There is this doctor named Lorraine Day. Apparently, she has done some research that other doctor's will not tell you about. Taking birth control can increase your risk of breast cancer and not having children. I currently take birth control to regulate my periods, but this concerns me. Does anyone know any more information about this? Do you guys think I should just quit right away? And if so, are there any natural ways of regulating my periods? Please let me know right away.

I think there is definite research out there to support the theory that the pill increases your risk of breast cancer. They also say the risk goes back down after you've been off it for five years. Not sure whether thats true or not. I'm always skeptical when I think about how much money drug companies make off the pill. As far as it keeping your from having children, I doubt it. There are alternatives to the pill out there to regulate your period. One way to do it is through napro technology.

I've never heard that birth control can keep you from getting pregnant in the future.

If you aren't using birth control for birth control, and you want to stop taking them then just stop and try something else.

I thought that they helped prevent cervical cancer.

im sorry but this is wrong. the pill does NOT cause breast cancer. what happens is if you are on the pill and you HAPPEN to develope breast cancer while you are on it, then the hormones in the pill can cause the cancer to grow quickly. it does not cause it.
im not positive about the not being able to have children thing but im 95% sure thast wrong too. when you have your period they arnt real periods so are you not saving your eggs? why didnt you ask this doctor why it makes you not have children

it increases you chances of getting breast cancer. if you read the little pamphlet with the tiny letters that come with the BC pills, it says that

it increases you chances of getting breast cancer. if you read the little pamphlet with the tiny letters that come with the BC pills, it says that

I think the pamphlet says that in some instances it may increase your chances. That doesn't necessarily mean it will happen to everyone.

when you have your period they arnt real periods so are you not saving your eggs? why didnt you ask this doctor why it makes you not have children

When you are on the pill you are most definitely having real periods.

There are numerous books you can read that clearly explain the hormone cycle which causes your uterus to shed the lining, then cause your cervix to open as the ovum is released and the hair-like follicle that releases it then changes into a hormone that causes the lining of your uterus to rethicken. when an egg is unfertalized and does not attach it starts the cycle all over again.

Birth control is effective because it changes the hormone cycle so that the lining is shed regardless if the ovum (egg) is fertilized or not. This makes many people consider birth control to be an abortifacient (meaning that there is fertilzation and is rejected). If you ask your doctor if your BCP is an abortifacient or not, s/he will most likely give you a vague answer, like mine did, and my friend's did (I was sitting with her when she called him on the phone and asked and he redirected her questions a couple times before telling her with great annoyance not to worry about it and ended the conversation).

If that's not an issue for you, I personally think there are plenty of other reasons not to use birth control (see my post below that I've copied and pasted).

I find that a lot of people who don't want to deal with the negative possibilities of birth control will dismiss them as myths. It's better to be informed and angry than happy and ignorant.

All i'm saying is that if you don't agree with me, do your body a favor and take the time to research all sides, even the sides you don't agree with. There are plenty of non-biased sources that are strictly scientific and it's easy enough to piece the information together for yourself.

"one of the side effects i had from the pill was definitely loss of sex drive which was so disappointing because before i got married my husband and i were really flirty and playful (we waited to have sex until after we got married) and i started taking BCP a few months before we got married and by the 2nd or 3rd month of marriage i was just uninterested. VERY BIG PROBLEM!

I have a friend in Michigan who's a doctor and you could contact her if you like, i'm sure you could look her up on the whitepages[removed}

Her name is Dr. Louder and she specializes in women's health, has her own clinic and everything. I went to a womens conference in April 2004 and she gave a quick little seminar on the last morning. At the time i was taking BCP and that day i threw them out.

A LOT of things have changed since BCP were first introduced but if you ever read an insert that you get when you pick them up from the pharmacy, the risks are still there. When BCP were first introduced they were in such a high dosage that they caused cancer in almost everyone who took them. What Dr. Louder said is "If two packs of cigarettes a day can cause cancer, so can one, it just takes longer" See what she's saying?

