What’s Wrong with “The Pill” and Other Hormonal Contraceptives?
If you’re like millions of women across the United States, this story will sound very familiar. You go to see your gynecologist or even your general practitioner. They ask you questions about your health, including questions about your cycle. If you’re sexually active or have some minor problem related to your hormones, you can guess what comes next. “Would you like a prescription for birth control?” or the more aggressive, “You need this Birth Control to fix [X problem]. There are no better options.”
You trust your doctor to know what is good for you, and help you care for your body. It seems like it is prescribed to fix every problem under the sun. So what’s the problem with taking these contraceptives?
The FDA lists many side effects of the pill and other forms of contraception on their website. [1] Among the possible risks are “uterine perforation,” “ectopic pregnancy,” and “ovarian cysts” from Intrauterine Devices (IUD), and “irregular bleeding,” “headache,” “mood changes,” and “weight gain” from other hormonal contraception methods. The FDA says repeatedly on the page, “It is rare, but some women will have blood clots, heart attacks, or strokes.” This list is more than a little terrifying. What benefit outweighs the risks of blood clots, heart attacks, and strokes? However, on second thought one might think, “Well, aren’t all medications like that? I’ve seen those commercials that list what seems like hundreds of side effects for every medication.”
Here’s the issue. Many doctors do not speak or know of the possible, and sometimes likely, side 
effects for their patients. Birth control is so widely prescribed that women assume that it is safe to use. The widespread prescribing of the pill without disclosing negative side effects is so significant that in 2019 a Citizen’s Petition was submitted to the FDA concerning hormonal contraceptives by a Contraceptive Study Group including medical professionals and experts on the subject. They compiled information and research in order to make recommendations in the Citizen’s Petition to properly label these medications and even to remove certain ones from the market altogether. [2]
Even if hormonal contraceptives are properly labeled and women are properly informed, women should not accept these risks to their health. In many cases, hormonal contraceptives cover up the underlying issue or issues by stopping the woman’s cycle altogether. Thus, a hormonal imbalance or physiological issue may never be addressed, and when the woman comes off the pill for one reason or another, she finds that her problems persist. She need not put up with covering up her problems or accepting these side effects. There are doctors trained in NaPro Technology [3] capable of addressing these problems without the use or hormonal contraceptives, so that your health can actually improve.
You may be thinking, “Well, that’s great, but I don’t intend on being pregnant for the rest of my fertile years. I will still have to take these contraceptives in order to avoid pregnancy”. There is something better for you in that respect too! There are natural ways to monitor your signs of fertility and use that information to try to conceive or postpone pregnancy. This is often referred to as Natural Family Planning (NFP) and the methods to accomplish this are called Fertility Awareness Methods (or FAM). [4] These methods help you to work with your body instead of against it!
Visit us at COLFS Medical Clinic for more information on NaPro Technology, NFP and Fertility Awareness Methods. Schedule an appointment or Telehealth visit today!
1 https://www.fda.gov/consumers/free-publications-women/birth-control
2 https://naturalwomanhood.org/fda-petition-hormonal-contraceptives-birth-control-side-effects-2019/