Birth control and your body... wtf is happening in there?
For some reason, no one really seems to talk much about women's health procedures. It's just something that's expected and we tend to abide without question.
All I knew when I went on the pill was that my boobs might get bigger and I might get a little fatter (neither happened). Then years later, I heard that the pill sometimes completely fucks women's hormones and decreases their sex drive (probably would have been nice to mention but fortunately was not something I encountered). When I got my IUD, I heard that I probably wouldn't have a period (not even remotely true... thanks body, way to rebel against modern medicine). My point is, doctors never really told me much about the medicine or devices I was going to put in my body. The only time anyone ever seemed to talk about it was when something was going wrong. Over the years, the topic is becoming less taboo and my friends and I chat about it all the time. But the conversation needs to be had more widely.
When I went to my last tattoo consult, I was incredibly nervous because I wanted a piece fixed and added to. To my dismay, when I asked the tattoo artist if I could see his drawing prior to coming in for my appointment his response was "I'll be pretty busy so I won't sketch it until the night before. But I mean, it's an anchor and a rose, so there's not a lot to it." Hey dude, that's great for you that an anchor and rose is nothing but it is going to permanently etched on my body so maybe pretend to care. I feel this same way about the reproductive options for women. Hey doctor, great that the pill or an IUD is no big thing but it is going into my body so maybe give a shit. Just a thought.
So here it is. My experience.
The pill: My period has always been an incredibly enjoyable experience. Fever, cramps so bad I could barely move, heavy flow for a week, lots of acne. Really all the things a girl could want as a teenager. I originally went on the pill in HS. This was after my doctor had exhausted every other option to deal with my heinous period because he was worried putting me on the pill would make me sexually reckless (my chastity probably shouldn't have been your priority hombre). I still find it funny that a doctor was more worried I'd lose my virginity then the fact that I was missing school every month. Good call dude.
Anywho... took the pill for long time (and kept my purity in tact, YAY ME!). Then I lost my virginity and suddenly the pill was about not getting knocked up as much as it was about not wanting to rip out my uterus every month. It took multiple years to tailor my dosage to my body. I ended up on the lowest possible dose. What that means, no idea, but I didn't get pregnant and my period was relatively under control.
I took the pill for a decade. How does that impact my body? Are there any side effects to regulating my body in that way for so long? Who knows?! I sure as shit don't and no one else seems to care that much either, which I find wholly disconcerting.
About a year ago, a bunch of my friends started talking to me about getting an IUD and how great it was. Not having to worry about pregnancy for five years and the possibility of not having a period either sounded pretty damn great. To be perfectly honest, I was kind of depressed and my sex drive was not quite on point. When my friends described similar symptoms and said that getting off the pill helped, I thought "fuck it, why not!" I had been on the birth control for so long, I honestly couldn't separate my own emotions from the hormones being pumped into my body. Turns out, the pill had zero impact on my emotional stability and I just was in the downward spiral of a long-term relationship that was going to crap (pretty interesting that my natural reaction was to assume there was something wrong with me rather than my relationship... and made a pretty drastic decision based on that... #badfeminist #realhuman). So about a year ago I got one.
IUD: Turns out IUDs are INSANELY expensive. Luckily, my insurance pretty much covered mine.
Let's start talking about my IUD with the insertion process, which was basically a goddamn nightmare. Now here is where I put the caveat that many women have a very different experience from what I had. With that being said, thank sweet baby jesus you can keep your IUD in for five years because I am not trying to go through that again any time soon. At my first appointment, the doctor could not place my IUD because my uterus was too tilted and wouldn't open and apparently hates me. She basically kept poking my uterus until she gave up. So we scheduled another appointment. This time they got it in.
