Many women turn to birth control pills and other methods because they are not aware of the dangers of them and they are not aware that there are safer options available.
We will explore a range of birth control methods, from conventional, chemical and dangerous methods to natural safe methods.
Become educated and well versed in a variety of natural contraceptive methods, to expand the happiness and fulfilment of your sex life with minimal interruptions.
This article is also important for any MAN who cares about the health and sex life of his partner, daughter, sister, family member, friend or fellow neighbour.
SYNTHETIC BIRTH CONTROL METHODS
IUDs (Intrauterine device): Hormonal (Mirena) & Copper Coil (Natural)
How The IUD Works on the Body
The IUD is an internally planted device in the uterus.
Hormonal IUD (Mirena) artificially manipulates your hormones as it contains the steroid drug levonorgestrel into the uterine cavity.
Side Effects from IUDs
IUDs have been shown to cause serious side effects such as:
- Pelvic infection – especially if you have a pre-existing infection with gonorrhoea or chlamydia. That’s why your doctor should screen for those common conditions before inserting an IUD.
- Ovarian cysts
- Uterine perforation (surrounding blood vessels or viscera become injured) which can lead to surgery.
- Acne
- Hair loss
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Headaches
- Yeast infection
- Weight gain
Even if your IUD is not hormonal (Copper IUD/ Coil) and fitted well, it comes with problems:
- Irregular bleeding and spotting. Prolonged spotting can lead to iron deficiency.
- Blocks the channels, causing vata imbalance in apana vata (pelvic floor) which can cause problems down the track like fibroids.
- Can be a painful installation process that may require painkiller drugs.
- Can increase period pain and cramps within the one year of insertion.
- It’s bad for the vaginal microbiome and doubles the risk of bacterial vaginosis, which causes a fishy-smelling vaginal discharge.
- It might come out. Studies show there is a risk of expulsion which you don’t realise, then you could become pregnant.
- Pelvic infection
- Uterine perforation
Pros about IUDs:
- The IUD, however, has been shown to be more a successful contraceptive method than the oral contraceptive pill (OCP).
- The hormonal IUD (Mirena) uses about one-tenth of synthetic levonorgestrel hormone compared to the OCP (but still at dangerous levels).
- It does not completely shut down ovulation, which is important to produce hormones thus feel good!
Conclusion about IUDs:
IUDs are not wise for health.
As a birth control method, it’s not as biologically harmonious as fertility awareness method (FAM), condoms, or cervical cap
For hormonal issues like heavy periods, adenomyosis, or debilitating endometriosis pain, the hormonal IUD is a better option than surgery or other types of hormonal birth control, however, there are much better alternatives which one can implement and learn about in a consultation with me.
Patches
Patches are so risky is that you absorb up to 60% more synthetic oestrogen than if you were taking an oral contraceptive. Fortunately, demand for the patch has seriously declined as the warnings have escalated.
Injectable Birth Control
Depo-Provera, or depo-medroxyprogesterone (DMPA), is a progestin that interferes with hormone signalling to prevent your ovaries from releasing eggs. A far stronger synthetic chemical that mimics the progesterone your body makes which carries with it a huge number of negative side effects, esepcially reducing bone density.
Spermicides
Spermicides are essentially chemicals that kill sperm by dissolving their outer membrane.
However, they also kill beneficial bacteria and skin cells. Disrupting the bacterial balance in your vagina can leave you more susceptible to yeast infections and urinary tract infections. And it has been proven they add no additional protection to condoms.
The Oral Contraceptive Pill (OCP)
Artificially manipulating your hormones with potent synthetic hormones, whose adverse health effects have been well documented for nearly four decades.
Clinicians know it. Women themselves know it because they feel better off the Pill.
16 million American women use birth control pills.
50–80% of Australian women use it at some stage during their reproductive lives.
Sure it is great that The Pill can be medicine for debilitating conditions such as severe endometriosis and very heavy periods, but its widespread prescription to “balance hormones” is illogical.
What The Pill Does To Your Body
The pill induces a chemical menopause which shuts down ovulation, an essential hormonal production process for mood and overall health.
