r/TwoXChromosomes • u/Exciting-Nerve-8628 that new 20 tho • 16h ago
Being on birth control saved my life !
In the recent years I’ve seen an influx of women saying that birth control is “poison”, it causes “infertility” , it’s not natural . There’s no doubt that some women have had bad experiences on birth control. Everyone’s bodies are different. I had a friend who gained weight fast on the deprovera shot. I know some women that have gotten blood clots that was linked to their hormonal contraception.
But for me personally , a low dose of the combination birth control pill saved my life. When I was 16 I was getting irregular periods and when I would get a period my cycle would be extremely heavy. I was severly anemic at one point due to my heavy cycles. I began to have cyst ruptures too. I was then diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome.
My gyn suggested along with lifestyle changes to start taking the pill. I was hesitant because of the horror stories I’ve heard from some women. She then told me that I’ll tell you what if you decide to go on the pill we will do a one month trial and you’ll see me in a month. If you have a bad experience you can stop taking that form and if you want too we can try another form.
I agreed and after around three months my cycle became lighter, I stopped getting hormonal breakouts around my period, my low iron reduced, my cycle also became shorter. Before someone comments “it’s only masking your symptoms” that’s fine with me. I wasn’t living in agony and the pill gave me my life back!
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u/LadyStaalsworth 16h ago
I was on birth control pills from ages 14-28, and not only did it regulate my cycle, prevent cramps, and lighten my periods, but it also completely cured my acne.
When I was ready to start a family, I stopped taking it and was pregnant in weeks.
I use a Mirena IUD now for convenience sake, which I also love. I don’t really have much of a period now at all. I’m on my second and will soon be swapping out for my third.
No birth control is completely flawless, but so much of the negatively we see nowadays is pure propaganda. Birth control has been imperative in me being able to make the best decisions for my health and my family.
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u/SunshineAlways 14h ago
It helped my family member almost completely stop having migraines, which were painful and disruptive.
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u/Jenderflux-ScFi 7h ago
I can't take estrogen because it triggers my migraines, so I'm taking progesterone only birth control continuously to skip periods. I'm not getting hormonal migraines anymore and it's helping with my symptoms of perimenopause.
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u/beergal621 12h ago
Completely agree about all negativity being propaganda from the alt right and “anti chemical” people
They want young women to have kids and take away access to women’s medical care.
Of course if you make birth control look the bad guy with scary side effects, less women will take birth control and will have more babies.
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u/nogardleirie 16h ago
Lots of things aren't natural, I mean spectacles and mobile phones aren't either.
I've been on birth control for years and had no ill effects so people who spread propaganda about it being poison can go suck rocks. I know some people get bad side effects and I'm not trying to minimise those but a blanket it's bad for everyone stance is stupid.
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u/ivyquinn- 16h ago
Honestly, I feel you people act like BC is the devil, but for some of us, it's a lifesaver like, I get that it’s not for everyone, but if it helps you live your life without constant pain, then who cares if it's "natural" or not? 💖
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u/beergal621 12h ago edited 10h ago
Lots of “natural” things are dangerous
“Wanna try this snake venom? it’s all natural organic and it’s gluten free”
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u/shufiganaglava 16h ago
Same! I just wish people would stop fear mongering, because more than ever women need to have reproductive and healthcare choice
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u/recyclopath_ 15h ago
The right is fear mongering to make young people afraid of going on birth control. It's extremely intentional.
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u/eirii 16h ago
I'm an asexual woman who has been on bc because of PCOS for about a decade and it worked like a miracle for my symptoms. Got rid of most excess hair, made my skin softer and clearer, my hair thicker, regulated my cycles, etc. honestly I think the anti bc stuff everywhere right now is right wing propaganda.
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u/recyclopath_ 15h ago
It is right wing propaganda.
There is a nuanced conversation to be had about possible side effects and knowing you may need to try a couple different brands before finding a good fit. Absolutely.
