If Your Girlfriend Takes Birth Control, Thank Her
It sure as hell isn’t easy.
About a year ago, I got on the Nexplanon, the toothpick-sized birth control implant that goes in your arm. At first, it seemed like the perfect option. It wasn’t very painful to get put in like I had heard about the IUD. I wouldn’t have to remember to take it every day like the pill.
However, I soon began experiencing some seriously harmful side effects.
My depression worsened. I started having suicidal thoughts. My low dose of antidepressants that had worked perfectly before was now no longer enough to keep the dark web of depressive thoughts at bay.
But I didn’t want to stop taking birth control. I figured these side effects were a hell of a lot better than getting pregnant.
I mean, I was right. But was I, really?
The hormones being gradually secreted from the rod in my arm were messing up the chemicals in my brain.
They were calling out to me to just end my life, telling me that I was worthless, that my boyfriend at the time didn’t really love me. I figured that out later, but at the time the idea really hurt.
I told my boyfriend about my experience, and he was not sympathetic.
He said it was the price I had to pay to not become pregnant.
Easy for him to say when he had to do literally nothing to keep me from becoming pregnant.
The whole reason I got the Nexplanon was so that he could nut in me without his having to wear a condom because he felt they were slightly uncomfortable.
You know what else is “uncomfortable”? Wanting to kill yourself.
In the end, that boyfriend and I broke up, for a multitude of reasons. Soon afterward, I got the Nexplanon taken out, but it left a tiny scar on my arm. Just like that bout of depression left a scar on my mental health.
Because of that birth control, I had to double the dosage of my antidepressant and also go on a mood stabilizer that gave me serious insomnia. I have since gone back to my original dosage, but I can’t say that being on birth control was an easy or fun experience.
Recently, I have started seeing a woman.
However, she was assigned male at birth, and thus has the ability to get me pregnant. I decided to get the non-hormonal IUD, which gradually secretes copper, a natural spermicide.
So far, I have felt no negative side effects, apart from the painful insertion process. But it can last for ten years. So, I don’t have to worry about getting pregnant until I’m thirty-four.
I’d say that it was well worth the ten minutes of pain to get the IUD put in.
If your wife, girlfriend, or female partner takes birth control, just know that it’s not always as easy as taking a pill or having a rod placed just under the skin of her arm. Oftentimes it comes with horrid side effects.
She might lie about the side effects to make you think that it’s no big deal, but I can almost guarantee that if she’s on birth control, especially if she’s on the pill, there are side effects galore.
People taking the pill can put on weight, sprout acne, and become depressed, among other horrendous side effects. Yet these people often minimize or even keep these effects secret from their male partners so as not to be seen as bothersome.
If you’re a female taking birth control, tell your male partner about all the side effects you’re experiencing.
Let him know what you’re going through just so he can come inside you without wearing a condom. Make him aware of what is happening in your body thanks to the chemical imbalances caused by hormonal birth control.
Tell him what you’re doing for him. Ask him what he’s doing in return. Because in my humble opinion, the least he could do is buy you some flowers or something. Because this shit ain’t easy.
