After 5 years of committed use, I recently took myself off of the pill. When talking to some woman-friends of mine I found out that they had also ditched the pill for more natural, but less effective methods of birth control. All of us are intelligent, highly educated, feminist women and none of us are wanting to get pregnant anytime soon – so the cost benefit analysis must have been pretty damn convincing. My question/musing is as important as the pill has been for women and reproductive and sexual freedom, why are some of us choosing to opt out?
What I am feeling and what I am hearing is that the pill’s artificial hormonal effects present a serious affront to the benefits. Being in touch and connected with one’s own body and its natural rhythms trumps the high effectiveness of hormonal birth control. For me, being on the pill allowed me to forget I had a uterus 3 weeks out of a month – everything was regulated and the whole idea of a natural female cycle became just a foreign concept. I felt almost detached from my ‘reproductive body’, perhaps because of the lack natural connection to it. Think about it: the female cycle is pretty damn impressive, but much less so when controlled and “tamed” by artificial means.
On the pill my menstrual symptoms were dulled, I didn’t need to know how to calculate my cycle (for example, the Gyno asked the first day of last period and I could only have told her by looking at the empty pill packs in my drawer), and my monthly routine was ever predictable. Convenient? Yes. Natural? No. So, I’ve said “No” to the pill for now and learning more about how this impressive process works. Now safe sex is even more crucial (but isn’t it always?), but I think it’s worth it.
Ok, so I know I may be a little “hippie-dippy” and earth motherish, but what are your thoughts on the topic?On the pill? Thinking about it? Thinking about getting off it? Why or why not? Is it worth this increased risk?
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A lot of women are on birth control to prevent pregnancy. A lot of other women are on the pill because of other medical conditions. For some of us, it's both.
I was on the pill because my body, in its "natural" state, made me absolutely miserable. I had low estrogen and was constantly dealing with hot flashes, debilitating cramps, completely unpredictable menstrual cycles, and mood swings that scared friends and family. The pill made me "normal" and helped me connect to a body that I had felt was betraying me for years.
I know of women on the absolute other end of the spectrum. HBC pills make them lose their sex drives, natural wetness, made them moody, and made them feel, as you did, disconnected from their bodies.
I love the pill when I was on it. However, it is expensive and, because of human nature, fallible if I forgot to take it for whatever reason.
There are really good, reliable, even MORE effective birth control options out there, both with and without hormones. They're IUD's or IUS's. They're 99.9% effective and, once properly inserted, don't rely upon the user for any of its effectiveness. I'm a part of the IUD_Divas community on livejournal and many women there are happy with Paraguard because it's non-hormonal, but a really, really effective form of birth control. (And for those of us who do better WITH hormones, there's the Mirena.)
Basically, what I'm saying is that it's nice to have choices in how we prevent pregnancy and take care of our bodies. And there are more options than one might expect.
i think it's fabulous that you decided to make an educated decision about this.
and i can tell you from personal experience that knowing your body and accepting what it does, as weird or painful as it may be, is better for you than being on the pill. i'm not all "hippy-dippy" but knowing that i can look at the moon and know how far away my period will be(give or take a few days) is fucken awesome. also, knowing the signs that your body naturally gives you will make it that much easier for you to know when something isn't right. like today, my boobs are a little sore and i know that i have about a week before my period. :)
i don't have an IUD, but i have several friends who, usually as a last(and best) resort, now have them and love having them.
but i'd say, give yourself time off of the chemicals and figure out what your body naturally does and then decide how you want to proceed.
while you're at it, if you don't already, you should try using sea sponges or a diva cup and read the book 'cunt'.
good luck! :)
I definitely hear you. Yay moon, yay cunt, yay naturalness.
I think you should be careful, though, about making judgments. For example, it's easy for me to go natural, because my periods aren't that bad. But I know people who went on the pill because they simply couldn't function several days out of the month, and there's nothing wrong with that. I do agree that society makes periods out to be way worse than they are, which makes them hard to deal with until you realize they can be fun (I believe "Cunt" went into this), but some women do have a lot of trouble with theirs, and it's not our place to tell them that they're wrong, that they should tough it out and put more effort into figuring out their bodies; that's patronizing.
