The Pill

If there’s one drug that really winds me up it’s The Pill.

I can’t believe so many New Zealand girls willingly go on this damn drug. This medication seems to have become an unofficial rite of passage into womanhood!

The Pill was initially developed in the 1960s to prevent unwanted pregnancies. Since then, the medical community has been able to increase The Pill’s usage. It is prescribed for all manner of hormonal conditions. It is now used to treat acne, PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome), endometriosis, dysmenorrhea (painful periods), and metrorrhagia (heavy blood flow). The ability to come up with multiple uses for one product is gold for its producers.

Note: The Pill can actually increases the risk of PCOS, and shouldn’t be taken if you suffer from Endometriosis. Please see ‘the downside’ below.

I see a lot of 16–23 year old women, who have recently started taking The Pill. They come to see me for health conditions that appear unrelated to this drug e.g. they want to ‘detox’ or lose weight, they are experiencing depression, or have poor blood sugar regulation.

I also see a lot of ‘30-something’ women. By the time they come to see me at my practice they have been on The Pill for half of their lives! They often come to me to prepare for pregnancy.  They’ve just come off The Pill and are now waiting patiently to either get a ‘proper’ period, or to have their periods regulate. A lot of these women are in limbo when they see me. They have no idea what to expect from their unmedicated body! Will they go back to having heavy, unregulated periods? Will they break out with a fresh batch of pimples? They want me to guide them through this process.

But guess what? I also don’t know what to expect from them coming off this drug either. It can take anywhere from three months to two years for normal menstrual cycles to resume after you stop taking The Pill.

I’m so tired of seeing this problem go on for so long! The aim of this post is to inform the newcomers to this medication to only take it as a very short term solution to prevent unwanted pregnancy. I also want the women who are currently on this drug, for whatever reason, to seriously consider coming off it. I want them to look for more natural ways to balance their hormones and/or to prevent unwanted pregnancy.

Why should we woman have to be on a ‘sex drug’ — 24/7/365?  Who’s idea was it — that we be willing and able to have sex at any time, day or night (hmm I wonder?)  I don’t know about you, but if my partner were to wake me in the middle of the night — in the hopes of ‘getting lucky’— then he would be risking life & limb to do so (and as far as I’m concerned the penis is a limb!)

Think about it. When you’re in a long-term relationship, how much of the year is spent having sex with your beloved, compared to how much of the year you are medicated (to have sex with your beloved)?

Then think about this: you can only actually get pregnant for a few days out of each month. It seems crazy that we should have to take a drug all year round for a maximum of twelve fertile weeks!