Let’s take charge of our hormones: navigating my way through birth control
BY CERYS PLATT
The relationship between me and the contraceptive pill was an 8 month daily ritual, wake up, take the pill, go about my day, sleep and do it all over again the next day. I was on the combined pill, which you take it for three weeks then have a week break, where you get your ‘fake period’.
As women we all know the long list of side effects that accompany the contraceptive packet, but do we ever think them side effects will actually happen to us? I certainly didn’t. Most of my friends were on hormonal contraception long before I was, and they were pleased with the outcome and the effect it had on them. So why would I be any different?
I made a decision for myself to not take one of my monthly breaks, as it come around the time, I was heading on a summer holiday. Who wants to be on their period on holiday? But what I didn’t understand was the effects it would later have on me, mentally and physically. Of course, after the holiday I took my pill break and restarted the week later. This is where my experience changed.
I couldn’t get myself out of bed, I was depressed, didn’t feel good enough, the low moods were affecting me to the point where I told my boyfriend I didn’t know what happiness felt like anymore. Perhaps this was me being dramatic. But I truly forgot how to be happy. But I know I wasn’t the only one: “I was prescribed it young, aged 14 and had no idea about the side effects. It affected my moods and my lifestyle. I became a very isolated person” expressed Ruby, a QUB student.
I read a study some months back, a study taken place in the University of Copenhagen, that confirmed a link between a surge in depression and hormonal contraception. Researchers found that teens are at the greatest risk of depression, with an 80% increase when taking the combined pill. Nevertheless, alternatives to the oral contraceptive – such as the IUD/coil and birth control patches, were shown to increase depression at a higher rate than oral contraception.
image credited: Erin Aniker, Refinery 29.
“The information needs to be present, as part of our care and advice we strive to find the most suitable method out there balancing it against any risks of long term use and side effects” spoke Student Health and Wellbeing Services at QUB.
As a 20 year old woman, the statistics scare me, why are we able to put these synthetic drugs into our system? We are hurting our minds and bodies without being conscious- or aware.
But naivety got the better of me. It is clear that with or without these studies the dangers of hormonal contraception will never be taken seriously in the medical community. We are told to not have these studies worry us or let them stop us from taking the pill, but this is the rhetoric mostly given by men: men who had their ‘trial contraceptive pill’ taken off the market as soon as it revealed a negative impact to their ‘emotional wellbeing’.
Ryan McCallion, a psychology student at QUB expressed his view of male birth control- in particular, its failure to reach the market:
“It is ridiculous/male hormonal contraceptive has not been around as long, so to say that this form of contraceptive is a main contributor towards increased mental health in men doesn’t seem to hold any long standing validity. It should be all or nothing because if they removed this for the sole purpose of male mental health, it is clear there is a priority on who’s mental health matters in the public and governmental sector”.
Meanwhile, I stopped taking the pill not knowing whether it would help me. But low and behold, I was happy again. I felt the best I’d ever felt in weeks. I started to look after myself again and knew I was never putting my body or mind back in that position again. As women we need to remember that we are all different in our own special way, and just because the pill worked for you doesn’t mean it will work for the girl you sit next to in class.
“It was prescribed to me as I suffered from severe period pains, and it has benefitted me since” explained Becca Crymble, a student at QUB. My other housemate, also a student at QUB, echoed a similar sentiment, suggesting “ its enabled me to control the pains I suffer from, I haven’t experienced anything negative from taking it “.
I am by no means a medical professional, but in writing this article I hope it helps women and normalises the conversation around hormonal birth control. This by no means should be a taboo topic, sexual health and wellbeing is something I strongly believe we need to be educated on and speak openly about.
I would recommend reading the book “How the Pill Changes Everything” By Dr Sarah E. Hill. It presents a brilliant and raw outline of how the pill can affect your hormones and health. It is a real eye opener.
If you seek further help, go to your nearest GP, confidant or sexual health clinic and express your concerns.
Edited by Ruby Hegarty.