Like most teen girls in the United States, I started taking hormonal birth control at seventeen years old, right before going to college. I was even so lucky as to have a loving, supportive mom that got the prescription process started with my pediatric doctor, so I felt I was in great hands when I was quickly prescribed a generic, high-dose combination pill* to regulate my period. Three weeks of the red pill, one week of the white pill, and I'd bleed. I'd had easy, regular-to-light periods, and not much acne up to that point. I was purely going on the pill to have protected sex and minimize my chance of becoming a teen mom. As far as I could tell, the only thing I was sacrificing was my monthly $15 copay - and even that went away soon enough (thanks, Obama).
It wasn't long before I noticed changes, however. Namely, my boobs started ballooning - to the point where I developed painful, pink stretch marks all over them - and I gained twenty pounds. I felt ugly and unloveable and insecure.
But, it was the Fall of my freshman year of college. There were a million external reasons to feel insecure, ranging from roommate dramas to club applications to fears of academic inadequacy. I reasoned my growth spurt was likely attributed to dining hall food and frat party punch - not a tiny red pill.
I loved the security of being on the pill. I got a serious boyfriend that January and was grateful to modern medicine almost every day. The pill was keeping my withdrawal bleeds regular, but my relationship did come with some unwanted side-effects. I started contracting UTIs quite frequently. And then I started getting yeast infections, kidney infections, and bacterial vaginosis (BV). I became a regular visitor at the University Health Center.
Looking back now I whimper-laugh at the paragraph I just wrote. What the heck was I doing thinking that all of those infections and my weight gain were totally fine?? Even a quick Google search will make the connection between combination pills and vaginal yeast infections clear - the synthetic progestin and estrogens taken in via the pill fundamentally change your natural hormone balance and can invite the bacteria candida into your body to attach to estrogen (the cause of any yeast infection.)* And, as for weight gain? That side effect could also be attributed to my birth control. While many doctors will tell you the pill doesn't cause side effects like yeast infections and weight gain (this is true), the fundamental alteration of your natural hormone profile, along with the mechanics of how birth control changes the phases of your ~28-day cycle create conditions for an increased incidence of these problems. (Read my article on why birth control side effects occur for more.)
The Summer after my first year of college, I remember talking to my brother's then girlfriend, now wife, about her struggles with the pill and being flabbergasted to learn of the many issues she'd faced while taking high-dose HBC. Her jaw bone had actually started receding (a real, but rare thing) and her dentist was considering surgery. My sister-in-law's experience opened my eyes to two realities:
Not all birth controls agree with all women
Birth control pills come in different dosages and hormonal compositions??
I decided that I'd ask questions to my on campus doctor the next time I visited. And it was likely that visit would come sooner rather than later, given my ongoing struggle with yeast infections and UTIs.
Read my entire hormonal birth control story including experiences with:
*Resources: