The Pill – Are You Sure It’s For You?
So time is flying by, and while I thought I was going to write one blog post a day, I realise this may not happen. And if I did, perhaps it would be a bit boring anyway? So while still on the pill, it makes sense to write a post every few days, to tell you a little bit about how things are progressing, how I’m feeling and the new insights I’m gathering from my readings. When I’m actually coming off the pill, my plan is to write a short post every day (though again, it may not happen!), and I hope you will share your own journey of coming off the pill too.
On Saturday 4th February, I started reading The Pill – Are You Sure It’s For You? by Jane Bennett and Alexandra Pope. I haven’t finished Code Red, but I really wanted to be sure about coming off the pill. From the very first chapter of The Pill, I was sure! And I can’t wait! Some days, I even want to come off it NOW! But I have to wait till the end of the packet, 1) so as not to mess up my hormones and cycle too much, 2) because I have a trip to Paris planned for 10th March and I don’t want to have my first period off the pill there! (Last time I came off the pill, it was like a massive haemorrhage!)
The Pill is another enlightening book, mostly about the side effects of being on the pill, which most doctors don’t warn us about (least of all my mother, quite understandably! (If you remember from my first post in this series, she is a gynaecologist.) It is true that a lot of women feel fine while on the pill – or if they don’t, they eventually find one that they do feel all right with – however it’s also true that a LOT of women do NOT feel fine on it, but they do not realise that the reason for this lack of well-being (euphemism of the century) is actually the pill. And so they keep taking it and try to alleviate their symptoms by taking more drugs. Which usually don’t do anything, or not much – of course, since the culprit is the pill, nothing else.
There are lots of testimonials in the book, which are really enlightening and reassuring (or not, depending on how you look at it!), and lots of facts and statistics. I am really looking forward to reading more of it.
Days 1 to 11
So Days 1 to 11 of still being on the pill have also been enlightening! I had a BIG dip on Day 8 (Friday 3rd February), completely demotivated, absolutely exhausted and very down, with a massive headache that didn’t leave me until 2pm.
Days 9 to 11 (today) have been really good, with more and more creativity flowing through my body, more ideas, more enthusiasm, more determination, so today I’m feeling absolutely fantastic! It is now summer in my cycle, ovulation time. As you know, I’m still on the pill, so I don’t actually ovulate, BUT the pill I’m on has (supposedly!) natural hormones, so maybe this helps follow my natural cycle. After all (I have discovered in The Pill), ‘all’ the pill does is add more of the same hormones you already have in your body.
I am making the most of this beautiful time of my cycle as I know things can change very quickly 🙂
See you soon for an update!
My previous post (‘Making the decision’) can be found here.
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