Dr. Mercola August 03 2007 45,605 views
Lybrel, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals’ new birth control pill that eliminates women’s periods, is now on the market. Unlike traditional oral contraceptives, which include a week of placebo pills at the end of the cycle to bring on menstruation, Lybrel has no placebos, and women on the pill do not menstruate.While many women are wary of Lybrel, fearing that it takes away a key sign of health, fertility, and womanhood among females, others welcome the convenience and freedom from menstruation’s side effects that the drug offers.Doctors are also divided on the issue. Some maintain that Lybrel is safe, and point out that traditional birth control pills have been prescribed without the placebos to halt menstruation in women with painful periods, or who wanted to avoid menstruation during a special occasion, for years.Further, they say women must traditionally menstruate to shed the thick lining of the uterus that builds up during the cycle. Women on oral contraceptives only build a thin lining and, therefore, they may not need to menstruate.Women are also designed to stop menstruating during pregnancy and nursing, however in today’s culture, with increasing numbers of women forgoing motherhood for other pursuits, they often continue menstruating monthly.This may be “too many periods,” according to one doctor.However, other experts point to potential risks of long-term use, as Lybrel was only studied for one year. There are also social implications. Eliminating menstruation, according to many sociologists and anthropologists, tells young women that there’s something wrong or shameful about the natural menstrual cycle, and therefore with the female body.
Houston Chronicle July 31, 2007
Male condoms: Condoms have a 98 percent 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 the vagina before sex 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 percent effective.
Cervical cap: This heavy rubber cap fits tightly against the 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 percent.
Spermicides: Creams, jellies and suppositories contain chemicals that kill sperm. While they can increase the effectiveness of other forms of contraception listed here, I don't recommend using them alone.
Other natural methods to scientifically check your fertility.
Additionally, any of the above methods can be combined with natural family planning, in which the woman charts her cycle by regularly monitoring her first morning oral temperatures with an accurate thermometer, and also checks her cervical mucous for appearance and "ferning" patterns. If these two methods are combined, then their effectiveness approaches that of birth control pills.
A close friend from church, just lost her sister a couple weeks ago to a stroke. She was only 37. She did not smoke or drink. The only thing the doctor attributed this to was birth control pills. He also said that he see two to three women a week that have had strokes in their 30's. He believes that this is from the birth cotrol pills. Pretty Scary! I have not been on any of these for almost 6 years. I had a horrible experience with the Depo shot. I broke out in horrible cystic acne all over my face and back. It took almost three years to clear up. I learned my lesson.
Purhaps we all, including the drug companies, need a refresher course in sex ed. There are only certain days of the month when a woman is fertile enough to become pregnant. There are ways of keeping track of those days..one of them is a calender. For those who are not regular enough to use that method, there is a product that will test your saliva to let you know if you are fertile instantly so you can avoid pregnancy with abstinance or a barrier method. It is called an OVUSCOPE (or F scope). I got mine many years ago from a chinese doctor in California named Dr Chi for 100.00
www.chi-health.com/.../F-SCOPE.htmand
I just looked and see they are available right now on amazon.com and other sites as well. I was surprised to see one advertised for only 20.00 at CVS recently also. The interesting thing..for those who are trying to get pregnant..the ovuscope also has a high accuracy rate of predicting the likely sex of the child. Dr Chi's book explains how this works.
www.chi-health.com/.../HERBAL_book.htm
JUST SAY NO TO ARTIFICIAL HORMONES, PEOPLE.
I HAD TO TAKE DEPO-PROVERA, A PROGESTERONE BASED, BIRTH CONTROL. I WAS HAVING HORRIBLE MENORRAGHIA FROM A UTERINE FIBROID WHICH IS NOW OUT.
ANYWAY, I HAVE JUST PASSED THE 50-DAY HALF LIFE AND I CANNOT WAIT UNTIL IT IS OUT OF MY SYSTEM.
If you are going to use birth control pills, I think this is an interesting pill to check out. Newer versions of birth control pills in the past were a great improvement over older versions. Before contraceptive devices were readily available, some women often had child after child. They didn't have menstrual cycles. I know the pill isn't for all women. It certainly wasn't for me. I've been off of it for 10 years. It caused my blood pressure to increase while I was in my 20's.
Resa
I agree Mary... I have had painful ones when I was still single to the point when I also experience having vertigo but that doesn't mean that there would be no more comforts. Now that I had two kids (and planning for 2 more...) menstruation is something that is easy for me to have now. I do not bleed so much anymore and I agree that you just need to eat healthy, exercise regularly and stay happy. I am not on any pill which is good for me as I know that pills can have a bad effect in a woman's body and health. So, I am sticking with having the periods even though there are discomforts (which is not for life...).
Lesly
The reason why women live longer than men is their monthly blood letting, called period. When the period is painful it is a sign of a chronic ovary problem that can be treated quickly and effectively with Neural Therapy (injection of a local anaestetic onto the nerve plexus between ovaries and uterus). It will also help in the symptoms of chronic ovary problems: pain in major joints (hip, knee, elbows, writs, big toe, thumb), sacroiliac joints, stiff necks and gall bladder problems. Do not expect a gynaecologist to diagnose this! Taking hormones will always make the problems worse. When you take a hormone you have no natural periods at all (as the article suggests) but a hormone withdrawal bleeding that might look like a period but is something entirely different. The increase in *** cancer through taking hormones is well documented. So *** cancer, arthitis, stiff necks, lower back pain and gall bladder problems when you get older as a price for not having periods - is it worth it? For preventing pregnancy: Ever heard of the "Maybe Baby" microscope? It is a little microscope where you put a drop of saliva and let it dry. If you see a fern pattern you are fertile. No hormones, no guesswork, no side effects.