This works by releasing oestrogen and progestin into your body, preventing your ovaries from releasing eggs. The pill also thickens cervical mucus, making it harder for sperm to enter the uterus.
Hormonal Birth Control Does Not Balance Hormones
Prescribing birth control to “balance hormones” is illogical. Birth control does not balance hormones; it shuts them down.
Birth control shuts down ovulation, hence shuts down estrogen and progesterone. It then “replaces” back contraceptive drugs, known as “hormone replacement.”
Problem is, this “replacement” is not adequate at all. In fact, the contraceptive drugs are not even hormones and are damaging to the body.
Real hormones are estradiol and progesterone. Contraceptive drugs are molecules like ethinylestradiol, levonorgestrel, and drospirenone.
Contraceptive drugs do not have the same molecular structure as real hormones and do not replace their vital role.
“The Pills” benefit of convenience is largely outweighed by the very serious health risks associated.
Health Risks Associated with Birth Control Pills
They are linked to numerous health risks:
- Cancer – increases the risk of cervical and breast cancers.
- Fatal blood clots – double your risk of fatal blood clots and others may increase your risk of heart disease.
- Thinner bones – lower bone mineral density (BMD).
- Oral contraceptives can increase your blood pressure.
- Sexual dysfunction – The pill may damage your libido – permanently – interferes with a protein that keeps testosterone unavailable for women’s physiological needs.
Side Effects
Many women also report awful side effects from the pill, which are undoubtedly due to the artificial drugs acting like “hormones” running through your body. These include:
- Migraines, headaches and nausea
- Weight gain and mood changes
- Irregular bleeding or spotting
- Bleeding of the gums
- Breast tenderness
- Yeast overgrowth and infection
- Thrush (quite common).
- Birth control pills deplete your body of important nutrients, including Vitamin B2, Vitamin B6, Vitamin B12, Folic Acid, Vitamin C, Magnesium, Zinc.
- Severe depression, anxiety and mood changes
- Feeling of congestion in the pelvic area and lower abdomen.
- Oral contraceptives can also make your baby more vulnerable to allergies when you take OCs for up to a year before becoming pregnant, according to a Finnish study.
A Recipe for Future Infertility
Want to have babies in the future? I recommend stopping using the Pill and other hormonal contraception.
While on hormonal contraception methods, your body loses the ability to secrete its own natural hormones.
So when the time comes and you want to conceive, your body struggles. This is why hormonal contraception is a key cause of the infertility epidemic.
I see this a lot in the clinic, and it is quite sad to see, as all these couples to want to do it have a baby. Note male infertility is also a big contributor to this epidemic that is under appreciated.
Your Romantic Life Dictated by a Pill
The contraceptive pill may disrupt women’s natural ability to choose a partner genetically dissimilar to themselves. A research team analysed how the contraceptive pill affects odour preferences and found that the preferences of women who began using the contraceptive pill shifted towards men with genetically similar odours.
A genetic similarity in couples can lead to fertility problems and ultimately lead to the breakdown of relationships when women stop using the pill, as odour perception plays a significant role in maintaining attraction to partners, researchers said.
Similar to the findings of the study above, researchers found that you are more likely to be attracted to people whose scent is dissimilar to your own.
And on a much deeper level, it’s alarming that these pills are altering, on a very subtle level, chemical signals in your body.
Using The Pill to Treat Symptoms
If you’re using birth control pills for reasons other than birth control, such as to regulate your menstrual cycle or treat irregular bleeding, cysts, endometriosis, acne or skin diseases you are not treating your underlying problem.
You are simply masking it with a potentially dangerous drug.
In these situations, it is essential to balance your adrenal glands, as cortisol levels modulate and control the female hormones – especially progesterone. Book a consultation to balance your adrenal glands, energy, stress and hormones.
In 2007 the FDA approved the first birth control pill to completely eliminate menstruation.
Not only was this pill inadequately tested prior to approval, but the synthetic hormones it contains are also another prescription for disaster for women’s health.
But there is an additional concern – long-term suppression of your periods will minimise your blood loss and could contribute to iron overload syndromes that is an overlooked dangerous situation. Elevated iron stores are one of the primary risk factors for cancer and heart disease.
