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Hormones, Birth Control, and Insulin Resistance

Published on September 18, 2023

6145 views

Little known fact. Your reproductive hormones influence how your body responds to insulin. The artificial hormones in hormonal birth control also play a huge role in how your body responds to insulin. And, your body’s response to insulin determines how well you are able to use glucose to supply your daily energy needs.

In this article, we will discuss the basics of how your body creates energy. In this first section, we will unpack:

How your body creates energy from glucose
Glucose vs. fatty acids as an energy source
How insulin resistance impacts the shift between glucose burning and fat burning
How glucose enters your cells to become fuel for energy
How insulin resistance interferes with the transfer of glucose into your cells

Then, we will tie in how your natural reproductive hormones, estradiol and progesterone, impact your body’s use of glucose as a fuel source and discuss how hormonal birth control disrupts this natural balance.

How the Body Creates Energy From Glucose

Many of your cell types are designed to run on glucose, a metabolic product of carbohydrates, as their main source of energy, and in fact, certain cells that don’t contain mitochondria (or contain very few mitochondria) like red blood cells and cells of certain parts of your eye (lens, retina, and cornea) rely either exclusively (as is the case for red blood cells) or primarily on glucose as an energy source.

The reason for this is that mitochondria are responsible for aerobic (oxygen required) energy creation processes within your body, and cells with no or very few mitochondria rely mostly on anaerobic (no oxygen required) energy creation by glycolysis in the cytoplasm of the cell. As we will discuss in more detail later, when your body uses fatty acids as a fuel source, this pathway is purely aerobic, so it is not possible for fatty acids to be used in anaerobic energy creation processes within your cells.

When you eat a meal containing sugar (sucrose) or carbohydrates, enzymatic processes begin breaking the sugar and carbs down into their basic structures within your digestive tract. The structure of both sugar and carbs contain glucose.

Glucose fuels the creation of ATP in a process known as glycolysis, which happens within the cell, and through oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS), which happens within the mitochondria (substructures within the cell). When ATP is broken down within your cells, it releases energy, which is harnessed to power your mitochondria and other important cellular functions. The by-products of that ATP creation (pyruvate and ATP) fuel additional energy production cascades within the cell.

How the Body Switches From Glucose to Fatty Acids for Energy

Even when particular cell types prefer carbs (glucose) as their energy source rather than fatty acids, most cell types are capable of using either of these macronutrients (and also, when necessary, amino acids) as a fuel in order to survive periods of fasting (including overnight fasting).

Insulin plays a key role in regulating whether your body uses glucose (glycolysis in the cell’s cytoplasm and OXPHOS in the mitochondria) or fatty acids (lipolysis in the cell’s cytoplasm and fatty acid oxidation in the mitochondria) as its preferred fuel source. This is because insulin impacts the ratio of two key enzymes (malonyl Coenzyme A and acetyl CoenzymeA) that determine which of these energy pathways is preferred (here and here). The ratio of these enzymes is dynamic, changing throughout the day in response to when and what you eat, and in response to this fluctuating ratio, your body preferentially uses carbs (glucose) or fatty acids as its fuel source.

In an insulin resistant state, your body does not easily shift between glycolysis/OXPHOS (glucose as fuel) and lipolysis/fatty acid oxidation (fatty acids as fuel) and instead remains in a state of using fatty acids as fuel. We will talk about why this is the case in the next section.

How Glucose Gets Inside Cells

The glucose released in your digestive tract from the food you eat is absorbed into your bloodstream, and when your blood glucose levels start to rise following a meal (or any drink containing carbs or sugar), it signals your pancreas to release insulin.

Insulin is the messenger that lets your cells (specifically, your skeletal muscle, fat, kidney, and liver cells) know there is glucose available in your bloodstream. Insulin does this by binding to the cellular membrane, and this activates glucose transporters on the cellular membrane.

Once blood glucose levels start to drop, a healthy body clears insulin fairly quickly so that it can maintain adequate blood sugar levels. Insulin must be cleared so that blood sugar doesn’t drop too low.

What Is Insulin Resistance?

A number of factors influence how your cells respond to insulin. External influences (like stress, diet, and lack of sleep) along with internal factors (hormonal fluctuations) play a role in how the cells respond to insulin. And, different types of cells respond differently to insulin. Skeletal muscle cells are the most sensitive to insulin. Fat cells and liver cells are also sensitive to insulin, and so these cell types (skeletal muscle, fat, and liver) are the quickest to take up extra glucose from the bloodstream.

When your body becomes more insulin resistant, the cells are not as able to respond to insulin. My favorite analogy for this is to imagine that you are at a rock concert. You cannot easily hear the person next to you because the volume in the venue is so loud that your ears are overloaded by the background noise. In order to carry on a conversation, you must move to a quieter place. In this scenario, insulin is the background noise or the decibel level. When you are insulin resistant, your pancreas releases extra insulin to try to get your body’s cells to respond. This would be the same as somebody yelling at you in a concert hall so that you are able to hear them speak.

When you restore insulin sensitivity, it is like taking your body out of that loud concert hall and placing it somewhere quiet. Now, you are able to hear and carry on a conversation without any problems. When you restore insulin sensitivity, the cells are capable of responding to a much lower amount of insulin much more quickly and take the action of absorbing glucose from the bloodstream.

Insulin Resistance Begets Insulin Resistance

With insulin resistance, the cells are used to the high insulin environment (partially deaf to insulin), so they stop responding to insulin’s call. This prompts the pancreas to release more insulin in order to get your cells to hear the message to soak up the extra glucose circulating in the bloodstream. When insulin is unable to be heard because of the high background noise (because there is so much circulating insulin the cells are deaf to it), then glucose isn’t taken up by the cells. This then creates the false message from your cells to key organs to start releasing stored glucose (in a process called gluconeogenesis) to supply the body’s energy needs.

When we are talking about diabetes, this feedback loop often, but not in everyone with diabetes, results in a perfect storm of upward spiraling blood sugar levels.

insulin resistance cycle common in diabetes showing increased insulin resistance triggering gluconeogenesis resulting in higher blood sugar levels which increases insulin resistance — Figure 1. Insulin resistance begets more insulin resistance.

Even in conditions besides diabetes where blood sugar levels are dysregulated, you might have one condition (for example, insulin resistance), without the other (increased release of glucose from your body’s reserves).

With all of that in mind, let us take a look at how reproductive hormones impact insulin resistance and gluconeogenesis, the process of releasing glucose from stored reserves.

Estradiol, Synthetic Estrogens, and Insulin Resistance

Reproductive hormones play a key role in insulin resistance. Most scientific studies agree that estradiol (the endogenous estrogen produced primarily in the ovaries throughout the reproductive years) boosts the release of insulin from the pancreas. While at first glance, this looks like estradiol might contribute to insulin resistance because it prompts release of extra insulin, the opposite is actually true.

Estradiol is widely accepted as a potent compound to restore insulin sensitivity. Whether this is because of upregulation of insulin from the pancreas or whether it is also because of the influence estrogen has on the cells when it binds to estrogen receptors or a combination of both of these is not clear. What is clear, is that estradiol encourages cellular uptake of glucose and more rapid reduction of blood glucose levels after a meal. Estradiol also reduces gluconeogenesis in the liver suppressing the release of free glucose into the bloodstream from the body’s reserves, and this supports healthy blood sugar levels (here and here).

Estrogen Concentrations and Insulin Resistance

How estradiol affects insulin resistance is concentration dependent. Estradiol concentrations in the bloodstream within the normal circulating range (not more than 1 nanomolar abbreviated 1 nM) are associated with healthy insulin sensitivity and healthy blood sugar levels while concentrations higher than 1 nM are associated with insulin resistance. This may be why gestational diabetes is a common condition during pregnancy with up to 10% of pregnant women in America developing gestational diabetes. Progesterone also plays a key role in gestational diabetes as we will discuss in more detail below.

