Something I just remember. : O
A while back, I read an article saying that third-generation contraceptives (hormonal, obviously) increase the risk of blood clots for women. I've just done more reading on it, because I'm considering switching my birth control (again) but I remember specifically something about the original article that angered me. The article had a quote from a guy who suggested that more women should be put on the older contraceptives such as Microgynon 30. The risk from each of the third-generation contraceptive hormone emulators depends, although the pill I'm on has one of the lower risks from the new set.
Still, two things about this quote angered me. One, I was on Microgynon 30 for about eighteen months. Eighteen crappy months that I didn't realise could get better. Yes, I'm aware there's over thirty different combinations of pill, not even including the progestin-only pills. But considering that there is a vast, vast list of potential symptoms, including a few potentially fatal ones, it's very very easy to ignore the one or two you may get. For me, this was mood swings (though not hugely dramatic ones), I think I felt slightly less happy (but that may have been my general lifestyle), and pretty much zero sex drive. For eighteen months, I ignored it. I think it was actually an article in Cosmopolitan that made me consider changing.
As far as I recall, the article was only intending to make women aware that they had a choice. A line was "ever wondered why so many of your friends are on Microgynon 30? It's the standard first-choice for doctors." I've paraphrased, of course, but that's pretty much what it said. It got me wondering, and I have now seen a chart I didn't know existed (by sheer coincidence). I was in a doctor's office while my friend was having a blood test, and there's a chart that basically lists different criteria for prescribing pills. Microgynon 30 is the default pill almost always for first-time users, because it's low risk and low-cost.
The problem, I feel, is that doctors don't take the time to discuss the possible pros and cons of pills. Yasmin is known as the lifestyle pill because it often causes lighter periods and can clear acne. It makes sense to put everyone into the same boxes, but we're not IN the same boxes. My older sister had a slightly decreased sex drive on Microgynon 30, whereas my symptoms were entirely different and my experience vastly different to hers. We women are complicated beings, and hormones are one of the most complicated things you can choose to mess with. Of course, lots of women choose simply NOT to mess with them. My sister came off the pill and went for an IUD instead, but I have worries about the heavy periods and potential cramps, because I remember mine pre-pill as the stuff of nightmares (the five month break I had between birth controls was alright, though).
So I thought: who is this doctor who seems not to know this chart exists? Who is this doctor who assumes that women haven't TRIED the "safer" pills and liked none of them? I'm on Loestrin 30 now, which is a near-Godsend for me, but I'm aware it's not the case for everyone. Nobody has exactly the same experience on any pill, and if you only have a few minor symptoms, you'll be looking and thinking "well I'm not nauseous or headachy or vomiting like these people say they did, so my experience isn't that bad". It's these comparisons that make women reluctant to stand up and say "no, I deserve better birth control that doesn't make me non-sexual" (although, ironically, it's a brilliant way of avoiding pregnancy - simply not having sex, because you never want to! Not conducive to a good relationship though, if that's why you went on the pill in the first place...). I deserve better than wanting to avoid intimacy, I deserve better than feeling crappy, and gaining weight, and sore breasts and mood swings. Whilst I would be foolish to believe that any hormonal changes could occur without symptoms, I can do my utmost to find the one best-suited to me. Loestrin 30 decreases my sex drive a bit (arguably not a bad thing) and other than that I'm relatively okay.
So after this long tirade of why I'm on it in the first place, why am I inclined to still look elsewhere? Quite simply that even with my phone alarm to remind me when to take my pill, I have managed still to take them late or forget them altogether. The most common failure of birth control is through incorrect usage, and things such as forgetting pills or taking them not within an hour either side of when you've decided to take them reduce the effectiveness. I have tried the patch - I partly didn't continue because of a missed doctor's appointment, partly because I wanted a break from birth control (I'd been on it for two years) and partly because it made me a little nauseous. Some women have reported much worse side effects from it, and it's known to have a higher dosage of oestrogen than the combined pill. So it's not something I'll consider. The IUD is also another one I'll be avoiding - although my sister loves it, I don't want it, plus since I'm childless I have a higher chance of rejecting it.
This leads me on to a relatively new birth control in the UK, although it's been available in other countries for much longer. The nuvaring was approved here in January I think, and it's simply a plastic ring that is inserted into the vagina and releases hormones that way. It has the advantage of being a lower dose birth control despite being third-generation and thus riskier. It is inserted, left for three weeks and then removed for a week before a new one is put in. So hardly any pesky remembering. Of course, some women have reported appalling side effects, but as ever I'm willing to risk it. It can be removed for up to three hours if it gets in the way during sex, and it just seems a lot more hassle-free. I don't know if I would ever consider the injection, because once it's in, if you don't agree with it, you have to put up with the side effects for the full twelve weeks. With the implant, I would be worried about scarring personally - anybody who has seen my BCG scar will know what I mean. Anybody who doesn't, Google it. Mine's raised maybe half a centimetre, and about a centimetre across. It's round, and it's from a needle - this is also the size and shape of it having had three treatments of steroid injections.