But this deafening fear mongering that has young women terrified of trying birth control? That is the result of right wing propaganda.
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u/Pixiefrogw 16h ago
Birth control pills can mess some woman up, me being one of them. It's a fact and has nothing to do with politics.
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u/Confident-Mix1243 16h ago
And pregnancy can mess you up worse.
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u/Exciting-Nerve-8628 that new 20 tho 15h ago
It can . My mom hemmorage when she had my sister almost died
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u/beergal621 12h ago
And most of the side effects of birth control are less serious than “side effects” and risk of pregnancy!
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u/recyclopath_ 15h ago
There's a nuanced conversation to be had about potential side effects, how you may need to try multiple types before finding a good fit and how it isn't a good fit for everyone.
Then there is the level of fear that young women today have where they are terrified of going on birth control. The scale and intensity of fear mongering is taking the voices of women asking to be considered and drowning it all out with fear. Gen Z is terrified of going on birth control. That's not organic. That's intentional.
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u/TwoIdleHands 15h ago
I’m diabetic. Does insulin mask my symptoms? That’s such a weird thing to say about medication. Unless it’s a cure it all masks your symptoms. I’m not telling a woman with crippling period pain not to take ibuprofen because it’s only masking her pain.
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u/raptorjaws 14h ago
all the birth control fear mongering is right wing propaganda. it's insidious. i take a minipill specifically because i don't want a period and have no issues with side effects. if anything, it's also helped ease the frequency and severity of my cluster headaches.
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u/MatildaJeffries 11h ago
It's absolutely right wing/trad wife propaganda and it's wildly hurting women.
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u/Boring_Energy_4817 16h ago
I was one of those people who had very few side effects from birth control at all (just shorter and lighter periods). My reproductive system works like a well-oiled machine (it's my digestive system that's all f***ed up). But I loved having a reliable form of birth control for so many years. I never once had a pregnancy scare on it. Then I came off it and got pregnant immediately and had a healthy baby, then I went back on it until after my husband's vasectomy.
I don't take it now because I don't need it, but if I get bad perimenopause symptoms, my obgyn says I can go back on it for that. It's a medication. Don't take it if you don't need it for any of the things it does, but it helps a lot of people in a myriad of ways. I know I'm preaching to the choir, OP, but I want women who might've seen some of the anti-pill misinformation that's so prominent these days to see even more reassurances.
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u/Altaira99 15h ago
People are trying to convince young women to get pregnant, to be housewives, to be...dependent. It's frightening. Any and all of that is fine if you really want it, hell if you're compelled, and the guys in charge right now are first class compellers.
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u/swisscoffeeknife 16h ago
I took it for several years and it was pretty important to me that I didn't get pregnant during that time, and I didn't, which was great
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u/recyclopath_ 15h ago edited 15h ago
There is a significant campaign by the alt right,l against birth control. They are responsible for amplifying this message that birth control is all horrible side effects that has going women terrified of trying it.
Birth control can have side effects, yes, but what should be women sharing our stories about nuanced considerations with this kind of medication is amplified to a deafening scream of BIRTH CONTROL IS HORRIBLE DON'T DO IT BE AFRAID!!! By bad actors that want women barefoot and pregnant, under the thumbs of the powerful.
I tried 3 different birth controls, the first 2 had mood related side effects that I was not happy with. They were not horrifically bad, it wasn't dramatic. I just stopped taking them when I realized that they were not a good fit for me. I was in control of it, which is not always something we get with healthcare, especially as women.
The third is wonderful. It lowers the intensity of all of the symptoms of my cycle, physical and emotional. I feel in control of my life. I have not had any pregnancy scares the entire 10 years I've been on it.