Menstruation is clensing our (female) body of impurities. Also is preparing body for pregnancy and birth of the baby ( blood loss and rejuvination).
We (women) are design to have menstrual cycle and PLEASE do not mess with that!!!
There are SOOOOO many problems with PILL and infertility is one of them.
Pass the info to your female friends and educate them.
What is going on with ALL drug companies? They will do anything for the money?!!!!
I like how Eckhart Tolle (Power of Now) talks about how many women can reach enlightenment during their menstrual cycle. His exercises have helped me come to appreciate that time of the month and use it as a time of reflection and also to take good care of myself physically and spiritually. I suffered terribly all through my teen years and 20's with cramps and PMS. I wish the Power of Now was available to me during those trying years when I thought menstruation was such a curse. After practicing the Power of Now and "catching" the negative thoughts and pain before they "take me over" has been a Godsend. Now during that time I feel energized, connected to the planet and empowered. I meditate a great deal during that time to stay in control. If I do experience pain I sit and feel it instead of trying to run from it, and what I find is that it can't take hold of me. On the physical level I have also found that Red Clover Extract is an amazing supplement for keeping me regular and lessening the side effects (including excessive bleeding, *** tenderness, etc).
My menstrual cycles were so horrible, from just before I ovulated to a week after my period began (I had one good week a month), pregnancy was a huge relief. In fact, until I had a hysterectomy in 2001 (which gave me back my life), the only time I was ever healthy after I started menstruating at thirteen was when I was pregnant. I never had morning sickness, and the few minor discomforts, such as needing to pee all the time, were nothing compared to the torture I went through when I wasn't pregnant. Two of my daughters (as did my mother before me) have also gone through this struggle, and birth control pills are the ONLY treatment that work. If I could have continued taking them (I had to stop after my last child was born because I couldn't afford them, and insurance didn't cover them at the time), I would not have spent more than a decade of my life sick, exhausted, in pain, and emotionally labile while trying to raise my five kids, one of whom suffers from a serious mental illness and needed a healthy mother, not the chrinically ill one with whom he was saddled. Women who haven't suffered as I, my mother, and my daughters have don't have the right to an opinion about whether birth control pills are good or bad, they just have the right to make their own choice whether or not to use them.
Reasons why every girl should love their Period:
I'M NOT PREGNANT! WHOOO!
Keeps Iron Levels at bay
Sure reason to beg my teachers to allow bathroom visits (unless you have a really mean teacher)
I am ensuring that I am healthy and my body is doing it's job
I'm still Fertile
I have a legitimate reason not to go swimming if I don't want to
Oh, and by the way, the pill still lets a thin "lush" layer form on the uterus, but you don't expel it.
Um, yuck. I don't know about you, but a lush layer of wall doesn't need to be there unless I'm pregnant!
I couldn't have said it better myself! Well done!
The "too many periods" comment may have some basis in a study that showed that the more children a woman has and breastfeeds, and the longer she breastfeeds, the lower her risk of certain cancer (I think it was *** cancer)is. I can't dig up the study right now but there was one done where, normalizing for other factors, the bottom line seemed to support that fewer periods (due to pregnancy and breastfeeding) = lower cancer risk.
I think that eliminating periods through artificial hormones isn't a good idea...I think that anything that messes with mother nature is bound to be a bad choice long term, but that may be where the idea of "too many periods" comes from.
I'll post the link to the study if I can find it. It was an interesting read.
Jen
CarolineK250,
I am on depo right now, and I hate it. I can't belive that you haven't had any side effects. Here is one thing for you to think of: there is a "black box" warning on the label that you cannot take it for more than 2 years. Man, I only had one injection...... never ever again.
What is Heather M's problem with God???? Since when is believing in God a religious only thing? We were created by God and He has given us an AWESOME immune system. We just need to give our bodies what they need to thrive and to heal themselves when needed. And that would be with things made by God. Organic, live foods in their natural state! Not synthetic drugs/hormones etc.. I can only pray for you Heather M! We have just as much a right to speech as you have. SO please STOP telling others to NOT mention Jesus (Our Lord and savior). You, nor anyone else will have me turn away or be ashamed to mention Jesus. If you have such a problem with Jesus and other people's opinions and beliefs, maybe you should stop reading other peoples comments in this forum! Or do you get some kind of pleasure knocking down God in every forum? It is you I feel sorry for! You will be in my prayers.
Oh, and Heather M., The bible and God are not "Fables".
Hi Dotty, that's wonderful! Could you be more specific? My girlfriend is suffering from endo. The doc wants her to go on the pill. She's taking a lot of anticonvulsants that are probably not good for her body, but she can't stop taking those. Any info much appreciated.
I have suffered from Endo for 12 years, and am finally on the road to recovery WITHOUT birth control or anything else a doctor will tell you to do. One of my favorite books is
Endometriosis: A key to healing and fertility through nutrition
by Dian Shepperson Mills and Michael Vernon
(the version with berries across the front)
This book has offered so much insight to the disease, as well as SO many options to try to help with fertility or to lessen symptoms and cure the disease. It takes time and effort and persistence, but I have had more success using this book (and Dr. Mercola's site) in the last year that I have had in the past 11 years with conventional medicine and pills.
Ditch everything your Gyn is telling you are "your only options". What a lie! You have to believe that your body has the power to heal itself!
Thank you Maj...very well put.
Blessings
Dr. Trudy
If your friend has amalgam fillings it would be a good start to take those out CORRECTLY. Neural therapy nearly always helps in endometriosis. The only problem is to find a doctor who knows how to do it.