Non-bioidentical Estrogen and Insulin resistance

Ethinyl estradiol, the most common synthetic estrogen used in hormonal contraceptives here in America, also impacts insulin resistance, but like endogenous estradiol, the relationship is not straightforward. Ethinyl estradiol has been shown to impact insulin sensitivity and gluconeogenesis differently depending on:

its concentration in the hormonal birth control
what progestin (synthetic progesterone) it is paired with

Just as high concentrations of endogenous estradiol increase the chances of dysregulated blood glucose control, the synthetic estrogen, ethinyl estradiol, also increases chances of dysregulated blood glucose control. Chemical diabetes caused by hormonal birth control is also well documented in the literature. This is one of the reasons why, since the 1960s, the concentration of artificial estrogens in combined oral contraceptives has been dramatically reduced from upwards of 60 micrograms per pill to as low as 10 micrograms. Currently, most birth control options contain from 20 to 35 micrograms of ethinyl estradiol per pill.

Estrogen Binds to Insulin Receptors Affecting Insulin Resistance

Estrogens, whether synthetic or endogenous, affect blood sugar regulation differently at different concentrations because of their ability to bind to insulin receptors. This concentration-dependent effect of both endogenous estradiol and synthetic estrogens is often overlooked in the conversation regarding the impact of hormonal contraceptives on blood sugar control. Inasmuch as estrogens play a role in insulin sensitivity, insulin secretion, and in gluconeogenesis, and because estrogens are combined in hormonal contraceptives with a wide range of synthetic progestins, the effects on blood sugar regulation are quickly compounded and convoluted.

Progesterone, Progestins, and Insulin Resistance

As with estradiol, the concentration of progesterone also impacts whether progesterone improves or diminishes insulin sensitivity. It is generally accepted that higher concentrations of progesterone during pregnancy are a major contributor to gestational diabetes. Similarly, high concentrations of progesterone, even after menopause, are linked to an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

The actions of progesterone on glucose metabolism is very much related to carrying a pregnancy to term, promoting glucose storage (rather than consumption of glucose for fuel) and promoting ketogenesis (fat burning) within the body. Even when not pregnant, progesterone is the dominant hormone during the luteal phase (second half of your cycle), and this effects how your body uses glucose and its sensitivity to insulin. This ties into common experiences during the second half of your cycle including carb cravings, potentially diminished appetite (if you are like me), and also weight gain.

Unlike artificial estrogens, of which there is only one used in the combined hormonal contraceptives available in the United States, for progestins, the synthetic forms of progesterone, there are four generations of progestins, with each generation containing progestins of different molecular structures. The class of molecules used in synthetic progestins are similar in structure to the endogenous progesterone molecule, but they are not the same. In other words, they are non-bioidentical.

Progestins bind differently to the progesterone receptors within the body (and also bind to a variety of other receptors), than the endogenous progesterone and their specific structure contributes to how much and whether insulin resistance increases. The molecular structure also affects how the body conserves glucose (increases glucose storage) or uses glucose (in the process of gluconeogenesis). It is generally believed that the androgenic nature of progestins determine their role in reducing insulin sensitivity (here and here).

Hormones and Body Composition

An interesting note, whether we are talking about natural reproductive hormones, estradiol and progesterone, or artificial hormones, ethinyl estradiol and the various progestins, these are all fat-soluble hormones. That means, these hormones may be stored in, and thus, impact the behavior of fat cells. One study evaluated the response of fat cells (adipocytes) in the presence or absence of treatment with artificial hormones and found that in the presence of artificial hormones, the adipocytes were more insulin resistant. This suggests that fat cells may serve as a reservoir for artificial hormones and endogenous hormones alike. They essentially soak up circulating hormones from the bloodstream, and these absorbed hormones in turn impact how the fat cells behave.

This finding means that body composition affects how you respond to hormones, whether endogenous or synthetic, and vice versa. It also suggests that, among other things, we ought to consider dosing hormonal contraceptives relative to body composition. Women with higher body fat may store more of the hormones than those with lower body fat and this may initiate or exacerbate insulin resistance.

Summary

In summary, reproductive hormones are intricately intertwined with metabolism, both with how the body creates energy and how it stores fats and carbs to meet energy demands between meals. Hormonal birth control impacts this finely choreographed dance between reproductive hormones and insulin sensitivity, and this seemingly small influence has a dramatic ripple effect. Insulin sensitivity dictates things like weight gain, oxidative stress, and even, as we will discuss in the next article, susceptibility to UTIs and UTI like symptoms.

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Ding, Dong! Hormones at Your Door!

by Raquel Latona

Published on June 20, 2023

5323 views

Online birth control pills delivered to your door

The side effects of hormonal birth control are notoriously under-recognized. So much so, that I filmed a documentary about them, entitled, Hormoneously Alone, highlighting the severe lack of research since the 1950s. What I learned was shocking. Because hormonal birth control has been available for over 60 years, everyone, doctors included, presume these drugs are completely safe and have very few, ‘rare’ side effects. I spoke to experts in women’s health who have researched the effects of the pill and other forms of hormonal birth control and, contrary to the general consensus, these drugs do elicit many ill-effects that are detrimental to health. These side effects can develop while on the pill but also upon withdrawal as the body struggles to adapt to the loss of synthetic hormones.

My original post on this website documenting my own experience is what drove me to investigate the side effects of hormonal birth control, and ultimately, make a documentary to inform other women. Over four years, hundreds of women have left comments indicating they had similar experiences with hormonal birth control and even more have reached out to me personally for advice. Research on this website and other case stories concur.

With all of the potentially negative health consequences attributed to hormonal birth control, imagine my surprise when I learned that these drugs can be ordered online, without so much as a physician consultation. Of course, since most physicians do not recognize the side effects, I guess ordering online is no less safe than from a physician who ignores the health or experience of his/her patients.

My goal is that women will research and educate themselves about the risks they are taking when ordering birth control online. I hope my articles and my documentary will encourage them to speak up, and ask questions, but what if that does not happen? At least when these drugs are prescribed by a physician there is a small chance the more serious side effects will be recognized. When ordered online, with no health intake or counseling of any sort, the possibility for potentially dangerous health interactions between the pill and the patient increases. This risk is increased for young girls, who do not have the experience to understand the side effects associated with these drugs.

Ordering Birth Control Pills Online

Anyone can order hormonal birth control online. While doing research for my documentary, I investigated the process. There are no safety mechanisms in place to determine whether the information one inputs is truthful or not, or whether the individual might have a family medical history that can affect the choice of the type of hormone prescribed. I know this because I tested it. I went online and created a fake profile with fake information and submitted a request for a three month trial. It took me about five minutes from start to finish. I tried multiple vendors, some of the more popular ones, and none of them had any issues with prescribing a pill for me. Surprisingly, none of these vendors asked when my last OBGYN appointment was or if there was a family medical history for any cancers that the birth control pill may help promote or any other health issue that might be exacerbated by the pill. A genetic predisposition may increase one’s risk for certain illnesses and cancers. Breast cancer, for example, may be exacerbated by certain synthetic hormones. Autoimmune disease may also be exacerbated by these hormones.

I wanted to see how far I could push the dial, so I also falsely claimed to smoke cigarettes daily, had high blood pressure and migraines with aura. These are all cases where hormonal birth control is clearly contraindicated because of the elevated risk for blood clots. And yet, even with these risk factors, I was able to order a prescription. There was no dialogue with an online doctor or chat system. It was just me, my mouse, and my keyboard.

I am all for women’s rights and easy access to medications, but as a woman who understands the risks of these drugs, who has experienced some of them, this enraged me. Why are women not told of these risks? Online prescriptions seriously lack the ability to oversee a patient’s full chart and medical history, to understand a patient’s concerns, and to have the foresight to avoid a medication that may catalyze a genetic predisposition. This seems totally careless.

