of the world? No.
A related question to explore is to ask what changed, historically, to make children less desirable. What drives the need for a reliable form of preventing conception? If you can change that societal aspect, the entire question of BC is moot.
Those are really good points Sharon and things for me to explore. I have been building to a final blog or two on all of the questions I want to raise but am taking a bit of a break right now since I don't want every blog to be about BC (-:
One of the things to think about is postpartum depression. I spoke with a nurse two days ago and I asked her if it has increased in the last 30 years. She said yes and we talked about how its said to be so hormonal. If women have created an unnatural balance of hormones in their body then when they go off and have a baby, it can often be (what i believe) the contributor to postpartum. If someone IS off balance hormonally then I totally believe that something synthetic can be helpful. My fear is that SO many people are on it, especially at such a young age and I wonder about long term effects.
Re: NFP, I think a lot of people think they understand it and are following it and don't do it correctly because of all the misconceptions that are out there. I am not saying that is you, but it is a huge factor to people thinking it fails. I highly recommend Taking Charge of your Fertility by Toni Weschler. Its called the Fertility Awareness Method.
Thanks again for keeping me thinking and all of your good questions.
renea mac thinks...
Come on, Sister! Thanks for beginning this conversation; it's an important one. You say there's a difference between Vicodin and birth control because of the over all affect, and you make an excellent point. Consider too, the disasterous results of long-term use of any drug; even over-the-counters. The Pill is even more dangerous because we use it for so long.
I think this post is the beginning of a fair-minded, well-balanced conversation. Brava!
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