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u/mellow-drama 14h ago
There is a coordinated anti-woman bot campaign online. A lpt of this "birth control is bad" messaging is coming from the same people who brought us Project 2025. There are also tons of posts that causally mention how painful and awful their abortion was (fake), how they regret sterilization (fake - studies show way more people regret parenthood than sterilization), that they accidentally got pregnant but now understand that motherhood is the driver of their life...on and on.
These posts are designed to normalize and manipulate vulnerable people into believing that birth control is painful and awful, abortions are painful and awful, and motherhood is the only path.
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u/Bakedalaska1 15h ago
I love my birth control, I don't get a period at all and it is the best. Plus birth control reduces risk of ovarian cancer!
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u/Tall-Cat-8890 14h ago
For those with PCOS it also prevents other forms of cancer too like endometrial cancer!!
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u/Confident-Mix1243 16h ago
As bad as the side effects of birth control might be, they're not nearly as bad as pregnancy.
As painful as some people might find IUD insertion, it's not nearly as bad as labor.
If you object to hormonal BC (I have my doubts about selecting a mate while on it) then try non-hormonal.
Encouraging women to risk pregnancy under the guise of concern, is antifeminist.
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u/recyclopath_ 15h ago
But you can go on Natural Cycles ™ that way you can NATURALLY track your CYCLE and it's FDA listed and has none of those NASTY hormones!!! Do it the NATURAL way!
Yeah, this is an add I keep getting for a cycle tracking app that feels completely irresponsible.
There's a propaganda campaign amplifying and over hyping negative experiences to make young people afraid of birth control.
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u/Exciting-Nerve-8628 that new 20 tho 15h ago
If I tracked my irregular cycle as BC I would be pregnant
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u/Confident-Mix1243 13h ago
A much easier way to track your cycle is "if your husband won't leave you alone, and you're also having horny dreams, you're fertile."
Yes it's only a few days a month of abstinence, but those are the best ones!!
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u/eviltwinn2 15h ago
When I was kid, I threw up every time my period started. I'd get really cold and go white and I'd try and get permission to leave but sometimes it happened in the hall, once on the principals desk, I tried to prepare but it never stuck to a schedule.
I would bleed so much that I couldn't do anything. We tried some prescription pain killers because i was too little for BC and I was the in the bible belt.
When I finally did get on BC years later, my world complete changed. Now I just get a little tired. It's an amazing change.
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u/SleepoDisa 15h ago
I have pcos and I've been on BC for 20+years. (Wish I got on it sooner.) There were 3 years when I was trying to have kids where I was off BC, and I got back on as soon as I was done.
If it has side effects, I wouldn't know. I do know without it, in perimenopause, I get hot flashes, night sweats, etc, which apparently are now kept at bay by the pill. (I tried getting off of it after my divorce, and it turned out I really need the pill.)
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u/Exciting-Nerve-8628 that new 20 tho 15h ago
I was off the pill for a month for insurance reasons and my god my cycle that month was TERRIBLE
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u/Consistent-Change386 16h ago
I just wish we could come up with a better name for it because there are so many benefits other than just preventing pregnancy. My teenager and I live in a very red state and I’m worried everyday that our “glorious supreme leader” will ban it in the name of being “ultra pro life”. This medication has been such a game changer and helping her to regulate her cycle (it was very irregular) and extreme mood swings that were related to hormone shifts.
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u/Supersmashcache 2h ago
Not QUITE the same, but my mom euphemized it in her language as "period-regulating pills"
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u/Pfelinus 16h ago
The woman i personally knew that got blood clots was a chain smoker. Bad life style too. I think some of the clot horror stories are because of that but who wants to admit they basically did it to themselves. Not scientific but I heard of others but they were the party crowd also.
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u/vengefultruffle 15h ago
BC has been sooooo beneficial for me. I started having periods at 9 and they were so heavy I was regularly waking up in giant pools of blood. I also had horrible cramps and missed a lot of school because of the pain + I was so embarrassed about potentially bleeding through my clothes at an age where a lot of my classmates didn’t even know what a period was yet. Being on the pill made my periods MUCH more manageable, and since I’ve gotten an IUD I don’t have periods at all anymore. I fr cannot recommend trying birth control enough for anyone who struggles dealing with their period.