Women’s Rights

In today’s highly politicized landscape, it is difficult to talk about birth control safety and side effects, especially with the current onslaught of attacks against women’s health care options. Recently, over the counter hormonal birth control has been approved by the FDA. This eliminates any and all preliminary precautions and the online ordering has become even easier. Regardless of where we are buying these pills, I think we have to acknowledge that talking about safety and accessibility is not an attack on women’s rights, rather a concern for their well-being. I believe the ability to order medication online is generally a good thing. The accessibility of these online birth control pills not only allows a user to obtain them quickly, but also, discreetly, and inexpensively. It is, for the most part, hassle-free. This works well for the quick-click generation and society that we have evolved into. Women should always be in charge of their bodies, and this new technology affords them that opportunity, which is a really powerful and important idea in and of itself. I do, however, struggle with the idea that we might be missing possible interactions that could result in serious side effects and health issues. These websites do not have a warning anywhere, just, in my opinion, a vague questionnaire. As you will see below, there is little to no health intake when ordering and no counseling regarding side effects.

The Age of Consent

In my research for the documentary, I wondered about the accessibility of online ordering to young girls. As I flipped through the magazines that I once read religiously as a teenager, now, from an adult’s perspective, I see just how targeted the ads can be. In the most common teenage magazines, there are ads almost every 5 pages that push ordering hormonal contraceptives online. These ads are impossible to miss and can be very persuasive to young girls.

Imagine a parent and not knowing what medications your child was on. Imagine a child not understanding the seriousness of the birth control pill and taking too many because they missed a few? Imagine a child taking the pill not knowing why they are feeling poorly, suddenly getting migraines, a possible sign of neurological issues including stroke, or having labored breathing, a sign of pulmonary emboli. These side effects are more common than you would think. Is it smart to have such accessible medications with potentially severe side effects available online without so much as a health warning? Will teenagers read the fine print? Yet, the FDA allows online ordering. It would be easier for a child to click and order rather than having the uncomfortable conversation with their parents or their doctor. A fake profile and credit card is all that is needed.

Since most patients do not ask questions when being prescribed the birth control pill by a physician and, from my experience, most doctors do not offer this information up, what would prompt the conversation online? Is a child who is taking the pill going to read the pamphlet, and if so, will they understand it?

Candy From Strangers

When the package of hormonal birth control came to my door about a week after placing the order, it had some candies and chocolates with it. This felt ironic. “Don’t take candy from strangers,” feels oddly similar to “Don’t take pills from the internet,” or the idea of candy not being healthy for you accompanying the controversial birth control pill. It all felt wrong. Because of the emphasis that providers put on the safety of birth control pills, it seems to negate the impact these pills have on the female body. The pill may be generally safe to take every day, but what are the effects that we are missing under the surface? Are they actually safe even if we do not see the effects immediately? Is the pill for everybody?

It is extremely important that women be in charge of their bodies, but having autonomy means having an understanding of the full picture. Women should absolutely be able to order pills online, but they should also be given adequate information to make that decision and protect themselves against possible harm. Omitting critical health information in favor of accessibility does nothing to serve women’s health interests. Women need to understand the side effects associated with these drugs in order to make an informed decision.

I believe we, as a society, are sacrificing leniency on a topic we truly do not know much about for quick and cheap pill availability. I think we need to revisit the accessibility of these pills and take a step back to understand the potential harm we are causing.

Hormoneously Alone

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Why I Made a Documentary About the Birth Control Pill

by Raquel Latona

Published on December 27, 2022

4662 views

hormoneously alone - birth control documentary

I began using the birth control pill in my early 20’s. After 3 years of using the pill, I decided it was time to stop. I didn’t expect the process of coming off birth control to be so harsh. I was wrong. The withdrawal symptoms were unlike anything I had ever felt before. I developed extremely high blood pressure, had tingling and weakness throughout my body, brain fog, and a frightening sense of depersonalization. Not a single doctor could give me any information about what was causing these symptoms, when they would end, or even if they would end. In fact, most of the physicians I saw denied that pill withdrawal was a thing. They said that my symptoms were anxiety and suggested an antidepressant. I knew that couldn’t be the cause of these unique, first-time symptoms. I felt like there was no hope in sight. Through research, I found that I was not alone. There were many women who experienced similar symptoms while withdrawing from hormonal contraceptives, In fact there were thousands of women just like me.

I wrote an article about my full experience coming off the birth control pill and published it on this website, here. Since then, the article has received hundreds of comments from women who developed similar withdrawal symptoms. I decided to make a documentary about hormonal birth control in an effort to help spread awareness, and, to comfort other women who were struggling. Filming a documentary with no crew, no production money, and no experience, will fully test one’s sanity, but I was determined to uncover and document the health effects of hormonal contraceptives. After 4 years of work, I released the documentary entitled, “Hormoneously Alone,” on YouTube. It can be found here. I learned a lot from filming this documentary, and over the next few months, I will be writing a series of articles about the topics discussed in the film as well as other information that I was not able to include.

Ninety-eight percent of the female population will use a hormonal contraceptive in their lifetime. This is likely because it is 99% effective at preventing pregnancy when taken regularly. Using the pill alleviates worry and it is easy to use. In the US alone, this means that about 13 million women use hormonal birth control, with 6 million between the ages of 15-24 and 7 million between the ages of 25-34. I also learned that about 60% of women who have taken the pill have done so for other issues unrelated to pregnancy. Acne, bloating, and cramps are some of the main catalysts for using the pill.

What you may not know, and what I did not know before I began taking the pill, is up to 60% women who use hormonal contraceptives, whether for the prevention of pregnancy or for other reasons, stop taking the pill within 6 months because of side effects. Unfortunately, there is little research on pill withdrawal and why it effects some women and not all. Through my own research, I’ve personally estimated that about 15% of women will experience withdrawal symptoms. This is troubling because these withdrawal symptoms seem to only be recognized by the women who use these products. There are few experts in women’s health who understand pill withdrawal. Most doctors and gynecologists seem unaware of these effects. This leaves most of us struggling to recover on our own.

If a significant amount of women use hormonal contraception at some point in their lives, and the side effects both on and off the pill are not well studied, do we really know enough about the well-being of the girls and women who use them? With teenagers especially, are we doing more harm to the developing brain and body when we prescribe artificial hormones for things like acne and painful or irregular periods? Given the large number of girls and women who use the pill, do we as a society, not just as women, understand what we are committing to when we take the pill? From what I experienced and what I learned while producing the documentary, even though the pill has been on the market for over 60 years, we still do not fully understand the implications of using artificial hormones. Over the next few articles, I will be tackling some of these big issues that many women wonder about while on the pill, and off the pill. Hopefully, what I have learned will help others make more informed decisions and feel empowered to know what’s right for their body, and their body only.

Hormoneously Alone – A Birth Control Documentary

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I Wish I Knew Then What I Know Now About the Pill

by GR

Published on December 14, 2022

7486 views

Growing up and going through womanhood, birth, periods, our cycles, and hormones seem to be shoved under the rug as some deep, dark, and gross secret of society. Looking back, I wish things were different. I feel as though women would feel more empowered by these things, rather than looked down on.

At 19 years old, I was about seven years in on heavy periods, bad cramps, and PMS like no other. Out of a hasty decision, I figured, why not start birth control? This day in age, there are a lot of websites that make it extremely easy to get on any birth control. I found out about the app Nurx and got the ball rolling. The process of getting on the pill consisted of an online health test, some other questions, and what type of birth control you want to be on. I figured to be on the one my friends were on, thinking it was the best option.

