Thoughts on birth control

Since I’m in the mood to share my rambly thoughts on a few controversial subjects, this might be a good time to tackle birth control.

First of all, I am not Catholic.

Secondly, even though I’m a devoted protestant, semi-devoted homeschooler, who feels God led me to have a tubal reversal resulting in a total of five kids so far, and I completely understand the quiverful mindset, I do not think limiting your family size is a sin.

However, I do think hormonal birth control is causing women a lot more problems than they realize.  They take it for the freedom of having sex without pregnancy, but they aren’t really studying the side effects.  Nor are they considering whether or not some of their health and emotional issues could be stemming from their use of the pill, patch, ring, Mirena IUD, etc.

When I was nineteen a family practitioner, who did nothing more than listen to me complain about my cramps, decided I had endometriosis.  He prescribed a birth control pill and sent me on my merry way.  (Actually, he also made me take off my shirt and stand with my arms raised in the air while he walked across the room and then turned around and stared at my breasts.  He was “checking symmetry.”  I was nineteen and clueless.)

I took the pill for a few months, but I hated the way I felt.  It was like being in a constant state of PMS.  The cramping improved, but I decided I’d rather cramp a couple of days a month than feel like a bloated, irritated, witch for the entire month.

I went on to get married and have two babies before my thoughts returned to the pill.  My OB was not subtle in her suggestion that I should try it again, so I did.  I was on it for less than a month when I ended up in the ER for a condition known as Erythema Nodosum. (warning: link includes pictures) Even though it is supposed to take a few weeks to clear up, I was completely fine within two days of going off birth control.

I think the Lord allowed these things to happen so that I would stay off the pill.  He knew that I had three undiscovered genetic clotting disorders that greatly increase my chances of fatal blood clots if I am on birth control.  Here is a link with information about the most common of the disorders.

Dr. Anne Greist is one of the top hematologists in the nation.  During a recent appointment she told me that she sees no less than one teenaged girl a week who has developed a blood clot as a result of hormonal birth control.  She said some of them have been on it for around a week when the clot develops.  Some have clotting disorders, but many of them don’t. Now, obviously this is not a scientific study, but just a basic observation of the fact that over the course of a year, in the Indianapolis area, she sees 50+ teenaged girls with blood clots due to birth control.  Factor in the weeks she sees more than one, plus all the girls who are seeing other doctors, and you have a HUGE number of girls getting blood clots right here in central Indiana!  And yet, doctors keep on prescribing it and no one is taking the side effect warnings seriously.

So, that’s my case on the seriousness of blood clots, but what about the other issues?  Are you on the pill, patch, etc?  Are you irritated with your husband more than you used to be?  Do you have a take it or leave it attitude about sex?  I’ve said many times over the years that I think the pill could be an unknown leading cause of divorce.  Changing your hormones changes you.  There is no way around it.  Women who have gone off the pill tell me they can’t believe how different (better) they feel, especially towards their husbands.  I figured it was because they weren’t so irritable anymore so their husbands weren’t getting on their nerves as much.  But recently a study was released that shows another reason why birth control could be causing women to no longer be interested in their spouse.  Study suggests the pill could be cause of marital disharmony  I thought this was fascinating!

If you’ve been on the pill since you were a teen, and you’ve never been off of it except to get pregnant, and then you go right back on it, how do you know how you are naturally supposed to feel?  Your hormones have been constantly altered either by artificial means or due to pregnancy and post partum states.

A quick note on the Depo Provera Injections.  I rushed my sister to the emergency room one night because she had such a severe headache.  I was afraid she was having a stroke.  She had just had her first depo shot and the headache was a side effect.  But guess what?  The shot lasts three months and there is no antidote.  So, she was stuck with a debilitating headache for the duration of that time.  Take those side effect warnings seriously!!

Finally, I think I am most irritated by doctors who prescribe the pill for things for which it was never intended.  Acne, endometriosis, etc. Our fifteen year old daughter was having some anxiety issues.  Lots of girls this age deal with anxiety and we were doing all we could to help her through it.  Her doctor, for whom I have a great deal of respect, suggested that if her anxiety was heightened during certain times of her cycle we could put her on the pill and “flatten her out.”

Flatten  her out?  You mean alter her hormones so that she feels little to no emotion during the entire month?  Why would you do that to a fifteen year old girl?  Why not teach her coping techniques for those few bad days rather than “flatten her out” during her teen years?  And if the above article carries any truth, what if during those years she is attracted to the wrong guy, ends up in a bad marriage, and can’t figure it all out because her hormones are constantly being altered to suppress her emotions?

In closing I will briefly mention the reason why I think hormonal birth control methods (even progesterone) could end the lives of babies we never knew existed.  It’s pretty simple.  Ideally, they are supposed to prevent ovulation, but the secondary way in which they prevent pregnancy is by thinning the lining of the uterus.  This is why you stop having periods.  If you do continue to ovulate, even occasionally, there is a chance of getting pregnant.  But if the lining of your uterus is too thin, the embryo cannot implant and grow.  So, it dies and either reabsorbs into your body, or has the appearance of a light period.  There is no way of knowing how often that happens.  It might not be that often at all, but with my strong pro-life beliefs it is not a chance I can condone taking.  If I had known this earlier I never would have considered going on it all those years ago.

These are only my opinions and they are subject to change if new information develops, but for now, that sums up my thoughts on hormonal birth control.   Stay tuned if you are interested in my rambly thoughts on tubal ligations and vasectomies.