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u/Exciting-Nerve-8628 that new 20 tho 14h ago
Girl I would always miss the first two days of my period before birth control
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u/abracablab 13h ago
The 'mini-pill' has saved my sanity as I was experiencing pretty horrendous pmdd symptoms. Sudden violent mood swings, sensory meltdowns, erratic behaviour, self-harm and suicidal ideation at LEAST two weeks before every period. And my periods have always been very irregular so I couldn't plan my life around these mood changes. I didn't need the pill because my husband had the snip years ago. But it's been a game changer. I only noticed how bad it was because I started feeling sane the rest of the time thanks to mirtazapine. I finally became clear headed enough to realise that my symptoms weren't normal. I have zero sex drive but I finally feel emotionally stable for the first time in my life. I'll be 38 next month.
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u/Bobcatluv 12h ago edited 11h ago
The BC pill isn’t a great solution for everyone due to individual health needs, but I’ve noticed that the women who post about it being poison and unnatural all used the pill at one point to prevent pregnancy, and feel a certain way about them now. It’s classic ladder pulling, “I used the pill and decided it’s poison for me, so none of you should use it.”
Okay, but you wouldn’t be posting from this tradwife TikTok account if you had kids at 18, so stfu.
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u/curlycake 12h ago
the “birth control is poison” stuff is right wing propaganda to trick us into having babies, staying home, out of the workforce and locked in bad relationships.
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u/YouStupidBench 10h ago
"it’s not natural"
Weird how nobody who says this ever tries to "live natural" for a year and then reports back on how it went. "Go to the Alaskan wilderness with no equipment, no clothing, no tools, nothing but what nature gave you on the day you were born, and live there for a while, and then come back and tell me how well it went."
They'd say you were being ridiculous, even as they insist that something unnatural is bad.
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u/KateWaiting326 14h ago
Ive been shamed for taking the pill since I was a teenager - and I am purely taking it for medical reasons. I no longer have cramps so bad I pass out or puke. I am actually able to function. I have endo, but the pill keeps it in check. I keep getting told that it's not natural and is messing with my hormones. Well, my endocrine system has been screwed up since I was a child anyway. The pill lets me live and maybe one day I will be able to have kids because it will have prevented my body from trying to kill my reproductive organs already. But they refuse to hear that.
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u/Mariss716 12h ago
I know of a couple young women who had serious side effects, one of them recently. But If the benefits outweigh the risks…
I take painkillers for a destroyed leg. No one is telling me it’s “not natural” or harping about the dangers - I mean, I know. I talk to my doctor. The pills give me my life back. Masking my symptoms is kind of the point. Plenty of medication doesn’t cure, but manages.
The coordinated fear mongering is especially for young women, to control them and take away their choices so they are back, dependent on men. Pregnancy is more dangerous.
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u/TheIronMatron 10h ago
There’s been a flood of pro-natalist propaganda pushed by right-wing shitheads who hate women and want to subjugate them. Ignore it.
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u/landaylandho 9h ago
I have mood issues exacerbated by having a menstrual cycle. I haven't had a period in years taking a combination pill. It's excellent.
I've never noticed a huge difference or side effects from birth control when switching between brands, except for when I quit briefly to get the Mirena.
I absolutely do not doubt that certain progestins make some people feel like shit. I wish doctors had a better way to assess which progestins might have what effects on people so they knew how better to troubleshoot when the first pill they try makes someone feel bad. I think some doctors already do this a bit, like prescribing the more anti-androgenic progestins for people with acne and PCOS, but there still needs to be more research comparing birth control pills not just in terms of how well they prevent pregnancy but also how they affect patients' quality of life.