Severe Mood Swings, Painful Breasts, and Intense Hunger

I selected Junel Fe as my pill if choice. The first few months were horrid. I napped a lot, my breasts grew TWO cup sizes and were painful all month, I was hungry 24/7, and was severely anxious and depressed. Only plus side was no cramps or heavy bleeding.

I was already prone to anxiety before the pill, but this was another level. I had horrible intrusive thoughts and was scared for my personal well-being. I contacted Nurx (they had doctors available for chat), and they switched me to Lutera. I felt much better after this but wouldn’t notice what the pill was doing to me until two years later.

Looking back, the pill put me in a state of being super low or super high. I was extremely sporadic in my moods, emotional, and shut myself out from the world. It put a huge strain on my relationships with friends, family, my boyfriend, and myself.

Skipping a Period and New Onset Headache

I took my pill each day at the same time, followed the rules, everything. Forward to summer of 2022, I was getting ready for vacation, and noticed I’d be on my period the week of. I never skipped my period before, but decided it was best for this vacation. Following advice from a friend, I skipped my period (giving me a five-week cycle) then continued as normal (which would give me a three-week cycle next).

Everything was fine until the week after I skipped (my new period week). I developed a headache that lasted a week. The week of a headache, turned into a month. Though my cycle was “back on track”, the headache worsened. It was a sharp pain in my left ear, or a constant dizziness/pressure feeling that prevented me from doing anything. I tried talking to my chiropractor, took multiple visits to the ENT and PCP, I was prescribed antibiotics, told it was stress, and there was nothing to be done.

A loved one made a point, “what if it’s from skipping your period two months ago?”. I brushed it off, but it always stuck in the back of my head. I was now three months into a headache that I had every day. My dizziness got so bad to the point I went to the ER. I was taken in for a CT scan and was given a “migraine cocktail”. As someone with a lot of anxiety, especially regarding her health, I thought the worst case possible, whether it be cancer or a debilitating disease. My CT was clear, thank God. However, I had no answers. I cried every night and felt so defeated. We ruled out nerve problems, TMJ, and major trauma. I then thought of the pill.

After a conversation with my therapist and boyfriend, I decided I wanted to see if this tiny pill truly caused all this damage. I had a neurology appointment coming up and tried to detox my body from the synthetic hormones.

The first few days off the pill (unsure if it was a placebo effect or something) but I felt great. The mental clarity was amazing. My head still hurt, I was still scared, but I felt more “human” again.

I was finally able to see a neurologist. I told her my story, and she agreed the pain could be triggered by the hormonal changes. My blood work came back clear, my MRI and MRA were clear, and my EEG was clear. This made me feel a lot better, but I was still terrified. Luckily, we found a method that worked to help my pain.

Though we managed the migraines, about three months post-pill, the anxiety emerged. I am going to be honest, in my nine years with anxiety, this is the worst it has ever been in my life. Along with physical symptoms like swollen lymph nodes, weakness in my limbs, heart palpitations, hair loss, acne, and being tired 24/7, I truly have never felt worse.

Though I read a lot of this can happen post-pill, I was so terrified for my life. Constantly feeling like something is wrong physically and mentally spiraled me into depression. Part of me still gets scared it is something more serious, and that there is no way the pill, and coming off it, could do this to me. But there is NOTHING else that I have changed besides this.

The feeling of doom and helplessness has been hard, and I know it is a huge process in getting my body and mind back to my pre-birth control self. I am working with a holistic practitioner, therapist, and gynecologist to bring me back to where I once was.

The Pill is a Band-aid

I wish I knew then, what I know now. I wish I knew that the pill depletes you of so many minerals, that it is now considered a carcinogen, and that it’s a band-aid, not a solution. I wish I knew my periods were so bad back then because of my diet and lifestyle, not because “it happens”. I wish I knew what I was getting into.

As for my cycle now, it is regular. I use Natural Cycles tracking. I did not ovulate my first cycle off the pill, but since then I have had normal ovulation and periods. My periods are much more manageable than they used to be, and I feel proud to be a woman and embrace the natural occurrences of my body. I constantly say, “I don’t know, I just feel like a woman again”. I never realized the true numbness the pill caused me to feel.

It is still an uphill battle, and I think it will take a bit for me to feel like myself again. Books regarding the menstrual cycle and hormones have been useful. In the Flo by Alisa Vitti and The Hormone Balance Bible by Dr. Shawn Tassone are my favorites. I have been given supplements and mineral recommendations by my holistic practitioner to take to replenish my body. My diet is centered around hormonal support and I have indulged myself in many new herbal teas and remedies to help me feel better. I have made a lot of lifestyle changes and am creating better habits for myself.

Though it has not been officially “diagnosed”, I do think I fall into the category of post-birth control syndrome. The physical symptoms, anxiety, and depression have been difficult, but I know there is light at the end of the tunnel. Some days are better than others, but no matter what, I am blessed to have seen the brighter side of things and know I will be ok. Just know, you are not alone, it is not just in your head, and I promise, it will get better.

Share Your Experience

If you would like to share your experience with hormonal birth control or any other medication, send us a note.

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More people than ever are reading Hormones Matter, a testament to the need for independent voices in health and medicine. We are not funded and accept limited advertising. Unlike many health sites, we don’t force you to purchase a subscription. We believe health information should be open to all. If you read Hormones Matter, like it, please help support it. Contribute now.

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Doctors Say the Darndest Things About Birth Control

by Mike Gaskins

Published on October 10, 2022

7952 views

A while back, a friend of mine shared a story on Facebook about a doctor’s nonchalant response to side effects experienced by a patient on birth control. I commented that this was one of my least favorite among the common phrases doctors use to gaslight women.

That friend was Sara Harris, who is doing amazing work getting the word out about Fertility Awareness Methods and helping women with hormone issues in Australia with her podcast, Follow Your Flow. Sara knew I was wrapping up work on a new, expanded audio version of my book and recommended I visit her podcast again to promote the audiobook and present my ‘Top 10 Least Favorite Things Doctors Say About Birth Control.’ You can listen to the resulting podcast here.

Lack of Respect

Obviously, I took her up on the offer, burning a lot of energy to get my Top 10 in the proper order – only to change that order and change it again the more I contemplated each phrase. Ultimately, I felt like I could have just as easily said they were in no particular order because each dismissive phrase poses its own set of disturbing problems.

For the purpose of this article, I want to focus on three of these statements, which are particularly egregious in their lack of respect for the potent drugs delivered by hormonal birth control and the detrimental impact they have on women’s health.

And so, here are those three statements… this time, in no particular order.

Localized Hormones

“This birth control option is safer because the hormones are localized.”

Doctors tend to offer this falsehood when speaking about either NuvaRing or the hormonal IUD. It is frequently used to sell a young woman on using the device, but it’s also used later to dismiss questions she may have about side effects she develops after insertion.

I have trouble believing that a medical doctor actually believes that these hormones camp out in the uterus and just manage fertility. Hormones are systemic. By their very nature, they travel throughout the body attaching to hormone receptors that reside on every cell in our bodies.

Now, here’s the kicker – not only are these drugs not localized, but they have the potential to be even more dangerous than hormones that are taken by mouth. Oral contraceptives (as with any drug taken orally) are processed through the digestive system in what is known as first-pass metabolism. This process reduces the concentration of active drug prior to being introduced into the blood stream.

Consequently, drugs distributed via the uterus bypass this first-pass metabolism thereby reaching the bloodstream more quickly and in a more potent state.

It shouldn’t be surprising then that a recent Danish study found that women on NuvaRing were six times more likely to develop a deep vein thrombosis than women not taking birth control, and twice as likely as women taking a combination pill.

Psychotropic Candy

“Don’t worry. I’ll just prescribe an antidepressant to go with your birth control.”

