Why I Live Without Birth Control and Why You Should at Least Consider It.

This is one of the hardest and most embarrassing articles for me write, but I feel like I need to. Maybe someone, someday, will get some help from it.

I got married at the young age of 18 but was not ready to become a mother as a teenager so, like most young people becoming sexually active, I turned to birth control. I didn’t know anything about it, but trusted the doctor that it was the right choice for me. This is where I made my very first mistake; I didn’t ask questions or do any research.

Birth control is almost like buying tampons these days. It has become such a normal part of a woman’s life and maybe it shouldn’t. After having migraines on the first birth control pill I tried, I tried the next big thing in 2005, the birth control patch. Fast forward 10 months or so and I found a lump in my breast. What was this lump? I was freaking out. I was literally 19 years old and wondering why I had a breast lump.

It turned out to be a fibroadanoma (non-cancerous tumor) and I had it removed. Though it can be common in young adults, my doctor then told me taking birth control can increase my risk of more reoccurring. Because of my susceptibility to them, I now have a 1.5 to 2 times increased risk of breast cancer. If you start using birth control before the age of 20, your chances of getting fibroadanomas increases.

I spent over a year birth control free after the tumor was removed and then I had my one and only child. Shortly after that, a doctor convinced me that an IUD would not mess with my hormones or give me more tumors.

I had an IUD for almost 3 years before it almost completely stopped working ( I was getting my periods again).During my time on Mirena, I also developed a skin disease called hidradenitis suppurativa, which causes painful boils to develop from your sweat glands.  It was then that I began to research the effects of birth control on the body. I decided the IUD needed to come out. There is not much in common knowledge about HS yet but check out this article!!

https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/presentation/2190/a672dd20c9cd7120b68d696e5f171e3cbaaf.pdf

I have not been on birth control since and that was almost 6 years ago.  In 2015 I had another non-cancerous tumor removed, this time from between my optic nerve and brain. Knowing that I am so susceptible to tumors, I don’t ever want to mess with my hormones again.

The symptoms I had from birth control are just a few of many that can occur. On bodycology.net average symptoms are listed as:

• Larger breasts
• Weight gain or loss
• Reduced or increased acne
• Slight nausea
• Emotional sensitivity right before your period
• Mood swings throughout your cycle
• Irregular bleeding or spotting
• Breast tenderness
• Decreased libido

 

More serious side effects can include:

• Increased risk of cervical and breast cancers
• Increased risk of heart attack and stroke
• Migraines
• Higher blood pressure
• Gall bladder disease
• Infertility
• Benign liver tumors
• Decreased bone density
• Yeast overgrowth and infection (Birth control pills actually destroy the beneficial bacteria in your intestines,making you more susceptible to yeast overgrowth, lower immunity and infection.)
• Increased risk of blood clotting

 

I tend to be one of those people who only takes prescription pills if I think I really need it. I’m here to tell you birth control isn’t a need. It shouldn’t just be another part of life. Think about it: You’re taking a prescription pill for several years of your young life. Maybe  even for 30 years! This pill/piece of plastic/shot is tricking your body into thinking it’s pregnant. And with even the smallest possibility of increasing your odds of cancers, heart attacks and tumors, why risk it?

Well what about sex? This is the big reason right? To have sex enjoyably without getting pregnant? Well, there are non-hormonal contraceptives, but what I really want to ask you is, have you asked yourself this question: Why am I having sex with this person? Is it worth it? Maybe your health is more important than your current sex life, and maybe you should wait for someone you wouldn’t be devastated to have an “oops” baby with.

Just think about it, and know what you’re putting in your body. The physical earth is going to crap and we cannot help what we are exposed to in the water and air, but we damn well can choose what we put in our bodies.

 

 

 

http://www.dovemed.com/fibroadenoma-of-the-breast/