Withdrawl

(image via here)

There’s a bit of a TMI factor to today’s post but yesterday I watched the video below, “Is The Birth Control Pill Destroying Your Health,” and felt it was worth sharing. I was on birth control pills for several years in my twenties. They never caused me any trouble, that is until I stopped taking them. Without my knowledge my doctor had switched my prescription to a generic brand. I wasn’t aware of the change until I went to pick up it up at the pharmacy. I wasn’t happy about the change and was equally frustrated with the pharmacist who told me it wasn’t a big deal, that they were exactly the same ingredients but this one was $10 cheaper. I’d always considered myself lucky not to have had the various negative side affects birth control medications can cause and would have rather paid the extra $10 to stick with what worked. Nonetheless, I backed down and started the generic pack. Shortly thereafter I broke out in the worst acne along my jaw-line that I’d ever had in my life. I put two and two together, and as I wasn’t in a relationship at that time, decided to go off the pill all together.

The following months were some of the hardest in my life. A deep depression had come over me and I didn’t know why. Sure there were plenty of external life circumstances I think contributed but I also had a vague, nagging sense that it also had to do with going off the pill. I tried to little avail to do online research to support my theory but mostly only found a few similar stories buried deep in online forums. This video (via Healthy Crush) finally provided me a clear answer as to what was likely going on in my body. It’s also chock full of other details related to hormones, birth control pills and other contraception, should you be in the market for such info.