My best friend from high school started taking the pill when we were about 17, and she was like, “OMG you should totally go on it, it’s great!” And, I can’t even believe how shallow I was, but I didn’t want to go on it because…I didn’t want to get fat.  Can you believe that?  I just kept reading that you put on weight and in my 17 year old brain that was a Deal Breaker.



A few years later, when I started to, you know, get busy, I went on the pill, ready for a barrage of side effects, but didn’t have any.  Well, except for two: my breasts doubled in size, and my periods were shorter and lighter.  I’m thinking, okay, I can handle that.



I stayed on the pill for 10 solid years, trouble free, until I decided that it was time to have a baby.  I was off the pill for just 4 months before becoming pregnant.  But in those 4 months, I had the 3 worst menstrual cycles of my life, and that’s including the super erratic, embarrassing messes in junior high.  I had crazy heavy bleeding with tons of cramping.  I immediately thought I have to go right back on the pill as soon as they will let me after I have this baby.  It was clearly the only way to avoid these horrible bouts of menstruation.



Fast forward to about 3 months post partum, when I think it might be ok to get down and dirty again.  (And yes, my husband is a saint, he actually did wait that long.)  I was breastfeeding, so I was put on an estrogen-free “mini pill”.  With this pill, nothing really changed (thankfully because seriously, who could deal with both that and a newborn?  Perhaps Super Woman, but not yours truly).  There were no breaks (aka placebo pills), so I still was not menstruating, and my hormones were relatively stable.



It was when I weaned the kiddo at 12 ½ months and went back on my same old pill that the trouble began.  The hormone fluctuations of weaning the baby and the hormones in the new pill proved to be a roller coaster ride of a combination.  The first month, I was so convinced I was pregnant, I took 3 home tests, and called the doctor and spoke with her for a half hour about my mysteriously negative results.



I had horrible headaches, I had horrible bloating, I had worse morning sickness than when I was actually pregnant, I was a bit fainty, I had terrible acne, I had crazy food cravings (I wanted dill pickles so badly one day, I went to the store and got them… and a pregnancy test) and was constantly hungry, and the fatigue.  My god, the fatigue.  Being on the pill after having and nursing a baby was turning out to be worse than pregnancy itself.  Without any of the fringe benefits, like a big belly you’re supposed to have, a party where you get lots of cute baby clothes, and, oh yeah, a cute little baby.



But, that leaves me where I am today, 4 months after weaning (and still lactating—yippee!).  The symptoms have subsided a bit, but not much, and it may just be that I’ve learned to live with them.  I have an appointment soon to meet with my doctor about some alternative methods of birth control, because I’m ready to strangle whoever decided this was a good idea!



Well, no, not really, that’s the crazy hormone monster coming out again. Down, girl.  Truthfully, the pill is a great invention.  It basically jump-started the modern women’s movement.  It is a true godsend for some women.  But, the hormonal implications can be too much for your body, especially when it’s trying to bounce back from such traumatic events as pregnancy, birth, labor and delivery, breastfeeding and reintroduction of menstruating.



What have your experiences been like with the pill?  What other methods have you tried successfully?  Unsuccessfully?

Beth Wankel blogs at Very Bloggy.