And here's why (according to her, and I believe it): BCP are hormones that alter the state of your body so that you can't conceive. Some people call this abortifacient which is what it sounds like, and some people have moral issues with that. The change that it makes to your body is that it tricks in into being pregnant (why you gain weight, breasts get bigger, more emotional, might break out, etc.)

I gues this is fine if you don't want to get pregnant, but there are plenty of other ways to avoid pregnancy with out messing around with your hormone levels. My personal take is if you're not pregnant, you probably shouldn't trick your body to think it is.

Here's the problem with this method--it only works because you have an excess amount of hormones in your body. Your liver can only filter so many hormones through your body at a time. Excess hormones in your body are called xeno-estrogens (pronounced ZEE-no). You can also get these from microwaving foods in plastic containers, no joke. If you microwave something in a plastic container, you usually notice that it is somewhat flexible when it's hot. the reason for this is because it's chemial structure was altered from the microwaves, releasing plastic-making chemicals (whatever they are). Your food absorbs them and your liver has to process them. These extra hormones, from BCP or microwaved plastic, and definitely from Menopause prescriptions (which are, by the way, called premarine which is short of pregnant mare's urine, where they get the hormones from to make menopause prescriptions) are toxic to your body if they can't be absorbed by your liver.

That's why at the beginning so many women DIED from cancer caused by BCP, the extra hormones were at such a high level that they were xeno-estrogens and toxic, and I believe what happens is the hormones attach to proteins (aka muscles and tissue like your uterus and cervix) and cause the cells to mutate because they aren't supposed to be there, they are supposed to be absorbed and processed by your liver.

Like I said, they have WAY altered the dosage and lowered it considerably, but women still consistently have side effects (besides not getting pregnant, like weight gain, hair loss, break outs, etc.) which means that it's still doing something to your body you'd rather not have it do.

My understanding is that after prolonged exposure to xeno-estrogens, you have a high potential for infertility and cancer. A woman in my church was at the same seminar for women's health (that Dr. Louder led) and when she saw how upset I was after I heard all this she said "Don't worry about it, I took birth control for 10 years and I'm fine. When I stopped taking it and we tried to have kids we couldn't, but I guess we just weren't supposed to" WELL NO WONDER!

That was the last staw and I went to my room and threw them away.

Fortunately for me i had long been thinking about doing natural family planning (which my husband and i have been doing successfully for 7 cycles now) and i was already researching it.

I found out it was incredibly easy, despite what everyone told me, and i also found out that the people that warned me against it definitely never tried it and certainly didn't read about it because it's SO easy. I've convinced two of my other married friends to get of BCP and start NFP and they've both been successful and felt way better.

So i, personally, would encourage you to get off BCP, obviously.

If you have any questions about natural family planning, PLEASE ask, it's SO easy and accurate, despite what people tell you."

I am no longer able to take BC because I had a ruptured adenoma on my liver this summer. Which by the way, was caused by taking BC. Anyway, I would like to hear about family planning.... I was thinking of getting a diaphragm.

read the natural family planning thread for more info.

any questions feel free to ask away :)

If you're worried about BCP, by all means, stop taking them. There are many alternative methods from easy to perm: condoms, diaphram, IUD, sterilization, etc. There are risks to taking ANY drug/medicine (even something as "normal" as aspirin). There can also be benefits. These two have to be weighed carefully the minute you take any drug.

My suggestion is that you go online and read (*). Read a LOT. Get information from multiple sources. Suss it out and see what YOU think. Then talk to a couple of doctors and see what THEY say. So many people have taken BCP for so long, there are lots of studies on them and lots and lots of data. (Including how long it takes to get pregnant after taking BCP.) There's lots of sites that will tell you about them, the way they work, what the risks are, the statistics, everything.

You can ALWAYS find someone with either an "everything's rosy" or a "gloom and doom" opinion on just about ANYthing. Doesn't mean either is correct. Information is the only thing you have to help you make the decision right for you.

(* I'd list links, but, that's not permitted. Sorry.)