Last month a friend of mine, Bekah, wrote a post about, and posted a link to an article called "True Woman - The not so golden anniversary of the pill"
I've been on the pill since I was probably 19. Not for sexual reasons, but for the major PMS (or PMDD.) I would get cramps that were debilitating and caused me to miss school and/or work. It was bad, but the pills helped.
That was about the only thing they helped. One paragraph from the article that I thought was interesting was this one:
"Many claim that the pill is responsible for serious long-term medical conditions such as infertility, cancers, strokes, and blood clots. Furthermore, women can experience symptoms like weight gain, breast engorgement and tenderness, bloating, mood swings, severe PMS, and headaches. A recent study in the Journal of Sexual Medicine indicates that the pill can lower a woman’s sexual desire, and lead to sexual dysfunction."
I never realized how many side effects there really were. I mean, I have heard of the weight gain, and headaches, mood swings, etc. But all the other stuff? And it is more common than we are led to believe too.
Anyways... For the past couple years I have suffered from a low drive and complete lack of desire (sorry if this is TMI, but I am just trying to be honest.) And I really believe the pill has been largely to blame. So last month, after reading this article, I felt like maybe I should stop taking it. I talked with Josh, and prayed about it, and we decided to go ahead and stop. We decided to do Natural Family planning. We are using other methods, and I am taking my temperature daily.
The article goes on to talk about the pill in a biblical sense, and makes a lot of good points, but I am not going to go into that right now, if you want to read it, I encourage you to do so!
Anyways, I have definitely noticed a difference in how I feel. I am less moody, more emotionally stable, and I have regained a lot of the desire for my husband that is so important in marriage! I definitely think this is the right decision for me!
I am not saying that everyone should stop taking the pill, and I am not going to preach to anyone on the negatives of taking the pill, but I wanted to put my story out there, and share this article. =)
6 comments:
if you haven't already, read the book, "Taking Charge of Your Fertility". THE book on natural family planning.
We gave up on the pill when I conceived our sweet baby boy just two months after we got married! In our minds it was obvious that God wanted us to have David when we did and nothing that we did was going to stop that ;)
I'm SO glad that I stopped when I did! We also use the temperature method of natural family planning and we're currently TTC!! So we're hoping that I ovulate soon!! (I have PCOS so we hope I will ovulate on my own and not have to take any medicines to make me ovulate)
Great post! Thanks for being honest and not holding back what's on your heart!
I started taking the pill when I was 19 and I started on Yasmine which was WAYYY too strong for me and since then my sex drive has been non existent! My gyno told me that wasn't possible, but I was fine up until I started taking the pill....
I've taken multiple others since then and no matter which one I take, the dose is usually too strong for me and I have to stop taking it in a few weeks because it makes me super sick.
And I totally agree, all we hear is the bloating/weight gain/less painful cramps but we don't hear about the more serious side effects...
Are you sure I didn't write this post?!? Exactly where I stand and had the same "side effects". Good luck on the Natural Family Planning.
Great post... you bring up interesting points!
Post a Comment