Everyone is aware of the scaringly long list of side effects that come in your contraceptive pill box, however a large percent of young women continue to accept these risks and to use it, despite a majority of girls I know having negative experiences with it. I went on the pill when I was fifteen, due to my very heavy and painful periods, and have had a mixed experience over the last few years. I suffered with really bad period pains, making it difficult to go about my normal day; I would have to come home from school, miss my camogie training, and just be out of action for a few days out of each month. It wasn’t sustainable for me, and I felt going on the pill was my only option, despite the negative effects I had heard it caused. When I was prescribed the pill by my doctor she laid out all the side effects to me and as a hypochondriac, the side effects were pretty scary, especially the pretty big risk of blood clots, however I felt it was worth the risks.
I was on one brand of the pill for two years and surprisingly I loved it. Most people’s issues with the pill are that it can mess their hormone levels up, can make them gain weight, and affect their mood levels. However I got pretty lucky and I only reaped the benefits of it; it cleared my skin, it stabilised my hormones, and most importantly I wasn’t dealing with crippling period pain each month.
After two years of great experience on the pill I went to my regular G.Ps checkup to be re-prescribed the pill. However, once I mentioned I had been getting really bad migraines for the past few months my doctor insisted I had to come off the pill immediately. Migraines, especially combined with auras before, meant I was at high risk of a stroke. She switched me off the regular combination contraceptive pill, which contains both progesterone and estrogen hormones, to the ‘mini pill’ which is a progesterone only pill. I take this pill every day with no breaks and I’m never supposed to get a period, which differs from my last type which had a week break every three months. Although my migraines did disappear, I initially hated this new pill. The switch off and on the pill can be difficult as your hormones are being meddled with. All the good side effects I had with my old pill disappeared; so I struggled with my skin, my weight, and my hormone levels. I considered coming off this pill after about a year as I would still get bad spotting at times, (including for my whole sixth year holiday which was less than ideal) which I felt defeated the whole point of me being on the pill for my periods.
However, I accidentally missed taking it for a few days and ended up getting my first real period in a few years, and oh my god I definitely forgot how bad I used to get them. I was out to dinner with my family and the pain was unbearable. I could barely walk to the bathroom, thought I was going to get sick in the middle of the street, and my family had to get a taxi home as I couldn’t walk to the bus. That definitely put any ideas of coming off the pill out of my mind, but the issues I have with it are still there. I do also struggle with the idea that I have been putting these hormones into my body since I was fifteen, and the effects that might have on me. There are other contraceptive methods I could explore, however none of them are appealing to me. The most popular one after the pill is the copper coil implants, however the stories of girls getting their coils placed are really scary, as there is no sort of anaesthesia given so it is really painful. I wish there were better options for girls as there is no
perfect contraceptive option right now, and I hope more research is put into developing a safer, pain-free alternative for us.