Also, Diva cups are cool, but you know what's way better? Rags. I no longer spend ANY money on my blood.
When I want to be in touch with my body, I use my fingers. The idea of being connected to my uterus strikes me as supremely overrated and saccharine, especially since when I'm not on the Pill, it tries to get in touch with me by making me curl up in a fetal position from the pain. My "natural rhythms"? Three weeks of nothing followed by one week of feeling like being stabbed in the gut along with a resurgence of my teenage acne problems.
I'm not impressed by my reproductive system any more than I'm impressed by my brain or my cardiovascular system. Learning about how my body works in biology classes is already one of the first things that led to me truly believing in a higher power from how awesomely intricate it is; I don't need to bleed from my vagina every month along with the pains associated with it to appreciate it. Physical activity such as going to the gym is a far more pleasant way to "get in touch" with my body than having a period is.
I've been on the pill for about two years now and it's been nothing but positive for me, thankfully. I've really had no adverse side effects. My periods which used to be 10-12 days long and completely unpredictable (I'd have 2 weeks between my periods, then 2 months, then 5 weeks) are now more manageable. But I know that birth control pills aren't the right choice for everybody and that for some women they can cause a lot of adverse side effects. So yeah, it works for some women and that's great, but luckily there are lots of other choices out there for others.
I can understand why some people feel that natural is better and if someone wants to take a route they find to be more natural, then by all means they should definitely do so cause it's their perogative and their body. But arguments about what is natural still always make me cringe a little bit. I had a biology teacher who was often fond of saying "just because something is natural, doesn't mean it's right" and this is a statement that I can fully get behind. And I also think that just because something is unnatural, doesn't mean it's wrong. People use biological arguments about the natural female body to repress women all the time. (i.e. claiming that they shouldn't be in the workforce or use birth control etc. because it's unnatural.)
There are some things that are perfectly natural that I'm not a big fan of. For instance, I'd rather my body didn't release ovaries, because my body's ability to get pregnant is not something I'm particularly fond of at this point in my life. Every form of medical intervention can be claimed to be unnatural in some way, but that doesn't mean that they can't be incredibly beneficial and even empowering to people. My friend's prosthetic arm and my neighbor's pace maker are definitely unnatural, but they've been a life saver for both.
I love that the pill is unnatural. My natural state is to have my period at random unpredictable times and to be in horrible pain, dizzy, etc, during those times. On the pill I have my period once every 3 months or more (I love being in control of it) and my symptoms are greatly lessened when I do have it.
Honestly, I have been considering quitting the pill, because I have been finding myself with my libido lower than I would like, and some problems with dryness, etc. But I also don't want to quit the pill because I really don't want to go back to those unpredictable symptoms. Its not so much about the birth control-- we could use condoms-- but the whole reason I went on the pill in the first place was to stop those awful symptoms, and I'm afraid of them coming back. So its something I'm considering in the back of my mind, but I'm trying to find other solutions first. Maybe just using a slightly different pill will work. Maybe exercising more will help. Quitting the pill is a last resort in my mind.
The pill IS unnatural, but so are most things we do and think and care about. If you want natural, go live in a hut and don't take antibiotics when you get an infection.
I love the pill. I haven't bled in years (I don't use the placebo pills, I just go to the next round of the actual pills) and I have no more cramps or mood swings. For those who say it isn't natural, well then, is it natural to wear clothing or eat cooked food or take antibiotics when we have an infection?
I understand what you're saying. I would argue that "natural" is more of a feeling than an intellectual argument. Sure, antibiotics and clothing are no more natural than the Pill - but, for me, fucking with my hormones would FEEL really weird and unnatural.
Perhaps it's a loaded term, but whatever. It's the term that comes to mind when I watch my body and mind change through a month's cycle, and it's the term I want to use because it FEELS right. I'm not arguing that women on the Pill are somehow unnatural - I'm saying that I would feel unnatural if I took the Pill.