Many doctors seem to think antidepressants can be used to accommodate just about any symptom manifested as a result of birth control. In my book, In the Name of The Pill, I shared the story of a young woman with lupus.

After quitting hormonal birth control, her lupus symptoms became surprisingly manageable. This continued for a few years, until she decided to try a different formulation of birth control. Shortly after starting The Pill again, her lupus symptoms came roaring back. But, when she told her doctor about it, he didn’t think the birth control had anything to do with her flare-ups.

He advised her to keep taking it and prescribed her an antidepressant to ‘help her rest better.’

I believe doctors who pull stunts like this have lost any sense of respect for the potency of the drugs they are doling out. This goes for any drug – not just birth control. As one of the doctors Barbara Seaman quoted in her landmark book, A Doctors’ Case Against the Pill, warned, “It needs to be emphasized that if you give a patient one drug and counteract it with another, there is a rising curve of adverse reactions.”

In my opinion, this warning should be doubled where birth control is concerned because the powerful drug is essentially being used to treat pregnancy rather than some life-threatening disease. As Mayo-trained, Dr. Philip Ball put it at the Nelson Pill Hearings, “I believe that we physicians are so used to administering very potent medications to very serious disease problems, we have not really yet learned, it is a totally different circumstance to administer powerful but nonessential drugs chronically to healthy young women.”

You can read more about specific concerns related to the mixture of psychotropic drugs and hormonal birth control here.

Suddenly Supplements

The third comment deals exclusively with the Depo injection and needs a little setup. The FDA requires a black box warning on this drug’s information pamphlet. A warning in big, bold letters accentuated by a thick, black frame states:

“WARNING: LOSS OF BONE MINERAL DENSITY”

The warning goes on to explain that your bone loss will be greater the longer you take the product and these changes may be irreversible. It reinforces these concerns by stating that Depo should not be used as a long-term birth control solution, even capping its recommended use at no more than two years.

That seems pretty clear and absolute, but many women who have asked their doctors about this warning have been told:

“Just take a calcium supplement, and you’ll be fine.”

Mind you, the FDA warning says nothing about taking a supplement to offset the affects. In fact, it doesn’t suggest there are any measures you could take to avoid the potential consequences.

The FDA is a slow-moving, bureaucratic government agency. It takes a lot of evidence to overcome the inertia associated with issuing such a dramatic black box warning. For a doctor to ignore or deny such a warning and suggest the solution is as easy as taking a calcium supplement is borderline criminal.

Health as a Business

If your doctor ever uses any of these three lines, you should seriously question his/her motivation. Do they care about your health or do they see your healthcare as a business?

One of the things I frequently tell women is to trust your questions more than the answers. If you mention a side effect that concerns you, and your doctor seems more interested in convincing you The Pill had nothing to do with it, don’t assume you’re crazy or you’re the only one experiencing this. Your body is sending you this warning sign for a reason. Keep questioning.

I once had an Ob/Gyn tell me that it’s difficult to get anyone from her specialty to say anything bad about hormonal contraceptives because it represents about a third of their business.

However, if you are a medical professional who recognizes that birth control is much more dangerous than women are being led to believe, be proactive in sharing that information, even if you aren’t an Ob/Gyn.

Women need to hear it. Many feel isolated. They’re afraid to discuss their side effects because they think they’re the only ones having a bad experience. Or worse, they wonder if they may be going crazy.

An eye surgeon recently reached out to me and shared what’s been happening at her practice after she read my book. She said she always takes a complete medical history, part of which includes the patient’s use of hormonal contraceptives. Lately, even though she doesn’t deal directly with menstrual issues, when a woman reports certain ‘mysterious, undiagnosable symptoms,’ this doctor has started recommending they stop taking their birth control. She said a few patients have already contacted the office to thank her because their symptoms have improved dramatically.

I hope more physicians will hop on board and fearlessly tell women about the myriad side effects of birth control. We still have a ways to go, but maybe someday I will be able to compile a list of my Top 10 Favorite Things Doctors Say About Birth Control.

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We Need Your Help

More people than ever are reading Hormones Matter, a testament to the need for independent voices in health and medicine. We are not funded and accept limited advertising. Unlike many health sites, we don’t force you to purchase a subscription. We believe health information should be open to all. If you read Hormones Matter, like it, please help support it. Contribute now.

Yes, I would like to support Hormones Matter.

This article was published originally on December 13, 2021.

Profits Over People: Medication Risk and Drug Company Misconduct

by Morgan Statt

Published on July 20, 2022

8148 views

If you haven’t read Chandler Marrs’ article on the safety of medications, take a moment to do so and understand that no medication is, as Marrs puts it, “perfectly safe.” I’m here to reaffirm this harsh pill to swallow (pun intended) through the telling of my own experience and the showcasing of research that reveals just how much sway Big Pharma has over the safety of medications.

I was 20 years old when I decided to take my doctor’s advice and go on hormonal birth control to help regulate my periods. I remember my mother, a registered nurse who worked in a local hospital, voicing her concerns about the oral contraceptive. At the time, she was seeing quite a few girls my age come in with clotting complications related to the pill.

Thinking I knew what was best for me, I ignored her advice to stay off of the medication. I was comforted in knowing that almost every single one of my close friends was taking some form of birth control, and they were fine. I’d be fine too.

I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Two months later, I was in the emergency room with a bilateral pulmonary embolism or multiple blood clots in my lungs. What I originally thought was a relatively safe medication turned out to be a life-threatening decision. Suddenly gone forever was my notion that any medications I was prescribed would be taken without risk.

After six months on blood thinners to dissolve the clots, I went back to living my life normally, both clot and birth control-free.

Fast forward four years, and I’m reading news stories discussing the thousands of lawsuits that have been filed against the makers of Xarelto, the same blood thinner I was prescribed to help me recover from my embolism. Although I suffered no complications from the medication, I was clearly one of the lucky ones this time. The anticoagulant, which is still on the market today, has no known antidote to reverse its blood-thinning effects, and it has caused so many severe internal bleeding incidents and deaths that legal action has been taken.

Prior to doing any research, my emergency room experience would have made me cast aside the lawsuits as frivolous. There’s a risk with any medication; I can’t deny that I knew the risks before I opted to take birth control. But, didn’t they also know the risks before agreeing to take the blood thinner just like I did?

Drug Company Misconduct

After digging deeper, I realized there was a bigger issue at hand. Drug companies wield an incredible amount of influence within the healthcare sphere that can lead to the approval of medications that should never find their way into patients’ hands in the first place. A major showcase of this influence is seen in Big Pharma’s ability to fund clinical trials.

These clinical trials must be conducted before a drug is approved for market, and funding has typically come from government sources like the National Institutes of Health. But in recent years, more and more industry-funded clinical trials are taking place, meaning that drug companies can sponsor their own medications studies. Critics of this funding allowance point to the fact that the potential for financial gain can lead to a conflict of interests. Companies that have a vested interest in a drug’s approval because it brings a boost in profits could favor positive outcomes while ignoring any negative results.

In the case of Xarelto’s industry-funded clinical trial, it was discovered that Johnson & Johnson withheld information from the FDA that would have highlighted the blood thinner’s inferiority to its comparison warfarin. During the study, 14,000 patients were given an overdose of the traditional anticoagulant due to the use of a faulty blood-testing device, decidedly skewing the results. The design of the company-sponsored trial also limited the distribution of Xarelto to once-a-day dosing that weakened the medication’s effects on participants. With less severe side effects being observed because of the smaller dose, Xarelto’s clinical trial looked favorable for the new experimental drug.

We see a similar story of clinical trial misconduct being told with another blood-thinning medication, Pradaxa. Pradaxa was put through an industry-funded study whose poor trial design led to FDA approval. Critics point out that there was probable cause for bias since it failed to be a double-blind study. Its trial participants were also made up of a demographic of people who were less likely to be prescribed the medication once it hit the market.

