I’ve been bleeding for three weeks. Yes, you read that correctly. I’m not dying, but I’m navigating the vagaries of stopping the birth control pill and then quickly starting it again.
I was first prescribed desogestrel, also known as the mini-pill, over ten years ago, during my first long-term relationship. In the years since, I thought I had become somewhat of an expert at it. For example, I knew it stopped my period for the most part unless I forgot to take it a few times or didn’t take it at the same time every day. I knew it could be useful for people suffering from endometriosis and that it was suitable for people with high blood pressure. I knew it was available under many different brand names in many different packages, and that for some reason the “brand names” like Cerazette seemed to suit my body better than “generic” pills, even though doctors say so that is so. no difference.
What I didn’t have much experience with were the well-documented and seriously uncomfortable side effects, such as lowered libido, anxiety, acne and sore breasts. I was quite smug and living my mostly period-free life, without fear of pregnancy. But then, a few months ago, I suddenly realized something was wrong. I had been taking the pill as I should – every day, at the same time – but now my breasts hurt for weeks. I started having regular periods again with the horrible premenstrual syndrome. I felt more anxious than usual and couldn’t relate it to anything special happening in my life. It was unbelievable irritating.
So I decided to take a break from the mini pill to see if anything improved. Maybe, I hoped, this would be the key to my happiness. Maybe my anxiety was simply caused by a rotten combination of hormones. Maybe my periods would return as fun, regular, pain-free monthly celebrations. Instead, coming off the pill was a sharp reminder that periods absolutely suck (and let’s face it: condoms suck, too). I might have been a little less anxious, but that’s all.
There is still such shame associated with contraception – the societal equivalent of stuffing a tampon up your sleeve before going to the toilet (remarkably, you never actually see women taking the pill in public) – and such discharge associated with hormonal symptoms, that myths prevail. I’ve known people in healthcare who had less knowledge of contraception than I (once, when I went to get the morning-after pill, I had to remind the clumsy healthcare provider that because of my BMI I couldn’t take the pill. he offered).
One such myth, as I discovered after extensive online research, is that giving your body a ‘break’ from the hormones is good for you. It seems like it’s a little better not to take breaks: Sticking to some form of hormonal birth control for the long term may be an easier option, as the side effects are often worse at first.
Last year it was reported that there had been a large increase in the number of unplanned pregnancies due to poor access to contraception. The welcome response to this was that the pill was made accessible through major pharmacies in England rather than through your GP. Just last week there was a call from a British health care organization to put the morning-after pill on general sale.
However, there is still a huge lack of research in this entire area. I would be surprised if many health professionals in the underfunded NHS have a deep and comprehensive knowledge of all the ways the pill can benefit you and screw you up, and what types of pills might be suitable for which types of people. For everyone it seems like a personal experiment with a cocktail of hormones, a shot in the dark.
I’m back on desogestrel because the alternative didn’t look any better and it served me well for a long time. But I’m not particularly happy with it.
Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff is a freelance journalist
-
Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? To submit an email response of up to 300 words to be considered for publication in our letters section, click here.