It's annoying when pro-natural people chastise women for taking hormones, but it's also annoying when women on the Pill tell me my feelings are invalid. It DOES feel natural to me to rely on my own hormones.
Maybe you were talking about other people elsewhere, but I just wanted to say that I don't think anyone here is telling you your feelings are invalid. You asked for our opinions, and a lot of us are of the opinion that there's nothing wrong with unnatural medicine. If you like to feel natural, and if changing your hormone levels feels unnatural to you, that's fine too.
Before I went on the pill I was nervous about it and I did a lot of research about it. I learned a lot of things, including that the periods you have when on the pill are not really periods at all, and there's no real reason to have them once a month since you aren't ovulating, so its totally fine to have no bleeding for months on end. I think the longest I went without any breakthrough bleeding was about 10 months. These days I try to have a week of no pill (and thus bleeding) about once every 3 or 4 months, just so I don't have to worry about unexpected breakthrough bleeding which eventually happens if I stretch it too long. (I take a pregnancy test once a month when I don't have a period, just to be safe). When I went on the pill the main thing I noticed besides no more cramps was a bit of weight gain-- I was really hungry for a couple weeks, and I went up a bra size and filled out a bit in the hips. I was super skinny before that, so it wasn't really a bad thing, and it settled down after a month or two.
If you do care about what's natural (I don't, personally, I just care if its going to hurt me or help me), then you should also know that there are some theories that say that its actually unnatural to have periods as much as we do. The argument goes that throughout most of human history, while we were evolving, women started menstruating later than they do now, and then pretty much had babies every few years until they either died or stopped menstruating. Or, if they weren't well fed enough to have a baby, their period stopped because of that. The natural state might be pregnancy and then nursing the child for a few years and then another pregnancy, and so on. The idea is that it wouldn't have been very common for a woman to have periods every month for years on end-- that might in fact be "unnatural".
I should add that I understand the idea of not wanting to put hormones in your body. For example, my parents were always careful to buy the hormone-free milk, because there's some evidence showing that the growth hormone given to the cows has contributed to the trend of girls getting their periods earlier these days. Who knows what else it could do to growing bodies? Better to avoid it. But that's because there's no particular advantage to consuming those hormones, except that the milk is a bit cheaper. In the case of the pill, there is a clear advantage that, for a lot of people, outweighs any potential risk. (I'm not as good about buying the hormone free milk now because its expensive and I'm full grown so it doesn't worry me as much, but I definitely wouldn't want to give those hormones to a kid).
Sometimes I wonder if going off the pill would raise my libido, maybe help me lose a little bit of weight. Maybe it would. Even if I knew for sure that it would make me feel better a lot of the time, I'm not sure if I would do it. I have to weigh that against how incredibly horrible I felt when having my natural periods. It was hard for me to even sit in a desk in class. Is it better to feel ok all of the time or good some of the time and really bad some of the time? That's a really tough call. So yeah, I'm not 100% happy with the pill-- but not because its unnatural. I am happier with the pill than I was without it. And it could turn out that the things that bother me aren't even cause by the pill at all, so its really hard to say.
I just went through this about a month ago. I went off the pill for different reasons - it was doing things to my mind and body which I did not appreciate - but after spending a month or so researching, I decided to go with an IUD. They are the most effective option on the market, and they have an option without hormones (called Paragard), which is what I ended up going with. Pros: it was free for me. This is not the case for everyone - market price is about $500 - but a lot of insurance companies are covering at least part of it these days because its cheaper than a pregnancy. Also - I don't have to worry about getting pregnant for 10 years. 10 YEARS. Woo.
Cons: The insertion hurts like hell. The super hurt-y part only asts for about thirty seconds, but GODDAMN, does it hurt. If you ask nicely the doctor will give you Ativan. Also, it's obviously not for everyone. I wouldn't, for instance, recommend it to someone who ordinarily has difficult periods, since it can make them slightly longer and more painful for the first few months. However, for me it is totally worth it (TEN YEARS), so if you're looking for an effective option that doesn't mess with your natural cycle, you may want to talk to your doctor about it.
