OK-bear with me. I'm going to talk about birth control, and even sex a little bit, which will be a first for this here blog. If that will offend you, then instead of reading, click here.
Call me crazy, but if you're taking birth control, you probably like having sex. You take the birth control so that you can have the sex without getting preggers, right? Something you may not know...one of the biggest reasons BC works with a lot of ladies is because it totally kills their sex drive. Can't get pregnant if you aren't doing the deed. 40% of women report a marked decrease in sex drive. 5-10% of women on BC COMPLETELY lose their libido. That percentage is much much higher in women taking Yasmin. And do you know why you don't know that? Doctors apparently don't find it pertinent.
First, why does BC decrease your libido? I'll quote a website: "It appears that the birth control pill affects sex drive because it acts directly on a woman's sexual hormones. In particular, the birth control pill inhibits the production of androgens, including testosterone, in a woman's ovaries. Androgens have a direct effect on the pleasure that you experience during sexual intercourse. Additionally, the birth control pill increases the amount of sex-hormone binding globulin (SHBG) in the body. SHBG is a protein that binds to testosterone, preventing a woman's body from using it effectively. High levels of SHBG have been directly linked to decreased libido and sexual desire."
Yasmin, which is touted as a way to clear up your face, make your periods lighter, and protect against pregnancy, has huge amounts of SHGB. It causes the biggest decrease in libido. It does such a great job of clearing your face, etc. because it binds up all of your testosterone.
Can you think of many things more detrimental to a marriage than when one person completely and utterly loses any interest in sex? It's not just the sex...the implications are very far reaching. The man starts thinking "What's wrong with me? Maybe I'm not attractive, or maybe she's cheating, or maybe..." Meanwhile, the wife, who has always been very interested in sex, feels like she's quite broken. Or maybe she thinks that something is wrong in her marriage because she isn't interested. And she certainly feels terribly guilty for not being the wife that her husband married. But, the whole time, it is simply a hormone imbalance caused by a pill when the doctors knew this would probably happen.
Interestingly, some researchers put a bunch of Gorillas on birth control, to see what would happen. They totally lost interest in sex, and then the male gorillas became increasingly violent and angry. 80% of women in the US will spend some time on the pill. So, it doesn't surprise me that our culture at large is getting increasingly violent and angry. Or that couples who don't have sex as much because of this whole thing fight all the time.
What makes me so angry is that I didn't know. Researchers knew, and my doctor knew, but I didn't know. I think it's awfully important, when giving a drug that is centered around sex , to at least mention the sexual side effects, if only in passing.
And what is worse...the effects last. I took Yasmin for 2 months before I realized that it was the pill that was turning my life upside down. I've been off of it for 3 months, and I'm still nowhere near normal. I've spent a great deal of time researching it online, and this is what I've come up with...
Nettle Root. It somehow counteracts the SHBG. Just taking testosterone doesn't do the trick. That will just make you break out with huge pimples and hair in the wrong places. The problem isn't that you don't have testosterone...just that it is bound up and unuseable. But nettle root causes your body to free the hormone, and you get back to normal. I just ordered some, and I'll let you know.
I've been dealing with this for 5 months, and I've known the problem for the last 3. I didn't blog about it, because it is, of course, something super personal that we've been dealing with.
But, I'm just pissed off now. And if I could save one person from this nonsense, then it is worth telling the world. So, I'm sorry if you're all "TMI", but I really had to get this off my chest.
We live in a world where Viagra is well known, well advertised, and well funded. That is a drug that exists simply to help men have them some sex. Meanwhile, we have drug for women that has the total opposite effect, and it isn't even mentioned. Arrrgg.
Like a waterfall in slow motion, Part One
2 years ago
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6 comments:
amen, carmen! though I have to say that ortho-tri cyclen was much worse for me than yasmin. of course, I can't take either, since the estrogen increases my chances of stroking out. :) if the micropill doesn't work for me, it's onto an implant or starting a family earlier for me.
** also, I'm concerned about something, but with only one semester of anatomy/physiology under my belt I'm very very far from being an expert. I thought testosterone was created in a woman's suprarenal glands, not ovaries? will ask about that tomorrow.
You're right about testosterone. But there is that SHBG that binds it up as it goes through your body. You still make it, your body just makes it worthless.
I've read, while researching all this, that the ring works for a lot of women with this problem. Of course, I don't know how that would affect the stroking out.
I talked to a doctor friend about this last night, and he had no idea that BC caused this problem, or that Yasmin was supposed to be very bad. I respectfully asked that he look into it a bit so that he would be able to inform his patients.
i hate the ring,patch,and pills. none of them worked for ME! well the did "work" because i didnt get pregnant. but i hated all of them. thank god i am done with BC. and i am glad to say my tubes will be snippes and burned!!!!
ok ignore my spelling boy i would be your worst nitemare if you were my teacher!!!!!!
i am having the same problem, and wondered if the nettle worked for you? i came to a similar solution of buying it but i'm not sure if it actually works.
Actually, I couldn't get it down. It was some vile substance and I couldn't get it past my throat without gagging.
Ultimately, my solution has been weird but effective. I've started making myself a cream of coconut oil and some essential oils-rose, sandalwood and jasmine. I rub it all over myself every day, and I even made a salt scrub so I could use it in the shower. I don't know much about aromatherapy, but this cream fixed my libido. After I noticed it had that effect, I looked it up and jasmine is an aphrodesiac, while rose is clarifying and sandalwood is balancing. Great combination, and it totally balances me, with no unnatural feelings along the way.
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