I don't know what I expected it to feel like when a doctor jammed a tool into my uterus and inserted a foreign device. That's basically the opposite of what the uterus is meant for. Stuff is supposed to come out of it (or so I've heard). But whatever I thought it might be, it was worse...I don't know what it is like to be stabbed with jagged glass, but I sense it feels something like having an IUD put in. It is the single worst pain I have ever felt in my entire life. The caveat is that it only lasts for a couple seconds. Then you are basically just chillin'. It was terrifying but hey, the worst was over! Luckily I didn't have any of the symptoms they warned me about after. No cramps, no bleeding, nothing. My cooter appeared to be in prime condition.
So I survived. And now I was guaranteed to be baby free for five years (SUCK IT SOCIETY!). I had to wait a month to see if my body was going to have a flow or not. Many women don't. I am not one those many women. I got it all the time. And now I had insane cramps, worse than in high school. And I had incredible pain in my sciatic nerve whenever I ovulated. I got headaches and acne. Which is exactly what you want when you are recently single.
No one told me about the possibility of these things. Do I regret getting my IUD? Not one bit. It has afforded me the freedom and assurance to pursue all my goals without even the slightest fear of getting pregnant and mucking it all up (not saying I am opposed to having a child, just opposed to having one right now). I just wish a doctor would have talked to me about the challenges women face while adjusting to an IUD. None of the research I did talked about these possible side effects. Then when I started talking to my friends, they had a lot of similar experiences. Acne is pretty common. Pain during ovulation is not that rare either. Longer, lighter periods are to be expected. Isn't that a good thing to know?
I am to the point now where my periods are predictable, my pain has significantly lessened (mostly because I realized if I worked out the days leading up to my period, I could basically circumvent this whole thing), and I am on medication for my acne. I find it funny that I stopped taking the pill partially because I didn't want to have to worry about taking a pill everyday and yet now I take one for acne. The repercussions are much more digestible; at this time in my life I'd rather have a zit than a baby.
Birth control is a pretty incredible privilege. One that, especially in this political climate, I am thankful to have. But I am deeply concerned there aren't more conversations between patients and their doctors as well as amongst women, about what these options may mean for them. Shouldn't we be educated about our bodies, our reproductive options, and the potential impacts/side effects of these?
All I knew when I went on the pill was that my boobs might get bigger and I might get a little fatter (neither happened). Then years later, I heard that the pill sometimes completely fucks women's hormones and decreases their sex drive (probably would have been nice to mention but fortunately was not something I encountered). When I got my IUD, I heard that I probably wouldn't have a period (not even remotely true... thanks body, way to rebel against modern medicine). My point is, doctors never really told me much about the medicine or devices I was going to put in my body. The only time anyone ever seemed to talk about it was when something was going wrong. Over the years, the topic is becoming less taboo and my friends and I chat about it all the time. But the conversation needs to be had more widely.
When I went to my last tattoo consult, I was incredibly nervous because I wanted a piece fixed and added to. To my dismay, when I asked the tattoo artist if I could see his drawing prior to coming in for my appointment his response was "I'll be pretty busy so I won't sketch it until the night before. But I mean, it's an anchor and a rose, so there's not a lot to it." Hey dude, that's great for you that an anchor and rose is nothing but it is going to permanently etched on my body so maybe pretend to care. I feel this same way about the reproductive options for women. Hey doctor, great that the pill or an IUD is no big thing but it is going into my body so maybe give a shit. Just a thought.
So here it is. My experience.
The pill: My period has always been an incredibly enjoyable experience. Fever, cramps so bad I could barely move, heavy flow for a week, lots of acne. Really all the things a girl could want as a teenager. I originally went on the pill in HS. This was after my doctor had exhausted every other option to deal with my heinous period because he was worried putting me on the pill would make me sexually reckless (my chastity probably shouldn't have been your priority hombre). I still find it funny that a doctor was more worried I'd lose my virginity then the fact that I was missing school every month. Good call dude.
Anywho... took the pill for long time (and kept my purity in tact, YAY ME!). Then I lost my virginity and suddenly the pill was about not getting knocked up as much as it was about not wanting to rip out my uterus every month. It took multiple years to tailor my dosage to my body. I ended up on the lowest possible dose. What that means, no idea, but I didn't get pregnant and my period was relatively under control.
