Questions about contraception?

[SpicyMoth]

Not sure if I've put this under the right Topic, but here goes;

I keep seeing recently younger women and girls are pushing back against hormone based contraception (mostly from the perspectives of YouTuber's talking about it and showing clips of TikTok videos women & girls have made discussing it).
They will cite things like; Side effects not being listed accurately or not being made obvious to them (ie. decreased fertility over long term use), how detrimental it's been to their mental health, and feeling like they were not capable of giving informed consent basically.

I was wondering if anyone here had any insight into where this started/how valid it is/if there's any actual research to back it up?
Especially if there's any truth to the fertility part, and if so, what the numbers on that are?

A lot of places say blanketly "no", but these are also places that will say puberty blockers are completely reversible - so it's hard to know whether their answers can be taken at face value or if there's a degree of censorship going on.

I did find this which is semi-recent, they specify they're talking about an increased risk however, not overall chance - But either way that is still very worrying to me...
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I started my period at age 9 and was put on the pill immediately.
I've been on hormonal contraception with no breaks for the past 18 years of my life solid, and maybe it's confirmation bias but I definitely did not have issues with my mental health prior to starting hormonal contraception.
Part of me really does wonder if enough research was ever done to begin with :/

This has come up as a topic on a few of the feminist podcasts I follow, ie that the mental health impacts and negative impact on women’s libido are downplayed by prescribers and in the medical literature. I remember reading about 20 years ago that pharmaceutical scientist Carl Djerassi, who was involved in developing the early oral contraceptives, joked they would largely be effective because they killed off women’s sex drive. 😡 I’ve heard of young women (late teens/early 20s) getting coils fitted rather than taking the pill.

Didn't they stop trialling a male pill because the side effects were unacceptable? Side effects that were very similar to those caused by the female pill. It was a few years ago so my memory is rusty.

yeah this is a real thing that happened - the 'point' was made that the man could take the pill if GF / OH was actually having the horrible side effects and the execs were still just like 'no' these side effects are completely prohibitive no guy would ever take it therefore there's no money it it.

Side effects were basically the same as hormonal contraceptive for women. Certainly from what I understand no evidence that the risks to the man were greater.

Hormonal contraception for women does have some possibly unhelpful impacts but generally the greater control over if and when conception occurs means overall pros outweigh cons, didn't know this was a thing people were talking about now.

The LW actually bring that up in the above video!
To summarise they say essentially that it's misinformation, and go on to mention the real reason it never went through is because of the way clinical trials decide at the end if the risks of not having the medication outweigh the side effects it gives.

Their conclusion supposedly was that because men are not at risk of getting pregnant themselves, there is no risk, so therefore the medication and it's side effects are not needed.
Or at least that's how I understood the way the LW described it, they might've butchered the explanation for all I know! 😅

The other reason that the male pill wasn't taken forward is because no woman in her right mind would ever trust a man to take it! Seriously how many abusive males would use this as a way to impregnate and trap a woman by claiming to be on the pill with no risk to themselves whereas for women there's a incentive to take it properly

I wish I was more informed about the side effects of the pill. I was on it for more than 20 years like many young women. It was only after I came off that my PMT vanished. I came into an awareness of my cycle I never had before. I experienced no change in menstrual heaviness or pain. So much better naturally than I had unquestionably been led to believe. I won't be recommending the pill to my DD. I think it's great gen z are on this.

I've got to say that the side effects of the pill never felt worth it to me. I went on it twice for 2 and 4 months but hated it. Both the actual side effects like weight gain, lower sex drive and mild depression. But also the fact that if I wasn't in a long term relationship then I didn't ever want to risk my physical health by foregoing a condom. And the fact is that most women are more likely to be less insistent about using a condom in the heat of the moment if pregnancy isn't an issue.

If in a long term relationship, where pregnancy isn't ideal but not a disaster, there are options like the very, very underrated diaphragm.

When I went on the pill aged 14 it was to help with heavy periods, no investigation as to the cause. Ditto a friend, put on the pill in her early teens to “regulate” her period only to find out she had PCOS and couldn’t conceive when she stopped it in her thirties. I think it was (is?) very much used as a “solution” for teenage girls, as much to help them fit in and feel normal as anything else. I had long 8 day periods and my teacher told me I was lying when I missed two weeks swimming in a row, had to get my parents and GP involved to confirm that “yes I did have long but normal periods” (same teacher “forced” a fellow student to use a tampon, coercively rather than physically). I was on and off different types of pill in my teens and for a few years managed without, really understanding my cycle and the effect on me until I settled on the Mirena coil in my early twenties. I think the side effects of hormonal contraceptives are fairly well documented and, for me, worth it. I’ve also used high dose HRT in addition to the Mirena coil since I was 26 for PMDD. I know there’s a big concern about an increased risk of cancer but I don’t have any other risk factors and I genuinely believe I’d be dead if I hadn’t found a suitable solution. I think that the pill is so widely used it’s inevitable that lots of people will have had bad experiences and each individual should make a decision for themselves. I don’t think teenagers should be prescribed the pill as a routine though and if they are prescribed it early should be encouraged to take a break in early adulthood.

Thanks for your insight everyone!
Think I'll be getting on to my GP about having the implant out - Think it's time.

I think because for most people, they won't really know if it makes them feel bad unless they try going on and off it a few times, it's side effects often fly under the radar.

But I cannot imagine putting a 9 year old on the pill, how could that possibly be ok, unless it was for very specific medical reasons?

One thing that really bothers me is that not enough investigation is done for teen girls and young women with menstrual issues, it's just sorted with the pill. So it can cover things that could be addressed in a better way.

One thing that has influenced young girls to give up the pill is period tracking apps that predict fertile days. I have mixed feelings - it's possible to do that kind of thing properly and have very good protection, comparable to condoms. But it's not as simple as just using the app. I think teaching girls to read their cycles in school would be really beneficial, it teaches them a lot about how their body is working and why they feel the way they feel.

Slightly different view here. Pregnancy and birth carry big risks - for most women, those risks are going to be much greater than the risks attached to the hormonal contraceptive.

Hormonal contraceptives also offer the benefit of being protective against ovarian cancer and uterine cancer and reducing heavy periods.

I know that some women have side-effects on the pill, and it isn't for everyone. But I would seriously urge women to think about the consequences of not being on the pill if they have an active sex life.

At least from my understanding, there was a sense of distrust around men and boys? We had a lot of experiences of men looking at me when I was little for far too long, like.. Staring etc, always strangers, but it made her very uncomfortable for obvious reasons.
Mum had spotted creepy men lingering at school gates, not parents/dads etc and a few times I was followed, one I actually remember being directly after a school swimming session, so in that sense I can kind of understand, as there are ofc evil people in the world who will just... Do awful things, even the most watchful parents, something could happen.

I was the first in my year to start their period and ofc it was a shock for my mum it happening on the younger side, so I can only assume most of it was rooted in fear & wanting to protect me.

As I got into teen-hood random men following me would happen more and more, especially when I got into cycling home instead of the train & walking. I literally got followed by a dude who rolled down his car window and kept trying to ask where I was going when I was cycling home once. So like.. Not entirely unfounded fears tbf.

Even with that context though, I still feel like I should've been walked through more options, had things gone over with me more than just the once, even now after looking into it more I still don't know if I have all the facts & side effects right! There seems so to be so many contradictions online😩