I wasn't even sexually active when I decided to get on birth control. My period cramps were so unbearable and with no insurance, there were few places to turn to. Since I am a bit hypochondriacal I usually end up on WebMD for all my medical needs and answers. Apparently, many women turn to birth control to help ease or take away all the pain completely. I knew this too. A few years back when I did have insurance I was on the pills. No pain whatsoever but I just have no discipline so remembering to take them was a total drag.
Earlier this year I enrolled in a program called Planning for Healthy Babies (P4HB) through Medicaid. You could say it's insurance but not really because you only receive limited medical benefits that have to do with family planning. Here's the list of services they provide:
- Family planning initial exam and annual exam
- Contraceptive (birth control) services and supplies
- Follow-up family planning visits
- Pregnancy tests and pap smears
- Testing for STD(s)
- Treatment and follow-up for all STD(s) except HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis
- Counseling and referrals to social services and primary health care providers
- Sterilization
- Family planning pharmacy visits
- Vitamins/folic acid
- Select immunizations for participants ages 19 and 20. Participants age 18 receive vaccines at no cost
It had to be the most painful day of my life. I never gave childbirth but the pain had to be up in that category. To make matters worse, the doctor was incapable of doing it so she assigned the nurse practitioner to me. The nurse told me the doctor had trouble inserting IUD in a previous patient and didn't want to mess up with me too! Can you imagine my fear? The nurse assured that she could get the job done. The procedure was less than five minutes but felt like a lifetime. She said, "You're going to feel a poke." I swear to you it felt like a knife jabbed into me. When she stretched out my uterus to what I thought the point of no return, I questioned if I really needed birth control. After she left the room I was left to fend for myself. I should have invited a friend to come with me because I could barely walk around.
As the months passed, I could barely feel the cramping and the bleeding came to a minimum. I went from using regular pads to a pantiliner. It's been almost 7 months now and I thought the bleeding would completely stop like the pain did but I was wrong. Since month three, I have been spotting every single day. I absolutely hate it. I've noticed so many other body changes too. Here's a list:
- excessive hair growth in places I'd rather not mention
- hair thinning
- acne & oily skin
- loss of sex interest...I literally hate sex now!
If you read this blog, I am warning you: JUST BETTER YOUR DIET AND STAY FIT! Don't take birth control its no BUENO.