to think that the pill can't be good for you?

[CailinDana]

I've never been on the pill but have been considering it lately. However, surely taking daily doses of hormones affects your health long term? Or is there research to say this isn't the case?

It's not only those women who might have side effects in later life.

There is an enormous amount more SN children now than there was 50 years ago (and not just an enormous amount more diagnosed.)

How do we know it's not because their mums, and their grandmothers took the pill?

There's an awful lot of possible side effects which can't be proved....

RevoltingPeasant - I completely agree, no where near long enough. You mentioned rates of cancer of the reproductive organs - I believe that in the last decade the rate of ovarian cancer has risen dramatically which is why the NHS is now actively promoting the symptoms. I have no idea if this is related to the pill - I have no medical training whatsoever but thought you may be interested to know if you didn't already.

I have similar problems to chickenchops with the combined pill and found the mini pill gave me acne, weeks of periods or I just forgot to take it in it's shorter window. Do, physically it's not for me.

However I think the benefits of the pill, being able to control your fertility can have benefits financially, emotionally, socially and mentally.

So physically it wasn't good for me but it was positive experience in all the other areas I mentioned.

And frankly, too, the medical profession is still massively male dominated despite the recent influxes of young female med students/ junior doctors. These are primarily men running drugs companies who make this stuff, and men prescribing it.
Oooooh, men... scary people.... out there to get us

The pill now is much lower dosed than it was when it was first developed. By a factor of more than ten. I still wouldn't take it unless it was medically necessary, because my mum had breast cancer on HRT.

When I was on the Pill I started to suspect that its contraceptive effect comes as much from all those hormones turning women into miserable, bloated, libido-free grumps than from any effect on our actual ovaries. But maybe that was just my experience.

These days I have a John Smiths widget coil, which I reckon is much better

Nothing would have made me use the Pill. Taking daily doses of hormone sounds crazy to me. There are other ways to avoid pregnancy!

YANBU to consider the decision very carefully, but that should include input from, you know, a doctor?

YABU in the whole 'can't bear the thought of medication' thing. That thinking makes me extremely cross. We are lucky to live in the time that we live in, where we are able to control our fertility and have access to medicines that cure illness and prolong life. I met a very fit 65 year old recently who would have been dead at 50 if it weren't for the statins (sp?) he has to take every day to regulate his cholestorol. Medication = a very good thing in my book.

Of course, that's no reason to take the pill if you don't want to

The whole 'can't bear the thought of medication' might seem a teeny bit precious, but I went completely loopdeloop on hormone-based contraception. I would rather go through the discomfort of having people stick clamps and little copper doodads and all sorts up my fadge any day than see the world through a paranoid, libido-less hormone-induced haze like I did on the Pill.

Dunno about the politics of it though - I just quite like having the option of being able to have sex without spending a week every month in a cold sweat, neurotically checking for Aunty Flo every ten minutes.

There are a huge number of oral contraceptive products available with different dosages and different hormones. They can include one or more hormones, and some include two or even three different dosages within each monthly pack to simulate how your hormones would naturally change over a month.
Personally I have found only one specific, low dose combination that works for me, and I take it 3 months at a time as my periods are so physically and mentally horrible. From the vast array of options, your doctor or FPC should be able to recommend something that will work for you. Taking any medication carries a risk, it's up to you and your doctor to make an informed decision on whether the benefits outweigh the risks.

Wolef you really do have a way with words

Before the pill was a spotty 30 year old with severe PCOS with infertility and 12 stone. After years of suffering, saw an obgyn in Qatar who put me on Yasmin and was fine after 6 months. I will always be grateful to it and to him, otherwise we would be fat ugly couple in our 40s childless with lots of cats and birds

I think it varies hugely from person to person. Personally I couldn't take it at all; made me fat, paranoid, moody, depressed, stupid, no sex drive, constantly tearful, basically massively diminished my quality of life. But I know masses of people who've been on it for 20 years without any side-effects and in some cases with benefits (getting rid of acne is one example.) I think there are potential health risks, especially if you smoke, are over 35 and are prone to certain cancers, but GPs should be able to tell you about this. By and large though if you are generally healthy and it works for you I would say the benefits would outweigh the risks. But don't underestimate the psychological and physiological effect of having the body take in that many extra hormones. It can make a lot of people feel really bad and for a lot its not worth it. Maybe try it and see how you get on. You will know fairly fast if it doesn't agree with you.