Side Effects of Hormonal Birth Control
If you’ve ever been on the “granola” side of Tik Tok, you might have seen videos demonizing the pill. It’s described in black and white terms, and dismissed as “toxic” or even “evil.”
Luckily, this is not how all, or even most, holistic practitioners think. But there are those fickle few who speak the loudest, scaring those who use, and chastising doctors who prescribe, hormonal birth control.
This is not a helpful perspective because it limits women and menstruator’s choices.
It takes away their agency and positions them as passive. Though we often critique the way medicine has interacted with women, at R&R, we insist that what we actually need is more education, more access, and more choice.
When it comes to hormonal birth control, we believe menstruators ought to be armed with all the necessary information they need to make the right decision for their body.
Some will choose non-hormonal methods while others will stick with the pill. If preventing pregnancy is your foremost concern and low- or no-fuss methods are the only option that will work, the pill or IUD might be a good solution. But it’s important to remember that nothing comes for free – there are serious side effects to hormonal birth control that you should be aware of so you can mitigate its consequences.
Specific side effects vary depending on brand, formulation and amount of time used, but there are some main problems that everyone on HBC should be aware of.
So let’s get into it!
Nutrient Deficiencies
The combination birth control pill has been shown to deplete essential vitamins and minerals, including B Vitamins, Vitamin C & E, zinc, magnesium and selenium.
Nutrient deficiencies can worsen PMS symptoms and make it harder for your cycle to return post-birth control. It can also cause other systemic effects throughout the body since these vitamins and minerals are used for thousands of tasks including digestion, thyroid function, hormone regulation and energy production.
The jury’s still out on whether this type of depletion is only caused by the pill or inherent in all forms of hormonal birth control. But one thing’s for sure: if you’re taking the pill it’s important to supplement these depleted nutrients through food and vitamins.
Increased Anxiety and Mood Swings
All types of hormonal birth control, whether it’s combination or progestin-only, have been shown to impact mental health. This varies dramatically from person to person – some people notice little to no change, while others experience severe symptoms. Alarmingly, some will even have suicidal ideation while on HBC.
Generally, the mental health effects will range from feeling a little low, moody or irritable, to feeling “numb” or experiencing depressive episodes or anxiety attacks.
This is because HBC shuts down your body’s ability to make the vital feel-good hormone progesterone. It’s a crucial regulator of our moods, energy levels and sleep quality. Progesterone is only made through ovulation and HBC primarily works by preventing ovulation.
Loss of Libido
This is something that many people notice on any type of hormonal birth control.
Sadly, there are a lot of ways that HBC is reducing your libido.
It stops ovulation which significantly reduces your primitive drive to have sex.
It decreases your testosterone production.
Did you know? Women actually make more testosterone than estrogen! Testosterone is essential for motivating intimacy and maintaining a healthy sex drive.
It may decrease arousal fluid, meaning that women will get less “wet” which can make sex more frustrating or painful.
It can reduce or minimize the ability to orgasm.
It can shrink the size of your clitoris by up to 20%
There can be a lot of pressure, especially in heterosexual relationships, on women to “keep up” with their male partners’ drive for intimacy. This is obviously not always the case, but it’s important to note that HBC is working against our sex drive, and that can be really disheartening. If you’re self-conscious about having a low sex drive, just know that there is nothing wrong with your body! It’s not your fault – the drive for intimacy looks different for everyone and it might just be a consequence of HBC overriding your natural hormone production.
Cancer Risks
Birth control, especially the combination pill, has an interesting relationship with cancer. It can reduce the risk of certain cancers like ovarian, uterine and colorectal, but can increase the risk of others, like brain, liver and breast cancer.
This seems to be caused by the synthetic hormones and the decrease in ovulatory activity.
The increased risk can be especially concerning if there’s a family history of these cancers. If so, discuss with your trusted medical practitioner.
Shuts Down Ovulation and Your Natural Cycle
Hormonal birth control shuts down the production of the four main hormones that control your cycle: FSH, LH, estrogen and progesterone. This can lead to greater systemic issues, like those discussed above.
Shutting down your body’s natural hormonal rhythm has another surprising effect. Believe it or not, it can actually change who you’re attracted to. Menstruators actually report having different “types” during and post-birth control. Wild!
When choosing a birth control method, it’s crucial to weigh the pros and cons of each type in order to make an educated decision on which, if any, is right for you. It can be complicated territory to navigate, especially when we’re inundated with flashy marketing, scary warnings and opinions galore.
We won’t sugar coat it: there are serious consequences of being on hormonal birth control. But learning about how the pill and other HBC methods impact your body is the first step to mitigating these harmful side effects and making the most of your birth control.
For those that are ready to come off birth control, download our free post-pill starter pack. If you're choosing to stay on, learn more about how to support your body on HBC.