The FDA went on to approve the anticoagulant despite the lack of an antidote, but its decision was based on the fact that Pradaxa “wasn’t inferior” to traditional warfarin. This labeling could bring the drug to market, but it wouldn’t be able to give manufacturer Boehringer Ingelheim a leg up in its promotion of the medication. Therefore, the drug company requested that Pradaxa be labeled as “superior” to warfarin in its ability to reduce strokes so that it could make this claim in its marketing materials. The FDA granted the company’s request, decidedly ignoring its original concerns with the blood thinner.

Pradaxa hit the market without an antidote just like Xarelto, and I bet you can guess what happened next. Thousands of patients taking the medication suffered severe internal bleeding complications and even succumbed to the side effects. Like Johnson & Johnson, Boehringer Ingelheim faced a shocking number of Pradaxa lawsuits and created a $650 million settlement fund in 2014 to satisfy the claims.

Profits Over People

We cannot deny that every medication presented to us comes with some sort of risk to our overall health and well-being. I suffered the risks of birth control but miraculously avoided the complications associated with Xarelto. Costs and benefits are just a fact of the pharmaceutical industry.

But, the issue lies in the influence of Big Pharma. If drug companies, who are so clearly focused on boosting their profit margins, can impact clinical trials in such a way that it costs patients more than it benefits them, where do we draw the line?

It will take massive changes in the drug approval process and overall state of healthcare before we can start to see patient lives being placed above profits. But, what we can do is stay informed and educated on the prescriptions we’re taking. There is a lot going on behind the scenes before a medication makes its way into that little orange pill bottle, and it’s up to us as consumers to do our research, look into the possible complications, and voice any and all concerns with our doctors.

We Need Your Help

More people than ever are reading Hormones Matter, a testament to the need for independent voices in health and medicine. We are not funded and accept limited advertising. Unlike many health sites, we don’t force you to purchase a subscription. We believe health information should be open to all. If you read Hormones Matter, and like it, please help support it. Contribute now.

Yes, I would like to support Hormones Matter.

Image by Thomas Breher from Pixabay.

This article was first published in January 2018.

Banging My Head Against the Wall: Questioning Birth Control Safety

by Mike Gaskins

Published on April 25, 2022

7072 views

My position as a women’s health advocate is frequently challenged merely because I am a man. I’m okay with that because it’s a valid point. I will never experience firsthand many of the issues that concern me. However, I don’t believe that means I should be forced to remain silent on matters related to women’s health. My passion for the cause is nurtured by a dear love for my wife and daughters, as well as for my sisters and nieces, not to mention fond memories of a loving mother who lost her life to estrogen-sensitive breast cancer. It is with them in mind that I would like to issue a challenge of my own:

If you truly care about the health of women, take a moment to consider where you stand on birth control and think critically about why you stand there.

Visions of Utopia

I celebrated the recent news that a jury awarded Dewayne Johnson $289 million in his lawsuit against Monsanto. The former school groundskeeper sued the makers of Roundup for not being forthcoming with customers about the dangers of their product. He believed the glyphosate in Roundup caused his non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and the jury agreed.

I was ecstatic to see the subsequent momentum—the number of lawsuits against Monsanto jumped to about 8,000, and Vietnam actually demanded Monsanto pay victims of Agent Orange, another Monsanto product and a chemical cousin of glyphosate.

People were finally paying attention to the horrible consequences of using this toxic chemical. For a moment, I thought this might translate to hormonal contraceptives. (I’m not sure how I made that leap, but Utopian visions aren’t generally known for being bound by rational thought.) At any rate, I was sure people would start turning on birth control just as they were with Roundup.

Suing for Side Effects

Then, reality set in. Those 8,000 lawsuits will probably settle and soon be forgotten. Before we know it, people will freely be spraying Roundup again, and Monsanto will be off the hook because they will do so knowing the risks.

The connection between Roundup and hormonal contraceptives is actually much stronger than it may first seem. Monsanto’s parent company, Bayer, also manufactures other toxic chemicals, which represent the most popular birth control brands in the world – and these brands have legal issues of their own. Yaz/Yasmin paid out $2.04 billion to settle over 10,000 blood-clot lawsuits as of January 2016. They paid another $57 million to heart attack and stroke victims, and $21.5 million for gallbladder damage. Those numbers have likely increased, as several thousand cases remain unsettled and more suits are being filed each day.

It Begins with One

The Roundup avalanche began with one person. At least for a day or two, everyone knew who Dewayne Johnson was. His case focused a lot of attention on the risks of Roundup and the manufacturer’s willingness to overlook those dangers for the sake of profits.

There are innumerable heartbreaking stories of young women who have been maimed or killed by their birth control. Any one of these could have been ‘the One’ that launched an avalanche against hormonal birth control. These stories fill the internet. Let’s pick one.

In 2011, the Canadian Broadcast Company (CBC) ran a story about a mother who was suing Bayer Healthcare for the death of her daughter. A healthy 18-year old, Miranda Scott went to the gym after 5-weeks on Yasmin. She collapsed while on the elliptical machine unable to breathe. An autopsy revealed she died from pulmonary emboli, blood clots in the lungs. It was only after her death that her mother began researching Yasmin, and discovered it was the likely cause of her blood clots and very early death.

At this point, Bayer had already paid out over $1 billion in blood clot related settlements. But, here’s how they responded to the lawsuit in a statement to the CBC:

“We are very disappointed in Justice Crane’s decision to certify a class in Ontario in an ongoing lawsuit regarding Yaz and Yasmin. No decision has been made on the merits of the case. We have filed a request with the Court for leave to appeal the decision and are evaluating our legal options… At Bayer patient safety comes first and we fully stand behind, Yaz and Yasmin.”

Seven years have passed since Miranda Scott’s death, and Bayer has paid out another billion-plus dollars in settlements. I understand why Bayer still stands behind their product – it’s a moneymaker, which honestly probably ranks a little higher than patient safety in their eyes. What I can’t understand is why women’s health advocates still stand behind hormonal birth control.

The Birth Control Ideology

The narrative has been defined in such a way that ‘birth control’ equals ‘The Pill’ equals ‘Women’s Rights.’ This is incredibly fortunate for the pharmaceutical companies because any ‘attack’ on their product can be spun as an attack on Women’s Rights.

So, here’s where I challenge you to rethink your stance on birth control as it relates to hormonal contraceptives in three quick steps:

1) Research the Risks of Birth Control

Go to your favorite search engine and type, “Oral Contraceptives + [pick a disease/side effect/complication]” and scroll through the results. You don’t even have to invest a lot of time; just read the headlines and synopses to get a feel for what’s out there. Do this with 3 or 4 different complications that seem really diverse.

One of the enduring statements from the Nelson Pill Hearings was that these potent little pills leave no tissue unaffected. For me, this exercise drove home that point. It’s pretty incredible to contemplate the breadth of the myriad complications. Just consider some of the ones I’ve written about on this website – depression, hair loss, lupus, multiple sclerosis, migraines, infertility, and irritable bowel disease.

2) Why Just The Pill?

These days, hormonal contraceptives can be delivered via rings, patches, injectables, or IUDs. The vehicle doesn’t really matter. They’ve all been shown to have their own inherent risks. So, why are they usually considered the only choice when it comes to family planning?

When The Pill first came out, Dr. David Clark, a world-renowned neurologist mused that it had been granted a sort of “diplomatic immunity” because of irrational fears of overpopulation. Today, that diplomatic immunity has been galvanized by its equally irrational alignment with Women’s Rights.

Why irrational? Consider this. Holly Grigg-Spall wrote Sweetening The Pill, a wonderful book on the dangers of The Pill, its addictive qualities, and the corporate motivations behind its promotion. Hollywood producers approached her about developing a documentary on the same topic. She wrote about the disheartening experience for Hormones Matter. After investing a lot of herself into the project, she received an email from one of the other women working on the project expressing her thought that

“…there was always a small concern in the back of my mind about unintentionally aiding the right-wing agenda.”