God. I sound like those Nuva Ring ads. "Nuva Ring isn't for everyone, so talk to your doctor...."
It is 700 out of pocket as of this time last year.
There is no reason for me to have a period. I love the pill. I love its hormones. I have no need for my "natural cycle." I do not need menstruation to be a real woman. I do not need to be reminded I have a uterus to be a real woman. I do not need monthly debilitating back cramps, I do not need to feel flu-like and vomit, I do not need erratic and unpredictable bleeding, I do not need my face and body to be covered in painful and (yes) ugly acne.
I'll take the hormonally regulated version of my body, thanks.
Some of us aren't that 'in touch' with our bodies without horomones. I couldn't tell you when my last period was--I don't keep that much track. All I care about is when the next one shows up, and my body lets me know (usually in a fashion that makes me look forward to it).
Myself, I'm not on the pill anyways, but the idea of becoming more tuned in to my body doesn't really seem that appealing to me. I'm in tune with it enough, thank you.
I know that I personally do better without hormones added. My own work just great for me.
However, I also know that I will do whatever I can to prevent having another surprise pregnancy, because my abortion was both expensive and stressful, even knowing it was absolutely right for me.
That being said, I was on one of the pills when I got pregnant. So now I'm another happy Paragard IUD user because I could not handle the anxiety of being birth control free. I think I'd spend so much money on pregnancy tests, because I'd probably take one every 2 weeks.
I'm really curious as to how women who choose "natural" watch-your-body methods of birth control would deal with this anxiety. Is it even there? Or is it that women who go off birth control are likely to have the financial and/or emotional resources to handle an abortion or pregnancy to term? Because I don't have those resources. A hundred dollars for me is the difference between paying the rent from my bank account and adding the rent to my credit card debt.
So I guess I'm saying, do you think there is some financial angle, however subconscious, in counting oneself in the crowd that chooses to go "all natural"?
Um, condoms?
That's what I do. I suppose it is an expense, but it's much cheaper than an IUD, which my insurance would NOT cover. And yeah, I'm with the "natural" crowd - i.e., I acknowledge that the Pill might be a great choice for lots of people, especially if their cycle is stressful, but I personally don't want to put any hormones into my body that aren't my own. Just a personal preference. And I do enjoy my cycle, both its ups and downs, and though I agree that "natural" is a loaded term, I use it, not because I can make an intellectual argument as to why no hormones are more natural than hormones - I can't - but because my cycle FEELS natural to me. I like it.
Again, I realize I'm privileged in that my periods aren't usually debilitating and are in fact enjoyable, so I'm not saying women on the Pill are unnatural - not at all. I'm just doing what feels natural to ME. I'm digging my hormones, even when they make me vulnerable, and I'm really digging the fact that my cycle is matched to the moon's - and to my best friend's.
Oh see, I interpreted "all natural, but less effective" as meaning rhythm methods alone.
I, for one, wish I had never started to take the pill. I say this because I think it is responsible for some negative hormonal changes in my body, plus I don't think the additional hormones are good for me. Whenever I try to go off the pill now my face erupts in horrible cystic acne which my gyno says happens more than you would think to women who go off the pill. (When I went on the pill at 18 my skin was clear and I never had more than the occasional teenage pimple). I stayed off the pill for a long time this last time, thinking my body would eventually get back on track and start regulating itself and it never did. I finally broke down and returned to using the pill (though I found when I got back on it that my old pill didn't work correctly anymore and I had to take a higher dose, which, according to my gyno also often happens to a woman once she goes off-her old pill; it doesn't work the same way and she has to search for something else) Now, of course, my periods (which I don't get off the pill anymore either) were never regular (I only got about 6 a year) so though the doctors can't find any type of problem there is still a chance that I have some level of PCOS that hasn't caused many of the side effects (I dont have the deepening voice or weight gain or a ton of excess hair or male pattern baldness) and the pill has just masked the symptoms. In that case, I kind of still wish I hadn't gone on the pill just so I could know for sure if my problems have been caused by the pill or masked by them. Then, if I needed to take the pill for treatment I would.
