It’s not pleasant living in the aftermath.
I often hear from women who find my work after they have already been injured by hormonal birth control. Many are eager to share their personal story with me. I am truly humbled and grateful each time this happens, but it does also stir up a bit of frustration.
With each case, I always wish I could have somehow warned her before she was injured. But the reality is, even if I could have, chances are good that she would have taken birth control anyway.
Our Pill-friendly culture combined with cavalier doctors who aggressively promote The Pill convince many women to start taking it despite their reservations. After the fact, it’s easy to say, “I never would have done X, if I had known Y.” However, we all have a little bit of Ebenezer Scrooge in us, and it takes the full force of all the ghosts – Past, Present, and Yet To Come for us to be persuaded.
After seeing a recent study which strengthens the link between hormonal birth control and multiple sclerosis (MS), I began to think more about what those ghosts might reveal to a woman considering The Pill.
So, with all necessary apologies to Dickens fans, I present an unfortunate twist on the classic…
The Ghost of Birth Control Past
Folklore informs us that, over the ages, many ghosts have issued dire warnings to individuals from every imaginable background and persuasion. Yet, not one person has ever asked the ghost to cite its sources. Despite that, the Ghost of Birth Control Past comes prepared, as our young protagonist, Julie, found out one autumn evening.
After lying down, the pros and cons of having started birth control began to cycle through her head. Just as consciousness began to slip away, Julie heard the faint sound of chains sliding down the corridor toward her chambers. Suddenly, a figure appeared in the corner. It was an old woman with an unearthly translucence about her. Though highly unusual, Julie didn’t feel alarmed because the ghost radiated a familiar warmth.
That familiarity echoed through the first bit of information shared by the Ghost of Birth Control Past. It came in the form of a study that found women who take birth control are 35% more likely to be diagnosed with MS.
Julie had in fact heard about this study before she ever started taking The Pill, and she had even contemplated it in regards to her aunt’s MS diagnosis. The Ghost of Birth Control Past, who is no stranger to deja vu, hoped this one study might be enough to dissuade her from continuing with The Pill, but it didn’t take long to see that Julie was still perplexed.
Learning From the Past
Previously, the ghost hadn’t wanted to frighten young Julie, but now, she was ready to change course and reveal one of the most shocking facts anyone has ever seen in the evolution of MS.
In 1940, before the introduction of hormonal birth control, MS already discriminated against women. Among the population of patients diagnosed with MS, there were two women for every man. However, by 2007, evidence was presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology which found that the gender ratio had jumped to four women for every man.
Not only were there many more cases, but the vast majority of those cases were women. That represents a dramatic shift in the nature of this disease over an incredibly short amount of time. The only reasonable explanation for the change would be the introduction of a new environmental trigger that affects women much more than men.
And with that, the Ghost of Birth Control Past faded into the dark recesses of the bedroom, leaving Julie to connect the dots.
The Ghost of Birth Control Present
Julie’s discontent on this particular evening emanated from her own MS diagnosis after years of birth control use. Even as she slept, her mind mulled over thoughts of what could have been. Could she have prevented this if she never started birth control? Why didn’t she give more credence to her family history and avoid doing things that could increase her own risk? And now, is it too late to reverse course?
An unspoken irony resided in the fact that the very drug she believed may have triggered her MS was now being pushed by her doctor as a treatment. In fact, the doctor’s gaslighting and unwavering faith in hormonal birth control left Julie in a state of bewilderment.
And with that uneasy dilemma, Julie’s sleep was once again interrupted by the ghostly clanking of chains. As she wiped the sleep from her eyes, a much younger apparition came into focus.
The Ghost of Birth Control Present first tried to put Julie’s mind at ease by showing her that her confusion was understandable. The steroids in birth control that mimic estrogen can actually provide relief from the symptoms of MS.
However, the ghost quickly reminded her that relief comes with a price. Remember, the steroids in birth control can trigger the beginning of MS. They also flood the body with potent chemicals that mimic estrogen, which causes the body to essentially shut down production of natural estrogen. That can lead to long-term consequences. In fact, studies have shown that post-menopausal women who used hormonal birth control earlier in life have lower estrogen and androgen levels than women who never used it.
Obviously, if estrogens provide relief from the pains of MS, this decreased production can lead to more problems later in life. But, the Ghost of Birth Control Present knew all too well that it is difficult for humans to think about the consequences that are yet to come, and with that, she gently faded into the ether to make way for the final visitor.
The Ghost of Birth Control Yet to Come
Just then, a chill filled the room. A darkness spread over Julie’s bed that felt as if it were blanketing her very soul. There may be nothing more ominous than coming face to face with the possibilities of a future where our health has been sacrificed.
While the past and present offered the warmth of sentimentality, the Ghost of Birth Control Yet to Come delivered glimpses of harsh realities. Julie could no longer cling to the hope that her youthful vigor would be enough to help her overcome the struggles of MS. The images were stark.
First, the ghost showed her that years of taking hormonal birth control and listening to her doctor’s stark warnings had left her with no children. At first, this didn’t bother her because the present-day Julie didn’t want children. However, she was startled to see that the future Julie very much wanted children.
This is when the Ghost of Birth Control Yet to Come revealed to her that women who never have children more than triple their risk of developing MS. So now, Julie had to face the devastating fact that not only would she eventually wish she had children, but that merely having those children could have helped prevent her from developing MS.
But, the future can be unrelenting. and the Ghost of Birth Control Yet to Come was not finished, revealing to Julie that women suffering from MS who have had at least two pregnancies are less likely than those who have no children to end up with a stage of the disease that requires a cane to get around.
Time to Change
Just like an MS diagnosis, Julie’s dream was daunting, but she awoke with an odd sense of newfound freedom. MS itself was not a death sentence after all. Sure, she could have done some things differently and perhaps she never would have developed MS.
But, whether they were real or imagined, the ghostly visitors made Julie aware that she still had some control. She could seek out more natural alternatives. She wasn’t a slave to a lifetime of birth control to simply mitigate her symptoms. And, she still had time to change her mind about the whole having children thing.
There are many adages that remind us that our health is our most precious gift, and too often we take it for granted. That is very true. Conversely, it can make us feel a bit hopeless when we are diagnosed with a chronic disease. In that situation, we can find ourselves cycling through an endless thought loop devoted to the notion that we will never feel “normal” again.
However, there is hope. The message of the ghosts was not to reprimand or chastise. It was to show that we can all make changes that will improve our future. And, by sharing our stories, we can help others make changes to improve their futures, and hopefully, those changes can be made earlier in their storylines. We can start the conversation with younger members of our family when it comes to diseases like MS that have a genetic component.
And therein lies the hope I see when women share their stories with me. The internet and social media changed the game forever. Now, these women can easily warn the next generation. They can impact today’s women who are being gaslighted because of their reservations about hormonal birth control. They can get the word out about various endocrine disruptors that may have played a role in their disease – and not just with MS. The same can be said for every chronic disease, every autoimmune disease, every cancer.
Open dialogue is the best way forward to help us stop having to lament living in the aftermath.
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