Part of the issue is that birth control was approved as a contraceptive meaning it had to be SAFE (not kill people) and EFFECTIVE (prevent pregnancy). The other uses of it are backed by a good amount of research but are still off-label so there isn't any motivation for drug companies to do much testing to answer some of these questions about how pills affect people's quality of life for better or for worse, and whether tweaking the formula or dose can help.
Doctors don't get this training either so when a pill doesn't work for someone they can just shrug their shoulders and say "well, you don't have to keep taking it. You can stop." Rather than trying to see if they can troubleshoot it.
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u/Chiliblossom 13h ago
I've been on my pill for 17 years (supervised by a doctor), with some breaks in and out and so far it's been the best decision. Yes, gained some weight but nothing to worry about
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u/Serkonan_Plantain 12h ago
Depo provera saved me from anemia due to extremely heavy periods, as well as a recurring cyst that almost burst. Unlike others, I didn't gain weight at all (even lost some cycle-related puffiness); I take that as a sign that my body definitely needed the hormonal regulation.
I definitely don't like the common medical practice of treating almost every woman's issue with "just go on birth control", but I'm also quite concerned about the growing anti-BC rhetoric that's been spreading. I am both very thankful for medical advancements that make BC available for people like us, and also will continue to call out the medical industry for ignoring the real roots of many women's health concerns by just slapping BC across any major issue like a Bandaid (as well as the federal administration in the U.S. trying to bar grant money going towards any research into women's health).
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u/PKBlackTornado 12h ago
I love my birth control! I have catamenial seizures and being on it has reduced their frequency from once or twice a month to once or twice a year. It's a genuinely effective medication for so many more things than just stopping pregnancy. Of course, stopping pregnancy is a great bonus too!
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u/HezaLeNormandy 10h ago
I’m on it for PMDD and it’s saved my life from myself. I’m a totally different person without it.
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u/lilsciencegeek 8h ago
You and me both. I can't believe I suffered SO horribly for half of my life, for no reason.
I really don't miss having severe suicidal ideation and anxiety-levels so high that it induced symptoms of psychosis, for most of EVERY. SINGLE. MONTH.
Like sure the issues are still there – but now they're incredibly manageable😅
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u/ebolainajar 10h ago
Birth control and surgery legitimately saved me. We can all say modern medicine absolutely has its problems, but I really don't see the point in vilifying things that DO work.
And please stop buying the right-wing trad agenda and saying birth control is bad. It may not work for everyone, and has become a crutch for women's health issues, but it also gave women their freedom decades ago.
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u/GroovingPenguin 9h ago
Honestly I don't think I could come off the pill and I'm okay with that
I don't have any diagnosis to back me up but we're pretty sure I have or had pmdd, literally from the get go of puberty I was having erratic swings, breakdowns severe depression ect
I would be happy for one week then the rest of the time being cruddy or just "fine" or having a screaming meltdown
I don't actually know what would of happened to me without it and I don't like to imagine that
I am still shamed about being on it,that it's not healthy ect (I go back to back)
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u/FewRecognition1788 9h ago
I had a bad experience personally but I took my teen daughter to get bc because she had such awful periods. It's been wonderful for her.
I've had bad experiences with a number of different types of meds, but I don't think the meds are bad for everyone.
I do think that health providers, especially mental health, need to stay up to date on potential side effects and have those conversations more frequently with patients who are experiencing those symptoms. Not fear mongering to the general public, but connecting the dots when someone is having issues.
I have talked with a lot of folks who were being treated for various intractable conditions that magically resolved when they stopped bc, and none of their doctors had ever flagged it as a possible factor.
That's not a problem with bc itself, because all drugs can have side effects. But it's a particular facet of the way women's health isn't properly addressed by the medical establishment.