Contributes to Oestrogen Pollution
Synthetic estrogens excreted by women end up in the drinking water supply. This adds to the oestrogens increasingly present all around us, from plastics to canned food and drinks, food additives, household cleaning products, heavy metals, and pesticides, as well as in our waterways as a result of the runoff from confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs).
Quench your thirst with synthetic hromnes?
SAFE ALTERNATIVES FOR CONTRACEPTION THAT WOMEN CAN USE
Natural Methods
There are two natural methods:
- Barrier Methods
- Natural Family Planning or Fertility Awareness Methods (FAM), Conscious Sex – a little more complex but definitely achievable, rewarding and empowering. Been around for thousands of years.
Copper Coil IUD
See above.
Although better than hormonal options, this still comes with associated risks and side effects, even if fitted well by a doctor.
BARRIER METHODS
Male Condoms
Condoms have a 98% effectiveness rate when used correctly. A water-based lubricant will increase the effectiveness; do not use an oil-based lubricant, however, as they break the latex.
Female Condoms
These thin, soft polyurethane pouches fitted inside your vagina before intercourse are 95 percent effective. Female condoms are less likely to tear than male condoms.
Diaphragm
Diaphragms, which must be fitted by a doctor, act as a barrier to sperm. When used correctly with spermicidal jellies, they are 92 to 98 effective.
Cervical Cap
This heavy rubber cap fits tightly against your cervix and can be left in place for 48 hours. Like the diaphragm, a doctor must fit the cap. Proper fitting enhances the effectiveness above 91%.
FERTILITY AWARENESS METHODS (FAM) – NATURAL FERTILITY
Daisy: Natural Intelligent Fertility Tracker
Daysy is an intelligent fertility tracker that lets you get to know your very own menstrual cycle. Thanks to Daysy, you know exactly when you are in your fertile window and when you are not.
The technology-based temperature method used by Daysy is one of the most reliable methods in the world for fertility tracking.
Daysy allows every woman who wants a health-conscious lifestyle to monitor her individual monthly cycle and determine her fertile and infertile days in natural harmony with her body.
Check it out HERE
FERTILITY AWARENESS METHODS (FAM) – NATURAL FERTILITY
Not only do these methods assist contracpetion, but they empower you to learn more about your or your partners cycle! This attunes you more to the circadian cycles of you and nature.
The Temperature Method
This is a way to pinpoint the day of your ovulation so that intercourse can be avoided for a few days before and after. It involves taking your basal body temperature (your temperature upon first waking) each morning with an accurate “basal” thermometer, and noting the rise in temperature that occurs after ovulation.
The Mucus Method
This involves tracking changes in the amount and texture of your vaginal discharge, which reflect rising levels of oestrogen in your body. For the first few days after your period, there is often no discharge, but there will be a cloudy, tacky mucus as oestrogen starts to rise.
When your discharge starts to increase in volume and becomes clear and stringy, ovulation is near. A return to tacky, cloudy mucus or no discharge means that ovulation has passed.
There are various devices which help track your cycle and prove to be effective with high accuracy rates.
Withdrawal Method
Not successful enough because even before ejaculation, the penis releases small amounts of semen that can contain sperm.
Tantric Sex or “Conscious Sex”
Not successful enough due to similar reasons as the withdrawal method. Further more, practices like the retaining ejaculation is advanced and more relevant for people who have been doing practices like this since childhood (such as celibate yogis). Although these methods can be learnt and praciticed, caution needs to be taken they can create phyiscal implications on the males prostate and fertility.
Lactational Amenorrhea Method (LAM)
Some experts claim that breastfeeding protects a woman from pregnancy by curbing hormones that trigger ovulation. However, every woman’s body responds differently to the hormonal influences of breastfeeding, so this method is unreliable.
Explore your options.
Become educated about what implications these contraceptive methods have on the body.
Become aware of the associated history and experience in society.
Then empowered with awareness, decide for yourself.
Bibliography
Dr. Joespeh Mercolas content rich website.
Lara Briden – The Period Revolutionary.
Image Credits:
- feature image – Simone Van Der Koelen
- cucumber – Charles Deluvio
- female condom – nig.gov
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