Sidetracked myself a little there. Anyway, just thought I'd share.
Still, two things about this quote angered me. One, I was on Microgynon 30 for about eighteen months. Eighteen crappy months that I didn't realise could get better. Yes, I'm aware there's over thirty different combinations of pill, not even including the progestin-only pills. But considering that there is a vast, vast list of potential symptoms, including a few potentially fatal ones, it's very very easy to ignore the one or two you may get. For me, this was mood swings (though not hugely dramatic ones), I think I felt slightly less happy (but that may have been my general lifestyle), and pretty much zero sex drive. For eighteen months, I ignored it. I think it was actually an article in Cosmopolitan that made me consider changing.
As far as I recall, the article was only intending to make women aware that they had a choice. A line was "ever wondered why so many of your friends are on Microgynon 30? It's the standard first-choice for doctors." I've paraphrased, of course, but that's pretty much what it said. It got me wondering, and I have now seen a chart I didn't know existed (by sheer coincidence). I was in a doctor's office while my friend was having a blood test, and there's a chart that basically lists different criteria for prescribing pills. Microgynon 30 is the default pill almost always for first-time users, because it's low risk and low-cost.
The problem, I feel, is that doctors don't take the time to discuss the possible pros and cons of pills. Yasmin is known as the lifestyle pill because it often causes lighter periods and can clear acne. It makes sense to put everyone into the same boxes, but we're not IN the same boxes. My older sister had a slightly decreased sex drive on Microgynon 30, whereas my symptoms were entirely different and my experience vastly different to hers. We women are complicated beings, and hormones are one of the most complicated things you can choose to mess with. Of course, lots of women choose simply NOT to mess with them. My sister came off the pill and went for an IUD instead, but I have worries about the heavy periods and potential cramps, because I remember mine pre-pill as the stuff of nightmares (the five month break I had between birth controls was alright, though).
So I thought: who is this doctor who seems not to know this chart exists? Who is this doctor who assumes that women haven't TRIED the "safer" pills and liked none of them? I'm on Loestrin 30 now, which is a near-Godsend for me, but I'm aware it's not the case for everyone. Nobody has exactly the same experience on any pill, and if you only have a few minor symptoms, you'll be looking and thinking "well I'm not nauseous or headachy or vomiting like these people say they did, so my experience isn't that bad". It's these comparisons that make women reluctant to stand up and say "no, I deserve better birth control that doesn't make me non-sexual" (although, ironically, it's a brilliant way of avoiding pregnancy - simply not having sex, because you never want to! Not conducive to a good relationship though, if that's why you went on the pill in the first place...). I deserve better than wanting to avoid intimacy, I deserve better than feeling crappy, and gaining weight, and sore breasts and mood swings. Whilst I would be foolish to believe that any hormonal changes could occur without symptoms, I can do my utmost to find the one best-suited to me. Loestrin 30 decreases my sex drive a bit (arguably not a bad thing) and other than that I'm relatively okay.
So after this long tirade of why I'm on it in the first place, why am I inclined to still look elsewhere? Quite simply that even with my phone alarm to remind me when to take my pill, I have managed still to take them late or forget them altogether. The most common failure of birth control is through incorrect usage, and things such as forgetting pills or taking them not within an hour either side of when you've decided to take them reduce the effectiveness. I have tried the patch - I partly didn't continue because of a missed doctor's appointment, partly because I wanted a break from birth control (I'd been on it for two years) and partly because it made me a little nauseous. Some women have reported much worse side effects from it, and it's known to have a higher dosage of oestrogen than the combined pill. So it's not something I'll consider. The IUD is also another one I'll be avoiding - although my sister loves it, I don't want it, plus since I'm childless I have a higher chance of rejecting it.
This leads me on to a relatively new birth control in the UK, although it's been available in other countries for much longer. The nuvaring was approved here in January I think, and it's simply a plastic ring that is inserted into the vagina and releases hormones that way. It has the advantage of being a lower dose birth control despite being third-generation and thus riskier. It is inserted, left for three weeks and then removed for a week before a new one is put in. So hardly any pesky remembering. Of course, some women have reported appalling side effects, but as ever I'm willing to risk it. It can be removed for up to three hours if it gets in the way during sex, and it just seems a lot more hassle-free. I don't know if I would ever consider the injection, because once it's in, if you don't agree with it, you have to put up with the side effects for the full twelve weeks. With the implant, I would be worried about scarring personally - anybody who has seen my BCG scar will know what I mean. Anybody who doesn't, Google it. Mine's raised maybe half a centimetre, and about a centimetre across. It's round, and it's from a needle - this is also the size and shape of it having had three treatments of steroid injections.
Sidetracked myself a little there. Anyway, just thought I'd share.