I also want to point out that recent studies have found that women who take the pill find it much, much harder to put on muscle mass. The good thing is, that the pills that were low in androgenic activity didn't interfere nearly as with muscle gains as the pills that were high in androgenic activity. My pills happen to fall in the "low" category, which I was happy to learn since I have started lifting weights and am trying to put on some muscle.
I went on the pill because I got horrible cramps whenever I menstruated. I've been on it for a little over four years. I tried going off of the pill earlier this year, and within a month had horrible acne and horrible cramps. For me, it works better to be on the pill, as I have not really experienced terrible side effects.
so, Randi.Arika, have you found another birth control method yet? i recently stopped taking the pill, and am doing some research in trying to find a new, non-hormonal method.
for me, the pill was great at first, no nausea or bad side effects or anything. but then i realized i started crying more frequently, and at inane things, like sappy hallmark commercials. it was ridiculous. i would tear up at least once a day, and wouldn't know why. and i was seriously lacking in the sex drive department.
i enjoy my 'natural' cycle, but i also realize that i'm pretty lucky in that i don't have terrible cramps or anything. i'm still looking for a new method, currently i'm using condoms, but am reading up on the Fertility Awareness Method. i hope you find something that works for you!
Condoms for now. But yes, I've also been doing some research on other forms of non-hormonal birth control. Fertility Awareness Method? I'll have to read up on that. Thanks
Condoms for now. But yes, I've also been doing some research on other forms of non-hormonal birth control. Fertility Awareness Method? I'll have to read up on that. Thanks
The pill makes my life so much easier to cope with and I don't want to stop taking it for a very, very long time.
First of all, even in my long-term committed relationship, a pregnancy is not something that could be dealt with very well at this point in time. My partner and I use condoms as well as the pill every single time we have sex. I love feeling more secure about my sex life and my extremely low risk for pregnancy. Before, when I JUST used condoms or JUST used the pill, I would stress myself to tears waiting for my period. Now, I am always reassured that everything will be okay. And since I know EXACTLY when my period will come every month, I will know right away if something went wrong and be able to address that.
Second of all, my period was so unpredictable! It wasn't too bad - it came every month around the same week or so - but it was stressful waiting around for it wondering when it would show up. Especially if it came unexpectedly at a time where I had no tampons :( Now I know when it comes down to the hour. It is a beautiful thing.
And third, I have no problem with hormones. In fact, they seem to make my functioning easier than before. No shitty cramps or back ache... no mood swings... I think, overall, it has made me a much happier person. I don't think I felt in tune with my body UNTIL I started taking the pills.
Pill = love.
The reason I am not on the pill has nothing to do with me wanting to be "in touch" with my natural cycle. Personally, I would LOVE to find a pill that doesn't give me horrible side effects that end up outweighing the benefits. Every time I've taken the pill or tried a new type of pill I've gotten: migraines (which I have never in my life been prone to unless I'm dehydrated), breasts that are too tender for me to touch much less someone else, unwanted body hair that grows back faster than normal, acne (which I've never had problems with until I took the pill), and a non-existent libido.
However, the pill makes my periods shorter and lighter and I really am not a fan of condoms as I find them to become irritating after several minutes of sex. I also don't like the unpredictability of condoms and do not want to get pregnant at this point in my life. Sometimes, I like the option of skipping periods, and the pill is great for that. If I could take a pill that doesn't make me feel miserable I would stay on the pill.
It is hard for me to have protected sex. I am young, and I like to have multiple partners. I got off the pill so no man could talk me into having unprotected sex (which happens). I realized I feared pregnancy more than an STD; by getting off the pill I was able to be firm at my insistence at using condoms.
Condoms blow, but monogamy is even worse - for me.
Love what everyone has to say; interesting read.
Couldn't you just not tell them you're on the pill and use condoms anyway?
I think the idea (correct me if I'm wrong) is that not being on the pill is a motivation to be consistent about using condoms every single time.
