Why Pill won’t solve your Period problem?
Like millions of other women, you may have been prescribed the birth control pill to “fix” your period problems. You’re not alone: 58 percent of American women who are on the Pill take it for reasons other than preventing pregnancy. That’s right.
Every month more than half of the women who take the Pill do so because they have menstrual cycle–related symptoms that are so disruptive that they need a powerful synthetic hormonal cocktail to address them. Why? In the mid-1980s, when direct-to-consumer marketing of prescription medication became legal, pharmaceutical companies started promoting their contraceptives as more than birth control.
They became so-called lifestyle drugs, marketed to improve a person’s quality of life by treating conditions that were not as serious as preventing pregnancy. Typically, these conditions included acne, PMS or PMDD, missing periods, heavy periods, PCOS and painful periods. In addition, something I hear a lot is that the Pill can be used for “period regulation.” This drives me crazy. The Pill most definitely does not regulate a period. And this goes for other forms of hormonal contraceptives, too (the patch, IUD, vaginal ring, implant, and Depo-Provera shot).
Here’s what the Pill and these other forms of hormonal birth control actually do: they stop you from ovulating.
No ovulation, no natural hormone changes, no more period problems. But there’s a catch: because your body is no longer going through its natural monthly cycle of hormone production, you are no longer producing sufficient amounts of sex hormones, which support your mood, libido, vaginal lubrication, and bone health. As you can see, these natural hormones control many of our body’s major systems; no wonder the side effects of hormonal birth control are so wide ranging: from migraines, acne, and mood swings to irregular bleeding, weight gain, low libido, and depression.
And I’ve got news for you: that bleeding you experience during the days you take the placebo (sugar) pills is not a real period because you never ovulated.
It’s what’s known as a “withdrawal bleed” or “pill bleed,” and it occurs only because your hormone levels drop enough to cause your uterine lining to shed. Again: no ovulation, no period. The straight truth is that the Pill and other hormonal birth control methods override your body’s natural processes and merely mask any underlying hormonal imbalance. While on the Pill, no woman’s body is capable of functioning at its optimal level.
This is why the Pill will never be an actual fix for your period problems, but rather, a temporary Band-Aid that will hide what’s actually going on under the surface. So, if you’re using any kind of hormonal birth control for your period problems, I encourage you to consider whether it is the right choice for you. I know going off the Pill is a big decision. You may be afraid your symptoms will come back. Or perhaps you’re worried about being able to find an effective alternative form of birth control. These are important things to consider, and the decision should not be made lightly but again, I would encourage you to take that decision. Learn more about pills effect on women’s brain here