I felt Holly’s pain as I read the article. I know what it’s like to pour yourself into a project, only to have it grind to a halt. But on a deeper level, I felt her frustration with the ‘system’ (for lack of a better word.) Whenever I hear something like this, I think of a quote often attributed to Golda Mier, “We will only have peace with the Arabs when they love their children more than they hate us.”

To paraphrase, we will only be able to prioritize women’s health (and rights) when we care more about exposing the risks of birth control than we worry about giving ammunition to our political rivals.

3) Are There Birth Control Options?

In her enlightening book, Reproductive Rights and Wrongs, Betsy Hartmann breaks down the fallacy of overpopulation in the Third World and demonstrates how population control policies influenced the current look of birth control here in the US. She writes:

“Married to population control, family planning has been divorced from the concern for women’s health and well-being that inspired the first feminist crusaders for birth control…A family planning program designed to improve health and to expand women’s control over reproduction looks very different indeed from one whose main concern is to reduce birth rates as fast as possible.”

She suggests that if a contraceptive policy was truly concerned with women’s health, it would do more to promote barrier methods that also protect against sexually transmitted diseases, or natural methods that allow for child spacing without introducing internal pollutants to the woman’s body.

In fact, natural forms of fertility awareness have enjoyed growing popularity among young women in recent years. This shouldn’t be confused with the highly ineffective rhythm method. Nor is it exclusive to religious-based ‘natural family planning.’ While the Creighton Model and Billings Method have begun to appeal to women outside the Roman Catholic faith, there are also successful secular versions of fertility awareness available from sources like the Red Tent Sisters.

Planned Parenthood claims that fertility awareness methods are only about 80% effective. However, a report published in the Osteopathic Journal of Medicine in 2013 found the overall effectiveness of fertility awareness methods when used correctly to be greater than 95% (Creighton 99.5%; Billings 97%). Another study of poor urban women in Delhi found the Billings Method to be 99.86% effective. These numbers are comparable to The Pill, but without all the risks.

Take Aways

For a deeper dig into this topic, I highly recommend the two eye-opening books previously referenced: Reproductive Rights and Wrongs and Sweetening The Pill.

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We Need Your Help

More people than ever are reading Hormones Matter, a testament to the need for independent voices in health and medicine. We are not funded and accept limited advertising. Unlike many health sites, we don’t force you to purchase a subscription. We believe health information should be open to all. If you read Hormones Matter, like it, please help support it. Contribute now.

Yes, I would like to support Hormones Matter.

Image credit: PxHere; CCO public domain

This article was published originally on September 27, 2018.

We Cannot Ignore Birth Control Side Effects

by Mike Gaskins

Published on March 24, 2022

7462 views

It is interesting and devastating to look at the story arc of hormonal birth control’s acceptance in the medical community. At the time of the Nelson Pill Hearings in 1970, many top physicians were upset because they felt The Pill had been forced upon them by the drug industry. They were alarmed by significant side effects they were seeing in their young patients.

Today, the numbers have dwindled. Very few doctors recognize a problem with hormonal birth control, or at least, very few speak out about it. However, the evidence is clear that the problems persist. In fact, many of the concerns raised at the Nelson Pill Hearings have proven prophetic. So, where is the outrage from the medical community?

In his revolutionary classic, Common Sense, Thomas Paine wrote,

“A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right… Time makes more converts than reason.”

Time has certainly made converts. It’s ironic that a booklet titled, Common Sense would so aptly describe the medical industry’s current attitude toward birth control.

Is Birth Control Safe?

Each package of hormonal birth control already comes with a large patient information pamphlet filled with infinitesimally small print that is intended to warn patients of all the dangers. But even this tiny tome is insufficient.

I recently wrote about a citizen’s petition that has been submitted to the FDA requesting that new black box warnings be included on the labeling of these potent drugs. That petition is currently posted on a government website, and your comments are requested.

There are literally hundreds of thousands of stories to be told about the negative consequences of taking hormonal birth control. If one of those stories is yours, please share it! Here’s the link to the petition:

FDA Birth Control Safety Petition

So far, comments have come in from women who have experienced consequences (some minor and some deeply disturbing), from mothers and fathers who have lost their daughters, and from medical professionals who have seen the startling side effects in their work.

Your Voice

The Regulations.gov website boasts the tagline: Your voice in Federal Decision-Making. Please take advantage, and make your voice heard if you’ve experienced any kind of negative side effect related to these drugs. You can do it anonymously, if you choose.

Be warned – this is a government site and is unpredictable. Sometimes it loads like any other website, but other times it can feel like it will never load. Please be patient, and share your story.

Here are some excerpts (in no particular order) from people who have already commented. I chose these examples to demonstrate the diversity of people contributing, symptoms caused, and birth control products implicated:

