My Experience with Birth Control

First of all, why am I sharing this? Haha. Well, I wish I was educated on all these options when I sought medical expertise in this area. The doctor I met with prior to getting married didn't really tell me about family planning. I guess that's not really their job? Or maybe it was assumed that I would have either learned this information elsewhere or that I should have already known it. 

I know the sex education curriculum in schools lately share a lot more than some parents would like, but growing up, the most I learned in school was a diagram or two of the male and female reproductive systems, and a couple of paragraphs in a textbook. But no one actually taught me or shared with me all the practical possibilities of family planning. 

A few months before getting married, I started taking the birth control pill. I went to my doctor, asked for it, they spent a few minutes explaining the process: You'll have to take it at the same time every single day. There is one set of placebos, which is just to help you remember to take the pill even though you don't need it. If you miss a day, you'll have to take two the next day. If you miss two days, you'll have to take two one day then two the following day. If you miss three days, you need to start a pack all over again. 

I maybe asked one question about IUDs, just out of curiosity, but my doctor advised against it. I don't really recommend it to women who haven't given birth before, as there can be some side effects.

And that was it. That was the extent of my adult education about family planning lol. Oh and they asked me if I knew how to use a condom, which I vaguely remember learning in high school.

There is a ton that can be said about female contraceptives, the moral implications behind every method, and the lack of education. If you're curious to learn more about the discourse around these topics, do a quick google search or type some hashtags into instagram and you'll find really informative stories and resources. But here, I'll focus on what's been relevant to my personal journey with birth control.

This video is what triggered my curiosity and questioning of what I was doing to my body. I know control can be prescribed to different women for a variety of reasons, apart from preventing pregnancy, but I had never considered the side effects of how it affected my body. 

When I began taking the pill (I was on Tricira Lo), I was in the middle of wedding planning. Naturally, there is a lot of stress and pressure leading up to a wedding, so I didn't really notice how my body changed with the pill. It's safe to say that I didn't notice any major side effects.

I've now been off the pill for 7 days, having just finished my last cycle 5 days ago. And I am really surprised at the results. 

After watching the video above, I took it to Instagram to ask what other women's experiences have been with taking birth control, the side effects, natural family planning, etc.

(The green isn't actually the right answer. Instagram just makes you pick one lol)

And I got a ton of responses which I am so thankful for! I learned that while some of my friends enjoy their birth control methods, whether IUD or the pill, many of my friends have had terrible experiences either coming on the pill or coming off it. Acne, more weight gain than usual, nausea, anxiety -- none of which were at all similar to my experience, but it was eye-opening to see that many of my friends regret going on the pill at all. So this made me even more curious to see how my body would react. 

I considered waiting to talk to my family doctor, but considering I didn't really feel like they helped last time, I figured... I'm on a row of placebo pills right now. I have one pack unopened that I can restart at any time. Let's stop taking it and see how my body reacts. What's the worst that could happen?

I'm trying really hard not to psychologically placebo-effect my way through these observations haha. But so far...

I'm sleeping better. I wake up feeling more rested than before.

I feel calmer. I'm able to regulate my emotions better. Looking back at the last month, there were many times when my emotions overwhelmed me. When I was sad, I was really sad. When I was angry, I was pissed. When I was nervous, I was super anxious. Now that I'm off the pill, I realize that for over a year, all my emotions just felt heightened, like when you edit a photo and adjust the contrast to the highest level, or when you're listening to a good song and play it at max volume. Looking back, that's how I felt everything. 

Maybe my body's crashing right now. Maybe my emotional responses when I was on the pill was actually my 'normal' and now I'm experiencing the 'abnormal'. I don't actually know. But right now, I am just enjoying this mellow-er feeling and this feeling that I have a handle on my emotions. 

Another side effect? My appetite has grown. Or maybe it's gone back to normal. I'm enjoying food more. I struggled with IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) for years prior to going on the pill, as a result of a parasite I got from food poisoning (another story for another day haha). So far, even though I'm eating the same stuff I did last week, my stomach is a bit calmer and less reactive to things that bothered me before. 

Anyway, I'll continue to monitor and observe my body over the next few months. I've heard from many that it can take at least three months before your body regulates 'back to normal' after coming off the pill. 

If you are taking birth control or are considering different methods/options, I encourage you to educate yourself with scientific evidence and testimonials from a variety of sources. Educated decisions are far better than blind ones. We can't know everything and every body is different, but we can each make the best choice for our bodies and health. We don't have to do things we don't want to do, or at least we shouldn't. And, as individuals, we should have the ability to prioritize what is valuable to us and make decisions accordingly.