Do you belong?  

In college, my friends used to jump on and off hormonal contraceptives like The Pill, NuvaRing, Yaz, and others based on the balancing of their monthly budget.  Contraception was considered a luxury whether for the purpose of “safe sex”, lighter or fewer menstrual cycles, less acne, bigger boobs, etc.  Now, it’s overwhelming that contraception has become the end all be all in women's lives.

Whereas a few years ago a girl would have to pay an insurance premium or fully out of pocket for hormonal contraception, now it’s free.  Heck, it can even be shipped to you for free in California.

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Contraception: The Answer to All Female Health Issues

You are not alone if you are a female who was prescribed or even pressured into  taking some form of birth control at the onset of any health symptoms.  I wonder if the doctor just thinks -- “Hmm, what should I do for this female having health problems?  I know!  Let’s chemically alter her natural daily cycle and see if this fixes the issue.”  Because women are complicated, right?    

Much to the female’s dismay, maybe the original reason for taking it went away but most women cannot figure out why they are experiencing new symptoms.  To mention just a few:

• Extreme mood swings
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Nausea
• Swollen and tender breasts
• Migraines
• Blood clots in the brain and legs
• Cancer
• Breast cancer
• Hypertension
• Nervousness

This isn’t about my birth control, right?  I trust my birth control!  It enables my life to go on without a pregnancy or a number of other physical ailments.  I can work, go to school, have fun, and have sex whenever because of my hormonal birth control.

So many women doubt that their hormonal birth control is causing their world to spin (sometimes literally).

Real Stories

I could write numerous books telling the stories of women who are now in their 60s to girls presently 15 years old who look back and acknowledge the negative impact the pill had on their body.  

Recently, my masseuse and I somehow started talking about birth control and how she had been on it for a number of years (Don’t ask how we got there!  If you know me, somehow we got there in the midst of the most natural conversation.).  She shared she had never known why she spent so many of her young adult years stressed out, anxious, headachy, and at times outright depressed.  Without going into great detail she shared with light tones of regret that she didn’t realize 15+ years of her life weren’t meant to be as tense and stressful.

You see her use of The Pill had an impact on the people around her, her health, and overall happiness.  At the time she believed she was sacrificing having children for the sake of her freedom, she later learned that choice now left her almost middle aged and reflecting on a number of very challenging years that were meant to be carefree.  

“Nothing’s Really Free”

This masseuse is a woman who payed a good amount of money for years of artificial birth control use.  Taking something that she believed made her free to acheive anything she wanted really made her question all of her decisions and the unknown health problems caused by her years of birth control.  

Now, women face a whole new challenge as not only do they believe that birth control makes them free, but they can also obtain it at no cost to themselves.  What will the cost be to those women who never weigh or know the consequences and think birth control opens the door to new possibilities from a spontaneous hookup to an uninhibited career?  

So What About “The Pill Club”

Programs such as The Pill Club offer free contraception that can be mailed to you at no cost.  It only takes a few minutes to sign up.  When you consider this option or know your friends are seeing the same videos and ads on social media for The Pill Club -- think again.  This isn’t just a matter of whether or not people think contraception is moral or immoral, this is about women’s health.  

And guess what?  The pill itself isn’t the only thing causing a negative impact on women’s bodies; also harmful is the mindset that makes women think they need contraception to live their life.  In reality, as many women mature they look back and ask if it was really worth it to live with lifelong consequences.