last wednesday in november

heyya.

ok. im gonna talk a little frank in this message to pass on some info on contraception awareness. we're all friends here, though, and are up for learning important things, so im thinking you'll be ok with hearing it.

yeah, so some birth control pills work well, and, besides doing their jobs, go mostly unnoticed by the user. others, however, really, really suck, causing horrible emotional side effects that usually don't end up get traced back to the meds quickly or at all. it's a controversial issue, and, while everyone responds slightly different, there are significant serious trends that go unreported, such as depression and extreme moodiness, associated with certain brands of oral birth control.

here's a very low-key discussion board on the topic that is a good place to check out experiences people have with different forms of birth control, possible problems with your brand or other forms of bc, and other topics related to contraception:

Aphrodite

bad name. nice site.

and take a look at the STOP THE MADNESS GIRLS, DITCH YOUR BCP!!! post. interesting stuff.

think about passing this link on to women AND men friends.

send it to women cause, while Our Bodies, Ourselves rocks, and while it is improving in some circles, medical advice for women is still greatly lacking. women are not typically told to look critically at their body's responses to their hormonal birth control, or to see it as something that might be altering their affect or well-being. though it is hormones, general practice is to prescribe birth control pills as almost completely benign, which they are not. within oral contraception, like within contraception in general, there are many options available that could be considered. this, along with the places to go to learn more about these options, needs to be more well known.

send it on to men cause sex is sometimes hard to discuss. but, if folk really care about being good to each other, hetro couples who fuck need to talk about birth control, and should be active parties to both the economic and emotional expenses that accompany the choice they both end up benefiting from. in addition to making sure she's not taking chances, woman usually go on the pill cause they don't want to make their long-term guy have to deal with the hassle of condoms (though quick hook-ups always = condoms, dammit). this concern and consideration should go both ways, no? yeah. while everyone knows that "some guys" don't like wearing condoms because they "can't feel it as much," sexual hassles for women are a whole lot less well-publicized. it's best to learn about the realities associated with contraception, and to talk about it. and its just easier to talk and to ask your partner about stuff if you know more.

and, just in general, everyone should know that oral birth control is not always a hassle-free option.

hope all's well with all.

xo

-- ps: i first found this site after going through a spurt on a newly-prescribed crazy-making oral contraception, and just learned that Seasonale doesn't just kid around when it mentions in its fine-print possible side effects along with 80 others that it "might" cause sun sensitivity (this is after a few days in waterproof sunscreen on a surf board in the Puerto Rican sun that led to a really really nasty burn and blisters up & down the back of me legs and knees. yow! still way better than those crazy-making others. uh huh.)

My my

really?

i haven't posted since September?

crazy.