HBC Thoughts, Part 1.
As in hormonal birth control.
To anyone reading this, let me be immediately clear about one thing: I am in no way against birth control or women having choices when it comes to birth control or just living their lives however they choose. I mean, thank fucking God women aren’t trapped in the home all day, seen as only creatures meant to have and care for babies. Thank God we have choices that let us have sex for pleasure and expand our lives as wide as we want to.
However, I am pissed off that the majority of our options, particularly the ones that are most effective and reliable, are hormonal and significantly alter a woman’s body and brain chemistry. Quite frankly, we should all be raging against this. Sorry (not sorry at all), but if men were the ones who carried the next generation of humanity into the world, there’s no way they’d take a hormonal contraceptive that alters them chemically and physically,
I’m also pissed off at my younger self for not doing enough research into my options, and super angry with my old OBGYN for not giving me all the relevant information about birth control choices. I feel like I was tricked into getting my old Kyleena IUD because my doctor assured me there was no medical reason I needed a period. (LIE. Menstruating peeps, your period is your fifth vital sign. Look it up!)
What a sweeping statement for a medical professional to make. For me, there was absolutely a medical need for a period. At one point during my long (and honestly ongoing) health journey, I lost my period for about a year and half. I struggled with seemingly random and extremely debilitating fatigue. Inexplicably could not hold my head up on my own past 1 p.m. for a while. Mysteriously lost 15 pounds and couldn’t put it back on. Suddenly had painful, cystic acne. So, I had a dermatologist recommend Spironolactone to me, and I was on that for about a year. 100mg. It made me pee all the time and isn’t actually an acne medicine, but it blocks excess androgens and helps keep your cystic acne at bay. Just a Band-Aid solution to a long-term problem, though.
Throughout this healing journey, I went to a variety of doctors and they were essentially all like, “Oh, it’s just stress.” “Try eating more.” “Here, I can put you on an estrogen pill that will make you bleed if that’s what you’re worried about.” ?????
It didn’t seem like any of my doctors had time for me. (I know some of this is simply the reality of our healthcare system, but like… the whole thing is fucked.) It also didn’t seem like they believed my symptoms or understood how disruptive they were to my daily life. Finally, I decided to go see a new doctor, a PA really, and explain all my symptoms. This PA was/is a lovely woman. She listened to me for a long time, was super patient, and did extensive blood work on me to see what was going on. This is when I found out I had medically low B12, hence my unexplained exhaustion. I also was told I had hemachromatosis (my body storing an excess amount of iron and in the wrong places). That diagnosis didn’t sit right with me. I cried and panicked and generally felt that this couldn’t be right. Thankfully, the PA said it seemed like I had a mild case of it based on my iron and ferritin levels, and she didn’t recommend phlebotomy. She just wanted me to get my blood taken again in a few months to monitor my iron levels.
By the grace of God, my period came back about two months after I saw that PA. I was like HMMM, I wonder how this will affect my blood work now that iron is leaving my body. So, I waited a few months, tracked my periods (cycle length, cervical mucus, color and texture of blood), and got some updated blood work. My iron levels were back to normal, at least for the time being.
So, it turns out my period was MEDICALLY NECESSARY. All right, that’s enough for now. I’ll get more into my IUD-removal thought process/journey and gut health in later parts of this ANGRY FEMINIST RAMPAGE later. :) :) :)