It just sounded like she was worried more about pressure from men not to use condoms than pressure from herself. That can be solved by not telling the men you're on the pill. If its an issue of she herself not being motivated to use condoms, then yeah, that would make sense.
I see nothing great about natural. Cancer is natural. So is HIV.
Vaccines are unnatural. So are fillings, and splints. I'm all about the unnatural.
Of course. But a woman's monthly cycle isn't a disease. How is it we have been made to believe that it it is?
Its natural for human beings to look at a situation and think about how they can improve it. Its natural for other animals not to. Our species wouldn't have survived if we didn't use our brains-- we have nothing else to favor us in the evolutionary struggle. If we didn't think about how we could make things and change things, we'd all have been eaten by animals with bigger teeth and claws and better senses of smell and hearing. That would be natural.
It's not a disease... but as you can see from this thread, for some women it can be incapacitating, painful, and stressful.
If women are going to get equality in the workplace, there needs to be treatment available for those of us who find ourselves in bed with cramps, unable to move or think, every four weeks. For some of us, hormonal birth control is that treatment.
hmm, my comments weren't intended to offend everyone on the pill, they were intended to encourage someone who decided to get off of them.
so Randi.Arika, i hope you got some bit of encouragement/information on your decision about this!
Re: Fertility Awareness Method - similar in many ways to the traditional Rhythm Method. If your periods are very regular and your body talks to you, this can work very well, and did for women for thousands of years. If you're like me and your natural cycle yo-yos between 3 and 6 weeks, it can be very very chancey to rely on your body's signals.
I will probably discuss other options to the pill with my doctor at my next yearly - my body's internal chemistry is changing to where i get tension headaches every ovulation time (not like i don't get them all the rest of the time too, but still) and the last few months i've had horrible, weepy, can't-touch-my-breasts PMS, not to mention that i had to downgrade my insurance and the cost of the pill (even generics) has quintupled. oof.
Gotcha. Thanks for the explanation. I'm trying to keep track of my cycle now so that I can get a good idea of the natural rhythms. So it'll probably be a few months before I know if this type of method could be effective.
Okay, so I've been sitting back and viewing the comments and I have to admit I'm a bit surprised.
I could be off the mark, but I'm seeing a lot of discussion of women's menstrual cycles (and all that comes with them) like they are some sort of pathology that needs to be "treated" with hormonal drugs. Although I'm not trying to be antagonistic here and fully support any informed decision women make about their bodies, I want to challenge us away from this thinking, or at least challenge us to consider the root of this thinking.
Modern medicine would have us believe women's bodies are actually deviant male bodies - male bodies that are all fucked up by ovaries, uteruses, vaginas, lack of penises, etc... Women's bodies have been considered too messy, too unpredictable, too complicated , which I suspect has fueled a lot of doctors to prescribe the pill to women for all sorts of reasons - "here's a pill to fix your female problems." Not that the pill isn't great for many women or that modern medicine doesn't save and improve many lives, but let's be careful not to buy into the idea of the female cycle as a medical condition, it's not.
I do see all that comes with my menstrual cycle as a pathology that needs to be cured. Getting the pill to deal with my period is not the same as getting opiates to deal with "hysteria." I'm not going to just suck it up and have my period and back pain, vomiting, etc, just so that I can say fuck the patriarchy. I'm sure the pill has a place in patriarchal structure, but it also had a role in women's sexual liberation as well.
I'm glad I can regulate my menstrual cycle and something in the tone of your posts makes me feel that you think I shouldn't want to admit that or should feel guilty about "disowning" part of my femaleness or something.
I'm still not clear about this sentence in your original post:
"What I am feeling and what I am hearing is that the pill’s artificial hormonal effects present a serious affront to the benefits.."
What is the serious affront? Were you speaking of medical risks or just the effects that the pill gives some (not all) women? Or just the hormonal regulation of your cycle?
You can view your cycle however you want. Please don't look down on those of us that choose to deal with it differently.