I took the pill for a decade. How does that impact my body? Are there any side effects to regulating my body in that way for so long? Who knows?! I sure as shit don't and no one else seems to care that much either, which I find wholly disconcerting.
About a year ago, a bunch of my friends started talking to me about getting an IUD and how great it was. Not having to worry about pregnancy for five years and the possibility of not having a period either sounded pretty damn great. To be perfectly honest, I was kind of depressed and my sex drive was not quite on point. When my friends described similar symptoms and said that getting off the pill helped, I thought "fuck it, why not!" I had been on the birth control for so long, I honestly couldn't separate my own emotions from the hormones being pumped into my body. Turns out, the pill had zero impact on my emotional stability and I just was in the downward spiral of a long-term relationship that was going to crap (pretty interesting that my natural reaction was to assume there was something wrong with me rather than my relationship... and made a pretty drastic decision based on that... #badfeminist #realhuman). So about a year ago I got one.
IUD: Turns out IUDs are INSANELY expensive. Luckily, my insurance pretty much covered mine.
Let's start talking about my IUD with the insertion process, which was basically a goddamn nightmare. Now here is where I put the caveat that many women have a very different experience from what I had. With that being said, thank sweet baby jesus you can keep your IUD in for five years because I am not trying to go through that again any time soon. At my first appointment, the doctor could not place my IUD because my uterus was too tilted and wouldn't open and apparently hates me. She basically kept poking my uterus until she gave up. So we scheduled another appointment. This time they got it in.
I don't know what I expected it to feel like when a doctor jammed a tool into my uterus and inserted a foreign device. That's basically the opposite of what the uterus is meant for. Stuff is supposed to come out of it (or so I've heard). But whatever I thought it might be, it was worse...I don't know what it is like to be stabbed with jagged glass, but I sense it feels something like having an IUD put in. It is the single worst pain I have ever felt in my entire life. The caveat is that it only lasts for a couple seconds. Then you are basically just chillin'. It was terrifying but hey, the worst was over! Luckily I didn't have any of the symptoms they warned me about after. No cramps, no bleeding, nothing. My cooter appeared to be in prime condition.
So I survived. And now I was guaranteed to be baby free for five years (SUCK IT SOCIETY!). I had to wait a month to see if my body was going to have a flow or not. Many women don't. I am not one those many women. I got it all the time. And now I had insane cramps, worse than in high school. And I had incredible pain in my sciatic nerve whenever I ovulated. I got headaches and acne. Which is exactly what you want when you are recently single.
No one told me about the possibility of these things. Do I regret getting my IUD? Not one bit. It has afforded me the freedom and assurance to pursue all my goals without even the slightest fear of getting pregnant and mucking it all up (not saying I am opposed to having a child, just opposed to having one right now). I just wish a doctor would have talked to me about the challenges women face while adjusting to an IUD. None of the research I did talked about these possible side effects. Then when I started talking to my friends, they had a lot of similar experiences. Acne is pretty common. Pain during ovulation is not that rare either. Longer, lighter periods are to be expected. Isn't that a good thing to know?
I am to the point now where my periods are predictable, my pain has significantly lessened (mostly because I realized if I worked out the days leading up to my period, I could basically circumvent this whole thing), and I am on medication for my acne. I find it funny that I stopped taking the pill partially because I didn't want to have to worry about taking a pill everyday and yet now I take one for acne. The repercussions are much more digestible; at this time in my life I'd rather have a zit than a baby.
Birth control is a pretty incredible privilege. One that, especially in this political climate, I am thankful to have. But I am deeply concerned there aren't more conversations between patients and their doctors as well as amongst women, about what these options may mean for them. Shouldn't we be educated about our bodies, our reproductive options, and the potential impacts/side effects of these?
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