Women’s Health Month: Why are we compromising on contraception?
This Women’s Health Month, we’re raising awareness and encouraging women to share their experiences around women’s health issues. Freetides is a women-owned brand and we want to encourage open conversations that empower women to prioritise their physical, mental and emotional health. Our founder Beth speaks openly about her journey with contraception and the every-day compromises.
I was 17 when I was prescribed the contraceptive pill by my GP. It felt like a rite of passage because so many of my friends were taking it. The GP sent me on my way, leaflet in hand,; it was as quick and mundane as prescribing paracetamol for a headache. Except the little pill in my hand, that I continued to take for four years, is classified as a group 1 carcinogen, alongside cigarettes, alcohol and red meat… something I was not made aware of at the time by the doctor who prescribed it, nor from anyone else until I did my own research. This needs to be talked about more.
Also used to treat acne and endometriosis symptoms, girls as young as 12 are being prescribed this group 1 carcinogen, and this is something that I struggle to get over. The side effects of the pill are horrendous, and yet women and girls put trust in their GPS everyday to take care of their health, and are not given adequate information about contraception they are recommended. We’re often warned about weight gain, breast tenderness and headaches, but not depression, blood clots, and increased risk of cancer. Between the ages of 17 and 22 I went through periods of mild depression and intense mood swings, where I didn’t recognise my own behaviour. It was a darker time in my life and only looking back now do I realise just how unhappy my constant state of being was. Speaking to friends, I know I’m not the only one to experience such side effects from the pill.
I compromised my mental health for 4 years, with several trips back and forth to the GP to try various pills, none of which were an improvement on the last. My psychological well-being was attributed to my lifestyle (university living), rather than the pill, which I found frustrating and dismissive.
At 22 I stopped asking GPs and got the Nexplanon implant. It felt as though I had been under a sad spell and was now free. The emotional release was amazing; no mood swings, no periods of mild depression - I felt measured and in control again. However, after a while, I realised that I actually wasn’t feeling anything at all. My reproductive system had effectively shut up shop; I wasn’t getting periods (win) but my sex drive was also non-existent. My GP said things “take a while to settle down”, that my body is adjusting and I should “wait and see”. I waited and got on with my life for 3 years. Daily life was easier on the implant and the compromise on my sex drive felt like a small price to pay - it was the best of a bad bunch. I renewed my implant after 3 years but my body reacted differently. I started to bleed continuously, every day for 3 months. I was told again it might “settle down” – if we bled continuously from any other body part I’m certain it wouldn’t be viewed so casually. It didn’t settle down, I bled 3 weeks of the month, sometimes with only a 5 day break. I was tired, bloated, self conscious, experiencing painful cramps, libido still missing. I re-visited my GP desperate to hear about a new product on the market or new research ...instead my GP suggested I take the pill on top of my implant. I could have exploded right there. 10 years later and no progress, I was being prescribed the same pill all over again. My GP openly admitted there was little advancement in this area of medicine and all I could do was trial and error different concoctions of the same products that have been out there for decades.
So this year, after 10 years of filling my body with various hormones and simultaneously comprising my mental, physical and emotional health, I decided to ditch the meds and go hormone free. Since doing so, I’m feeling more like myself than ever. During the first week it felt like I was physically deflating, I realised how much water I’d been retaining and how bloated I’d been every day. Now I feel like I’ve reached an equilibrium and I’m living in harmony with my body. It’s incredible, my mental and physical health are the best they’ve been in my adult life. It also feels like I’m getting to know myself again, it’s the most life changing form of self care and I feel a sense of empowerment putting my body first. For anyone struggling to find hormonal contraception without compromise I highly recommend going hormone free!
Women represent over 50% of the population, and for a large proportion of our lifetime during reproductive age, women have to compromise mental, physical and emotional health in order to prevent pregnancy, and other conditions, by relying on hormonal contraception. Male contraceptives do exist but overwhelmingly the burden still falls on women and despite this, new research to develop safer female contraceptives is not prevalent. So many women struggle with the impacts of hormonal contraception, and we believe the more we talk openly about our experiences, the more likely we are to spark change in the sphere of women’s health and improve the landscape of contraception for future generations of women.
If you’re thinking about going hormone free and have some questions for us or would like to share your experiences with us, email us at hello@freetides.co.uk or drop us a DM on Instagram at @freetidesswim, we would love to hear from you!