The Pill, Part 1

I got off the pill in August. Why? Several reasons. One being that I was skeptical that all of the chemicals were actually okay for my body. This is my personal skepticism. If you've been reading this long enough, you have probably realized that I am a skeptic. We don't need to go into that... basically this reason and my other even bigger reason (which will be saved for a later post) convicted me that the pill was not right for me. (Please note that I'm not trying to convict you. But I have felt compelled to share my decision.)

Okay so why bring this up? I just read an interesting Q and A in the April 2010 Body+Soul magazine...
Q: "Is it ok to go on a birth control pill that erases my period entirely?" Note: This is what I was on. I was on Seasonale, which makes you only have your period once every three months.
A: "'Studies don't appear to show any greater risks in taking hormonal pills continuously when compared to cyclic birth control pills [that give you a period],' says Lissa Rankin, M.D." ...her credentials... "There's nothing natural about the 'period' you get while you're on a 21-day oral contraceptive anyway, Rankin says; it's just hormone withdrawal: 'Manufacturers created birth control pill packs with a week of placebos in the belief that women preferred to have a period, even if it was artificially created.'"

Yikes! No wonder why after 7 months, my body is STILL adjusting. It's all been fake anyway! ...I think this blurb was meant to be reassuring, but I found it frightening honestly. Anyone else?

Again, I'm not writing this to convince anyone else what they should or should not be putting in their body. It's each person's choice. But I will say that I was SHOCKED when I told a few friends about my decision only to find out that several of my friends had gotten off years before! Really??? Where have I been? Honestly I was annoyed that they had been "enlightened" (in my mind) and had let me stay in the dark!

With friends' decisions, I am sorta talking about reason 1 here, but even more so about reason 2. I found that once I opened up about my decision those of my friends, who had made a similar decision, said that they had done so because of reason 2. Again reason 2 is for another day. But for now, I want to open this up to you... What is your thought on the pill? You won't hurt my feelings either way.

Part 2 is now up, here.

Comments

  1. I went off of the pill almost one year ago for similar reasons, I was worried about the hormones and didn't like taking a pill everyday. I was amazed by how much better I felt once off the pill and how long it took my cycle to recuperate. I have to say that only confirmed my decision to stay off the pill. Since I have been using the natural family planning method and I love it.

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  2. After being on the pill for almost 10 years, I got off about 1 1/2 years ago - I love the natural family planning - I felt like my body was acting like it was supposed to and I liked not putting additional hormones into my body. (Did I miss super clear skin? Yes! - that's the only downside) We've decided that I won't go back on the pill again - we'll continue to do NFP once the twins arrive.

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  3. Glad to hear from both of you! We actually want to start using the NFP too. I started charting (not using it as bc... not ready for that yet!) but don't quite get it yet. I'm trying! Like both you, I'll never be back on the pill.

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  4. I've been on the pill for over 7 years, and it makes me nervous at times, although my doc always assures me that it's ok. I recently switched to a "non-period" pill, which I don't like at all. The first month I thought I was pregnant because the doc didn't tell me that I would not get a regular cycle! I hope you post your reason 2 very soon, I'm interested in reading about it.

    I don't have any plans to go the NFP route any time soon...almost every one I know who has done that got pregnant very quickly...and that makes me more nervous than the pill! haha.

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  5. I've heard that about NFP too. So I want to be careful when/if we start using that for bc. I guess the good news is that once I'm done with school, it really doesn't matter when we get pregnant. Haha. It just seems like the best option so far... I guess.

    I will post reason 2 soon. I'm glad you are asking about it and wanting to hear it. That'll motivate me to get on it! Haha.

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  6. I too stopped taking the Pill after a long chat with one of my super health freak friends. Plus I could always tell it made me a little crazy. For us at this point, it's sorta like, well we're married, we have jobs, so if we get pregnant, then great! If not, that's okay too.

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  7. With losing my mom to breast cancer and 2 grandmas with it, my sister and I were advised immediately to stop all forms of hormones. We are convinced with the timing of my mom's cancer that it was caused by her hormone therapy....but only God knows. Either way, our plan is to never touch any hormones again.

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