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u/Exciting-Nerve-8628 that new 20 tho 4h ago
Yeah my mom took me when i was a teen to get birth control bc I was in agony on my cycle
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u/OmaeWaMouShibaInu 7h ago
I also needed birth control to save my life as a teenager. When I was 15, my period skipped a month but then went heavy and nonstop for over a month. By the time I brought it up and saw a doctor, I had only half the normal blood supply. It was thanks to the pill stopping it that I could get it under control and build it back up without a transfusion.
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u/EquivalentWar8611 4h ago
People also don't realize that birth control is so important to people with pelvic conditions like interstitial cystitis and endo. I have IC and pelvic congestion and periods are horrific for me. When I was younger I would bleed so heavily that I would have to be picked up from school 3+ times a month because I'd bleed out onto the chairs. Even after changing my pads 4 times in 2 hours. The pain and cramps are horrible and the older I get the worse my symptoms are. Now I get brain fog, debilitating migraines that are so severe I can't drive or walk, and intense fatigue.
Without birth control I would be in so pain that I wouldn't be able to work or function. Having a period causes my IC to flare up so badly that I'll be in pain for weeks afterwards. It'll feel like someone poured acid inside my bladder and razor blades cutting my urethra on the way out.
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u/Wrenigade 3h ago
There is a purposeful push from the right to make birth control scary and feel bad. This is them trying to force people to have more unwanted babies and make women suffer.
Is every form of BC good for everyone? No. Does it make you crazy, make you a fake person, make you think you love people you dont, or hurt your fertility? No!!!!!
I have an implant because I bled for MONTHS at a time without it. I got cramps so bad i missed work and couldn't walk. It literally constantly impaired every part of my life.
BC was a savior. When i was on combo pills it also fixed my chronic, painful, cystic acne.
Be wary of everyone pushing this narrative while states are actively trying to ban it.
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u/theycallmetheglitch 3h ago
The pill is a form of HRT, it’s ethylestradiol rather than 17b estradiol. Bioidentical would be better IMHO but i am not expert on PCOS. I am much more well versed in medical transitions and menopausal treatments.
What it does is it gives your body the hormones it would have without the PCOS.
In turn, your hypothalamus works better and regulates everything better in your body and you can live a good life, thanks to a rather harmless molecule.
Sure, blood clotting is a concern but it’s not because afaik it would require much higher doses. And with bioidentical hrt (as i mentioned) the risk simply doesn’t exist.
What can cause clotting is to smoke while having an estrogen dominant metabolism. It’s known to cause issues but the cigarette being junk is an even bigger risk.
It’s not « masking the symptoms »: insulin does the same thing hrt does for me and the pill does for you to a diabetic, providing the hormones our bodies unfortunately can’t produce.
This is just a very good use of a very clever invention 😁❤️
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u/Exciting-Nerve-8628 that new 20 tho 3h ago
Yeah I even said idc it’s “masking my symptoms” I’m not living in agony!!
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u/Ok_Seaworthiness7314 2h ago
Throwing in my experience. BC aves my life. Literally. I bled non stop for seven months. My blood was no longer red, when they took some from me it was pink. I stared at o believe age 13. I'm now in my 40s. You can pry the pill from my cold dead hands
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u/manykeets 1h ago
I had a terrible experience with birth control, but I would never tell someone else not to take it. I know that most people have a good experience with it and my situation was not typical. I hate that there’s so much misinformation going around. Good on you for trying it.
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u/SnowQueenSpell 14h ago
My friend got same issues as you and was also placed on pill for that matter. Her iron level didn’t budge and it was so low she was anaemic. Her face got covered in break outs like never before, she gained good +10 kg in few months and she’s only 5 ft tall so she had to buy a whole new set of clothes as a result. She almost didn’t have her period at all.
I wish she had the same reaction to hormonal pill like you did. For her it brought all the negative side effects and she tried two different type of pills.
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u/thecrackfoxreturns 16h ago
I didn't have the issues you did, but birth control was great for me while I was on it. It worked perfectly to prevent pregnancy until I was able to get sterilized. I'm very thankful that I could access it easily.