I tensed, teared up, and felt white-hot rage as I read a Natural Womanhood email this afternoon.
I had a visceral reaction to the information because it was precisely my experience, a painful experience. Almost 10 years ago, my body broke down. It was a gradual process instigated by the use of hormonal birth control pills. I had no inkling that the pills were the root of my problem. I tried exercise, dieting, more sleep, more water, and at the end of the day, I was crashing on the couch at 7pm every day, plagued by migraines, digestive upset, and many days, I had such pain after a meal, all I could do was go to sleep. It resulted in autoimmune disorders that led to severe malnutrition, food allergies, infertility, and you can check out my story in more detail here: My Beginnings
But the hardest thing to stomach is that the pain, lies, emotional and physical baggage and hardship I experienced were felt deeply and cruelly by many other women. That’s appalling to me. It’s one thing for a naive, immature 19 year old to be swayed by cultural convention, and modern medicine. But it’s something entirely disgusting and nefarious for that to be done on a massive scale to thousands and thousands of young women, with no one to account for the falsehoods pushed and the false sense of security given to women by their physicians.
Don’t misunderstand me, I don’t want to paint myself as an innocent victim, I chose hormonal birth control. But the fact is, I was fed lies and half-truths by people I trusted and respected, people supposedly in the profession of caring about my health and wellness. The actual truth is that they do not care about promoting health, or even the truth. They treat symptoms, and whatever drug companies pay them to promote as they wait for their next paycheck.
Some doctors do care about their patients. But even they are bound by the lines fed to them by their licensing body; many of them will choose compliance with what they’re told in order to maintain their license to practice, even if the truth were to metaphorically punch them in the face.
As the saying goes, truth will out. And unfortunately, I’m being vindicated in what I’ve been saying for the last decade by studies which are now making the truth plain- hormonal birth control is destructive, and every woman should learn sooner than later to advocate for herself with her physicians, because no one cares about your body as much as you do. The pill ruined my health, and while I’ve made a near complete recovery, I still suffer from various autoimmune related disorders, which are so “subclinical” my Rheumatologist dismissed me completely because I didn’t fit a standard diagnosis.
If you’re struggling with this, you aren’t alone. And that is worrisome to me. I wouldn’t wish my hardship on any woman. And I would love for governing bodies who pushed these prescription drugs as safe, effective, and harmless to be held to account.
Join me in signing this Citizens Petition to the FDA and lets do what we can to promote accountability
Wholly Holy Living 