Why are there no studies about the long-term effects of Birth Control?
After 5 or 10 years how does it change our body?
It's 2020, and there is still no regulated consensus on what to teach in sex education classes.
In some states, it is not mandated to give sexual education to women in high school.
If it were, more women would realize it's a lot harder to get pregnant than we think.
You're actually only fertile for one day of the month.
Initially, when birth control was made, it was intended for temporary usage. 100 million women worldwide use the pill.
Yet there is not a lot of data about the long term uses of it.
I know thousands of women who've used it since they were 16. Like many, we may not have had negative side effects for a year or two.
But how about 5 years or 10 years? How does hormonal birth control pills change our bodies?
Many women don't realize the pill could be hiding underlying issues until they go off of it.
Hormonal Birth Control can affect more than your ability to get pregnant. It could mask PCOS, endometriosis, or hypo/hyperthyroidism, which could affect fertility.
According to the CDC, 72.2 million women in the United States use birth control pills.
In the US:
Around 5-10% of women (5 million) of childbearing age have PCOS. PCOS is a hormone disorder. Irregular periods or stop having periods, too much hair on their face, chin. Acne.
Less than half are diagnosed correctly.
6.5 million women have endometriosis. The issue in the womb grows outside the uterus. Typically women feel painful cramps (longer than when you have their period)—stomach problems, spotting between periods.
Which isn't diagnosed until they have to undergo surgery.
15 million women (1 out of 8) have a thyroid problem.
60% of people with a thyroid disorder are unaware they have one. Fatigue, dry skin, trouble losing weight even as athletes.
25% of women having trouble conceiving link their infertility problems with ovulation. 6.1 million women have difficulty becoming pregnant.
When we turn off our natural hormones, we don't have a normal period. We have a withdrawal bleed that isn't your period.
YOUR CYCLE IS AN INDICATOR OF HEALTH.
It can be detected earlier by tracking not only your cycle but your hormone production.
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