I began using the Nuva-ring after my first child. It took me months to recognize that the almost daily migraine headaches I began experiencing were from the ring. I took out my last ring, and they never came back. – Amy
I have bipolar disorder. At the time I started using birth control, it was undiagnosed. My bipolar episodes increased dramatically after beginning birth control, with depressive episodes during the 3 weeks I took the pill and manic episodes during the off week. When I started Mirena, my bipolar disorder shifted to rapid cycle bipolar. Additionally, I have had issues with excessive bleeding (heavy and long)…In all instances, the doctors told me to just keep talking it and it would get better, which it never did. – Anonymous
I took the pill for 8 years. It got me very sick. I got Interstitial Cystitis and low libido. My mood was not predictable. I suffered a lot in those years. I don’t want that for any other woman. – Julieth
While on birth control, I suffered from vaginal dryness and an inability to orgasm. Both went away very quickly after I stopped taking birth control. – Anonymous
I am an emergency department nurse. I am continually surprised at how many women I see who have a wide variety of physical problems related to various types of artificial birth control. I have witnessed hormonal birth control causing depression, mood swings, deadly blood clots, and at time hemorrhaging…- Christopher
I used a few types of birth control pills over a period of several years and suffered from depression during the duration. I was never informed of the link between hormonal contraceptives and depression, so I didn’t make the connection until later, when I discontinued their use. – Brook
My experience with hormonal – estrogen based birth control was partial loss of vision (started while i was driving!) and severe migraines that kept me in bed for a long period of time… – Jessica
Why was I offered this drug as a young woman (early 20s) with little information on possible long-term effects or without any further diagnoses of my acne? My symptoms should have been treated without a dangerous synthetic drug. More doctors need to be doctors instead of drug pushers. FIX IT. Women deserve better. Label contraceptives for what they really are – cancer causing, infertility causing, deadly, PCOS-causing, thyroid disease-causing, ARTIFICIAL hormones. – Anonymous
I’m happy to share my daughter’s story. 2 years ago at age 15 she was started on OCPs for very irregular, heavy periods. At month 4 the pharmacy switched her generic brand for some reason. Within a month of the switch, she developed an extensive left leg DVT and a right pulmonary embolism. It turns out our family had factor V leiden and didn’t know it… – Gina
After using the pill for almost twenty years, off and on, I realized the side effects that it was having on my physical and emotional well being. I most certainly gained weight. I had low libido and had no idea why. I had issues arise with my cervix and had to have it scraped several times for pre cancerous cells. Then a small non-cancerous cyst on my breast. It wasn’t until I met with a breast specialist that she pin pointed most of these issues to having been on the pill for so long, given I have no family history of any the issues I was having. – Alicia
I took the birth control pill at a young age and had nothing but problems from it. It increases blood pressure, causes bloating, weight gain…Doctors hand this out like candy without explaining the risks. – Leisa
In 2011 I was prescribed hormonal birth control to “fix” a very irregular cycle. Three months later I started to struggle with crippling fatigue, loss of appetite and disinterest in everything except sleeping. It was shortly after that diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder, and still to this day have to be on medication to remain functional… The only risk my primary care doctor at the time brought up was a slight risk of blood clots, which as a non-smoker she didn’t think was really anything for me to worry about.
Women deserve better. Women deserve to be fully informed of the risks, and deserve better health care that doesn’t begin and often end with hormonal birth control. – T.F.
In my mid-30s, I went on Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo for only 9 days. On day 9 I was curled up in a ball on my floor thinking I didn’t deserve to live. I did not take another pill and woke up the next day emotionally back to normal. But in those 9 days the pill destroyed my endocrine system. I suffered terrible physical symptoms that I never had before that day: shortness of breath, tinnitis, “hot foot”, heart palpitations, loss of libido, loss of vision, burning pain, joint pain, deadened emotions…
My niece developed MS not long after starting the pill and a connection between the two things seems probable. – Holly
As a family practice clinician for over twenty years I have seen within both my direct patient population and indirectly in my community harm specifically from a combined OCP. The most profound are the thromboembolic events…I can think of three patients under my direct care that presented to the ER with CVA symptoms, two of these patients continue with deficits today, the third was more lucky having no current deficits…- Julie
On 2 different types of birth control pills, Skyla, and Mirena, I experienced the following symptoms: total loss of libido, anxiety, depression, cystic acne, brain fog, memory loss, extreme fatigue, and recurrent yeast infections. All of the symptoms resolved when I finally quit hormonal contraceptives altogether. – Anonymous
I have experienced first hand the horrible side effects of hormonal birth control that almost 10 years later I am still trying to reverse. I was young and didn’t know better. I was put on it by a dermatologist who said it could clear up my skin. Please stop marketing the pill as a cure all. It is a cheap band aid that leaves more problems when removed. – Samantha
When I was in my mid 20’s, I was prescribed the hormonal birth control pill, Ovcon, to assist in controlling periodic break-through bleeding. I experienced weight gain, debilitating migraine headaches, depression and such an overall malaise that I vowed when I was finished with this “treatment” that I would NEVER put hormonal contraception pills in my system EVER again. Hormonal contraceptive pills are a true danger to women. – Kathleen
I was never told the risks of being on hormonal birth control and when I had severe depression and anxiety on this medication, was told by health professionals that I must have lied about not having a history of mental illness. Access to contraceptives is vital, and so is knowledge about the risks to the body and mind. – Briana
I would like to add my name to the petition. As a general surgeon, me and my partners ask our breast cancer patients about OCP use since our best cancer textbooks describe an increased risk of breast cancer with OCP use. It is ethically imperative that women are made aware of the risks of ingesting hormones into their bodies. – Anthony
I have been skeptical of the pill for a long time. I was put on a low dose pill very early in my marriage. When we moved overseas due to my husband’s army assignment, I was switched to another low dose pill. Unfortunately, I developed Stage 3 cervical dysplasia and my physician was concerned about pre cancerous changes. When I stopped the pill, the dysplasia went away. The physician at the time told me that they believed the pill could cause these changes in the cervix. I learned a natural method of fertility awareness eventually and used it for 20 years for family planning. I would never recommend the pill to any woman. – Susan
I suffered horrible side effects as a result of birth control pills for years. I first started taking the pill at age 18, and immediately lost my libido, experienced sexual malfunction, severe migraines and depression. When I discussed these symptoms with my doctors, I was told that I wasn’t drinking enough water, I was simply underweight or that there was something wrong with me- not the medication… – Rachael
We lost our 23 year old daughter Alexandra to MPE caused by Lutera. She was on it for six months and dropped dead with no warning…- David
While I was on varying forms of birth control pills, I suffered crazy mood swings and severe depression issues. then I was given an IUD – the Mirena – during which i had severe mood problems, severe depression and severe anxiety including anxiety and panic attacks. – Erickajen
I had severe depression with suicidal thoughts. I had no libido and I got severe fatigue. I took on weight and was not able to lose it. And I got a Candida infection of the intestine.
After stopping with the birth control pill these symptoms vanished. But the Candida infection of the intestine remained. – Ursula
When I was taking Hormonal Birth Control (HBC) I underwent a massive weigh gain. From 120 lbs to 155lbs. That’s almost adding 30% to my body weight! I also suffered with severe stomach cramping, constant discomfort, constipation and diarrhea. My doctor diagnosed it at IBS. I was only on HBC for 8 months, and got pregnant while taking it. I stopped taking it upon pregnancy and have never touched the stuff again! – Anonymous
On July 2nd, 2015 I received a phone call no parent ever wants to receive. My 19 year old daughter Shelby had died. Shelby was very athletic, did not smoke and had no history of a blood disorder. The coroner’s report confirmed that Shelby had died from a pulmonary embolism. She had a DVT behind her left knee that traveled to her lungs causing her bilateral embolism. The coroner also confirmed that her DVT was caused by her birth control the NuvaRing. – Carol
I experienced major mood swings and depression while taking the pill (Orthotricyclin?). I stopped taking it and noticed less depression and no longer had mood swings. – Melissa
I was put on the Apri birth control pill by my PCP as a teenager due to having “short” menstrual cycles with “long” durations of bleeding (without any need for pregnancy prevention). When I felt sick for a week after beginning the medication, I returned to my PCP, and she reassured me to keep taking it and the symptoms would subside. While the gastrointestinal symptoms subsided, depression symptoms started to gain ground. After two months of persistent depressive symptoms without any triggering events in my life (everything truly was great), I went back to my PCP and told her about my new, severe depression symptoms. She prescribed Zoloft for me and I started to feel better. I steadily increased my dose under the supervision of a psychiatrist until I was able to function again. I stopped crying for no reason, but didn’t feel like my normal self. This continued for about a little less than a year until my mother looked into the side effects of birth control pills. She informed me that depression could be a side effect. I immediately discontinued the birth control pill…I was able to reduce my use of antidepressants and I felt like myself again.
Unfortunately, while the physiological depression trigger had been removed, the negative thought patterns that developed during this prolonged depressive episode had been given sufficient time to ingrain themselves into my thought processes. Though I have been to counselors and worked hard to incorporate cognitive behavioral therapy techniques into my daily routine, I still, 10 years later, daily struggle with the thought patterns that were developed during my time on Apri. I still am required to take a low dose of Zoloft. – Anonymous

Put the Informed in Informed Consent

Thanks to the silence of their doctors and the inadequacies of current warning labels, too many young women are unaware of the many risks they are exposing themselves to by taking birth control. These excerpts represent just a few of the voices of victims of The Pill who want to stop this madness.

Add your voice. Let’s make this a chorus so loud it will be impossible for them to dismiss.

FDA Birth Control Safety Petition

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So that these stories reach beyond the FDA site, consider sharing your story on Hormones Matter too. We will publish your story and share it broadly on social media. Here are some of the many articles and stories that we have already published. If you are interested in sharing your story, leave a comment below and we will contact you.

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Learn More about the History of Birth Control

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This article was published originally on July 11, 2019.

Photo by Edu Lauton on Unsplash.

birth control - Page 2

How the Body Creates Energy From Glucose

How the Body Switches From Glucose to Fatty Acids for Energy

How Glucose Gets Inside Cells

What Is Insulin Resistance?

Insulin Resistance Begets Insulin Resistance

Estradiol, Synthetic Estrogens, and Insulin Resistance

Estrogen Concentrations and Insulin Resistance

Non-bioidentical Estrogen and Insulin resistance

Estrogen Binds to Insulin Receptors Affecting Insulin Resistance

Progesterone, Progestins, and Insulin Resistance

Hormones and Body Composition

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Your Voice

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