Santé's Shirley (29) has been taking the pill for five years without missing a single day. But when she gets questions about it from friends, she starts to doubt:is it really that smart?
The 'swallowing' of the pill started for practical reasons:never having your period on holiday again. No hassle with tampons that I had to smuggle unseen to the toilet by the pool, because that's how it goes when you're fourteen. A few years later, the first week off after the holiday didn't suit me either and I slowly started taking the pill for longer and longer. I got to the point where I didn't take a week off until I started having breakthrough bleeding. These days I never have a week off again.
The persistence wins, because the breakthrough bleeding that bothered me in the beginning has also stopped over time. I literally always swallow the pill, for at least five years now without intervals. This confession almost always causes me shocked reactions:is it healthy to never stop taking hormones? And how heavy will my period be if I ever stop? I've never really worried about that until now. I don't think it's bad to swallow the pill. I've heard it could even provide health benefits for some women. But what exactly? Time to get to the bottom of it.
Have or no bleeding?
For answers to my questions, I can contact Jur Oosterhuis, a gynaecologist with a specialization in reproductive medicine. He confirms what I already suspected:the stop week was devised to make the cycle with the contraceptive pill resemble the natural cycle as much as possible and that includes bleeding. For many women it feels like confirmation that the body is still working. If you temporarily stop taking the pill, you will have a withdrawal bleed because your body is not getting any hormones. This is actually a fake period, which has no function when it comes to your health. According to Oosterhuis, you can easily swallow the pill. "It makes no difference to your health, your fertility and the side effects of the pill whether you take one strip or several strips in a row." Just double check:I never stop, does that change things? Not according to Oosterhuis. He emphasizes that I am lucky that the breakthrough bleeding has finally stopped for me. Many women continue to suffer from this. That is why when swallowing the pill, the advice is often given to, for example, swallow two or three strips and then have a stop week. This reduces the chance that you will suffer from breakthrough bleeding in the meantime. If you do get breakthrough bleeding, you can choose to have a stop week, but this is not necessary for your health. Everyone's body is different and it's just what you feel comfortable with.
Benefits of swallowing the pill
Actually, the pill is actually safer if you swallow it. There are two reasons for this:because you take a pill every day without intervals, it becomes a habit, making you less likely to forget the pill. If you do forget the pill, then there is no man overboard (during a stop week you are also protected, so forgetting one pill certainly won't hurt). Of course you can't do that every week, but the pill remains reliable if you have taken the pill for at least three weeks in a row before the forgotten pill. There are even some benefits to swallowing the pill. It can reduce symptoms of endometriosis (tissue outside the uterine cavity that resembles endometrium). This is because the pill suppresses the growth of the endometrium and that is precisely what causes symptoms in some women with endometriosis. Do you have migraines during your period? Then the pill swallow is worth a try. You can also swallow the pill against PMS (premenstrual syndrome). You may not have a real menstrual period during a week off, but the hormone fluctuations can also cause you to suffer from PMS.
When someone asks me about my pill habits, I respond laconically:“No, never stopping can't hurt.” According to Oosterhuis, I appear to be right about that. Yet there is secretly one thing that I am a little afraid of. How intense will the first menstrual period be if I stop taking. the pill? Do I have to call in sick for a week in advance and lock myself up at home with a supply of super tampons and chocolate? Oosterhuis:“No, there is even a very good chance that almost nothing happens the first time. Your endometrium has probably become so thin that there is almost nothing to let go of.” One less worry:swallowing the pill really can't hurt.
Unpleasant side effects
It should come as no surprise that I wouldn't want to miss the pill, but I sometimes see pill fatigue developing around me. In the media I come across stories of women who stop taking the pill and it also occurs in my environment. Oosterhuis confirms this:more and more women in his department ask for advice about stopping the pill and inquire about alternatives. Women who do not want to stop taking the pill because they want to get pregnant, but because they have the idea that the pill has unpleasant side effects. Or they have heard that others feel better without the pill and want to experience what quitting their own body does. Girlfriend X admitted after a few pill-free weeks that she felt more emotionally stable, and she wouldn't be alone in that. Another advantage is that when some women stop taking the pill, they have a higher libido. Less sex drive can indeed be a side effect of the pill:the package insert for my pill states that one to ten in a thousand pill users suffer from a lower libido.
Read also: Experience stories of women who have stopped taking the pill
But to be honest, I don't know the package insert by heart and many other women probably don't either. If you have complaints, it can be good to take a look at the package leaflet of the pill to see if you recognize anything. Even if you suffer from mood swings, it can be worthwhile to ignore the pill for a while. Oosterhuis:“Then keep it up for a few months. The hormones from the pill are out of your body pretty quickly. If that weren't the case, you wouldn't have to take a pill every day. Despite the fact that the hormones quickly disappear from your body, you should preferably stop for three months to notice the effect. You can suffer from the side effects of the pill for longer.” In addition, your emotional state and sex drive depend on more factors than just your contraception. It is therefore sometimes difficult to determine whether these were indeed side effects of the pill.
1 to 10 in 1,000 pill users will have a lower libido because of the pill. But did you know that 1 to 10 in 10,000 users actually get a higher libido because of the pill?
Source:Microgynon 30 package insert
