What are the Side Effects of Oral Contraceptives?
I love the topic of oral contraceptives because it's a hallmark of female empowerment. I want to give respect where it's due and recognize that it was a large part of the "women's health" and "we own our bodies" movements. It's done a lot for women's rights, but I want to take it to the next level.
Let's continue what those women fought for. The next stage is learning how oral contraceptives impact us, and what our own body is capable of with its own reproductive cycle.
I'm not saying there's not any need for oral contraceptives, but I think they might be over-prescribed and some doctors under-educate patients on the true effects of them. Essentially, you're giving your body a synthetic estrogen and a synthetic progestin.
I use the word progestin because patients, and even providers, will talk about progestin as if it's progesterone. A progestin is actually a synthetic analog similar to progesterone that can have estrogenic effects. So it can act like estrogen, which progesterone does not do. Synthetic progestins can act like testosterone as well; again, which progesterone does not do.
Essentially, with synthetic estrogen and progestin you are shutting down your brain's communication with your ovaries and your ovarian production of hormones.
If you shut your ovaries down for 10-15 years, when you want them to turn back on to get pregnant, they’re going to be rusty. They’re not going to have the memory of that cycle. I worry about patients for that reason, because many go into contraception prescriptions not fully knowing they might have problems with fertility when they come off it.
You also lose all that time of learning about your own cycle. You have no idea about when you're in your follicular phase, the changes that happen to your body in ovulation, and what happens in your luteal phase.
This cycle power is what I mean when I say let's take female empowerment beyond oral contraception. Stay tuned for the recording on my recent TED talk on this topic titled - The Goddess Guide - Breaking the Cycle.
Birth control is important for when we need it, but we also need to understand our cycle and listen to our bodies.
TANYA MANONI is a Chattanooga-native but earned her BS in chemistry and PharmD at the University of Utah. She brings with her years of experience in compounding and pharmacy corporate management. Tanya's professional interests include not only BHRT, women’s health, and dermatology, but also nutrition and fitness, in which she became interested while playing NCAA Division I college soccer. While living in Utah, Tanya earned her level 1 certification in avalanche search and rescue, and she continues to enjoy snowboarding, hiking, and mountain biking. She lives in Chattanooga with her husband and two kids, so you will find her running between soccer fields and dance studios in her free time.