Like I said, I'm not trying to be antagonistic and I would definitely never looking down on pill users (I've been there and I know many who are). But I do think it is really problematic to conceptualize the female cycle as pathological. Uncomfortable, yes. Painful, sure. Even something you some want to regulate with hormones, great. That's all fine. But certainly not a pathology.
I think you're just quibbling about terms. No one said it was a pathology-- they said it hurts and is uncomfortable and inconvenient and can be regulated. Then you said they were treating it like a pathology. Then you said it can be painful and need to be regulated, but shouldn't be a pathology.... I don't see where this is going.
Whatever you call it, I think women should pick whatever works best for them. For a lot of women, being on the pill makes them happier and healthier. For a lot of women, not being on the pill makes them happier and healthier. Neither case makes it a pathology or oppression by the patriarchy.
(Ok, someone did say they saw it as a pathology, but only after you brought up the word, which was more my point)
I referred to everything that comes with my cycle as a pathology, not menstruation itself. I wanted to take your term and turn it to show how problematic my period has always been for me.
Please clear up my confusion about that sentence of your post if you can.
Modern medicine works to fix a lot of things that aren't truly necessary to our survival. Someone with chronic back pain or migraines could just suck it up and deal with it because its natural and it won't kill them. Just because some of those things are specific to women doesn't mean its oppressive to have options available to deal with them. There are also products and medicines directed at natural aspects of the male body-- treatments for baldness, erectile dysfunction (natural as you age), prostate trouble, etc. I think its great that each person can decide what path they want to take in dealing with these natural issues, and I don't see why having those options is in any way bad.
The pill played a large role in women's lib. Its very difficult to have a society where women hold all the same positions as men if they can get pregnant unexpectedly at any time, or if they have to guard their chastity to avoid that. Its true that there are other birth control methods, but the pill and condoms have really liberated a lot of people. (the failure rate for pregnancy is higher with condoms than with the pill, but obviously the pill doesn't protect against STDs, so it depends on your situation which is safer).
If you prefer natural in this case, that's fine. But natural isn't automatically better. Evolution doesn't produce the best designed creatures-- it only produces the ones that are good enough not to die. There are all sorts of things that could be designed better about humans, and I don't see any problem with working towards that in the miniscule ways that we can. Even if you believe in god, god clearly created us with minds that could reason and solve problems and invent things like the pill, so I see no inherent reason why it would be bad.
I think it would make more sense to say that you just don't want to take hormones in this case, you don't like how it makes you feel, you don't like the risks, etc. Talking about how natural is better sounds like you mean natural is better in general, not just in this specific case. And if you really believed that, you wouldn't be using this unnatural internet in the first place.
In general, the thing I am perturbed by is not the pill itself. I've made my decision based on my experiences/knowledge and others should make their decisions based on theirs, and the pill may be the best option for them- no judgment there. I fully support reproductive choice in whatever form. However, I am really bothered by the whole idea of the female cycle as something that needs to be "fixed" like a migraine or chronic back pain.
Like I mentioned in my reply to Kate. Sure, it may be something that some women don't want to experience and that's fine. But regardless on how one choose to approach it, I think it is really problematic to interpret a woman's cycle as an actual medical pathology.
Again, the purpose of my original post was not to impose my choice on others or to assert that "naturalness" is always better than medical intervention, but to consider the whys and why-nots of women's choices regarding the pill. I think it could be a really productive conversation if we could get past the defensiveness; I know the issue hits close to home for many of us, but does it really need to be a for/against kind of argument?
I guess I just don't understand what you're saying. Your posts strike me as saying "sure, its fine that women want to fix their periods, but its really problematic that they want to fix their periods."
I don't think they're treating the female reproductive system as something that's a medical malady. They're treating the things that can go wrong with the system itself such as genetic defects. Defects are allowed to be treated and in many cases should be when they interfere with day to day life. Last time I checked blinding pain, enough bleeding to cause me to white out, and nausea are not natural and get in the way of life. By the way, those symptoms usually last a week if not more.
I don't need allergy meds to survive. Not by a long shot.
I don't need pills that get rid of my period or make my periods predictable either. I have zero cramps, nausea, etc.
However, I don't want to put up with blood randomly oozing from my crotch any more than I want to deal with watery eyes and a runny nose.
Aside from a few things that aren't related to reproducing, my baby making parts are useless to me.
I've got to admit, going on the pill isn't something I've thought about in a long time. I'm not currently sexually active and my periods generally aren't too much of a bother except for the cramps I get on the first day (and I usually deal with this by zapping my rice pack in the microwave for 45 seconds and putting it on my lower back—works like a charm), so I don't really see any need to mess with my hormones. They do their job just fine the way they are, and I feel extremely lucky for it.
Even so, I realize that there are lots of good reasons to go on the pill. It's just that at this point in time none of them apply to me, and until at least one of them does, I probably won't be inclined to request a prescription for it.
When I went on the pill at 18, I fucking rejoiced. I no longer have to deal with back and chest acne, and I have minimal cramping. Also, I no longer experience the debilitating stabbing pains that I used to get in between periods (which my gyno suggested was ovulation; you'd think my eggs were exploding from cannons rather than ovarian follicles). And now that I've discovered a good generic, I only have to pay $3/month. The only downside is remembering to take it consistently. I hate having to use condoms as back-up. :\ I've thought about switching to a long-term hormonal contraceptive, but from what I've gathered, they don't clear up acne and they tend to have various negative side effects.
I have an alarm that goes off every day at the same time on my iPod (used to me on my phone). That way I pretty much never forget to take it at the right time. If you're with people you don't want to know about your pill, just play it off as a text message or another reminder, and then go to the bathroom a few minutes later.
I do that too. Works like a charm.
That isn't really possible for me. I don't carry my phone on me at work, because I work at an animal shelter and constantly spill bleach or water on myself. I'd get a watch, but every watch I've ever owned has broken within a few months of purchasing it. It'd probably get covered in cat shit anyway.
I used to have no problem taking the pill at the same time every day without an alarm, but apparently I've grown scatterbrained in the past year.
I take mine in the evening, when I'm not at work. Can't you pick a time of day when you would have a phone or watch with you?
I probably could remember on my own at this point, but its important enough that I don't want to risk it.
If there is some part of your day that is routine, you could try putting your pills in a particular spot that is important during that routine where you will hopefully see it and remember.
For example, I sit down at my computer every morning while I eat breakfast, so I have my BC sitting on my desk right next to my computer, which helps me remember that I need to take it.
I was on the pill for half a year, and then ditched it.
While on the pill I noticed that, yes, while everything was nice and neat and regulated, something else got tidied up as well:
My sex drive.
The pill simply took away most of my desire to have and enjoy sex. My dilemma was: either go off the pill, have a sex drive, and use condoms; or stay on the pill and have practically zero reason to be on the pill in the first place. (Preventing pregnancy is rather hard to do when one's desire to copulate is eradicated.)
So, I went off the pill.
And now? My sex life is fuckin' AMAZING.
I am infertile but I still have my monthly period. My body does not work right. Hell yeah the pill is unnatural, and I'm proud to call myself unnatural in this instance. Without that tiny yellow pill I would not be alive. Literally. The hormones in it are the only thing keeping my body from having testosterone poisoning and dying.
I'm on it because it keeps my period in check. Mine isn't abnormal but I like knowing down to the exact time of day that I'll get my period. And having the option to skip it if I'm going on vacation or something. Also, knowing it will last EXACTLY four days rules.
I'm tempted to ditch the patch because its extremely expensive. Also, it puts a damper on my sex drive. All of the pills I've tried flat out killed my sex drive.
Oh..and I'm getting my tubes tied so it isn't going to be a big deal for much longer.
I am not going to stop taking Loestrin 24 Fe until I want to be pregnant, hit menopause, or some horrible side effect develops. This pill made my tits a cup size bigger, completely stopped my periods WITHOUT me having to take hormone pills every day of the month, and actually made me lose a couple pounds.
Though, I am definitely the type of woman who wants to be as distanced as possible from my reproductive capabilities and focus only on sex for pleasure. And I fucking hate periods.