Quickie post:
A while ago there was a post on Alas about whether or not the use of birth control pills to suppress menstruation was pathologizing womanhood and moving women away from a more “natural” state.
I have irregular periods. And incredibly painful periods. So I’m with those who vote that no, using these pills to suppress mensturation is not pathologizing womanhood. Some of us have periods that really, really suck. And you can say we’re weird people, and that people with “normal” periods shouldn’t be worrying about bleeding in that way — and maybe that’s true. I believe that some people have lovely, normal periods that aren’t horrible and painful and debilitating, and there’s no reason why their mensturation should be treated as a disease.
But you know, I’ve known a lot of women in my life who, like me, are really knocked out by the pain and cramping of our menstruation. Our cycles may be abnormal and not representative of womanhood as a whole, but there are a lot of us, and consequently, I appreciate medical research that looks into alleviating our problems, even if it doesn’t feel natural to people who aren’t afflicted with painful periods.
Anyway, I didn’t bring this up just to harp on that particular old debate… I brought it up because, during that thread, I mentioned that I’d been informed by my gynecologist that it is necessary for women to sometimes purge their uterine lining, because the rapidly growing cells can become cancerous if they’re left to divide and divide. Someone, I believe it was Mythago, told me that I was wrong and had misunderstood what my gynecologist said. Well, I wasn’t wrong. I am currently under medical treatment to induce a purge for just those reasons.
I’m sure it’s fine if women don’t menstruate for the periods of time that are orchestrated by the pills under discussion. If you menstruate four times a year, I guess that’s fine. But if your uterine lining does seem to be growing and growing, but not purging, that’s not healthy.
I didn’t bring this up to bash on Mythago for mistakenly saying I was wrong, ‘cuz whatever. Old discussion. No big deal. But at the time, I started to really doubt myself and my memory. And just in case anyone else who has a weird menstrual cycle was reading and believed the incorrect medical information that was left in that thread — I just wanted to mention that Mythago’s claim was incorrect. The uterus does need purging, and even the so-called “fake” periods stimulated by birth control pills or progesterone pills will do.
Comments are feminist only, cuz really, some anti-feminist’s take on my uterus is the last thing I want to hear. If you feel moved to comment, please don’t be a jerk about my personal medical problems.
I totally get where you’re coming from on the painful periods. Before my last surgery, i had near-fatal endometriosis. If i could have taken BCP (they really don’t agree with me) to keep from having any periods, ever? I would have been all over that like white on rice.
To me, this is completely not a feminist issue. It’s a “my body is not functioning properly and i need to do this to be functional” issue.
i used to think the same about me being trans – that it was a “i need to do this to be functional” issue. in some feminist’s minds, i was apparently wrong.
I hope I’m not misreading you, but when you say
“I mentioned that I’d been informed by my gynecologist that it is necessary for women to sometimes purge their uterine lining, because the rapidly growing cells can become cancerous if they’re left to divide and divide.”
Are you refering to women who menstruate regularly, or to women taking the oral-contraceptive continuously? It’s a bit hard to tell in context, but reads as though you are talking about taking the oral contraeptive.
Even though firm data for newer low dose pills is lacking, the oral-contraceptive generally prevents the rapid dividing and proliferation of endometrial cells and reduces the risk of endometrial cancer (while not reducing or possibly slightly incresing the risk of breast and cervical cancers)
I take contraceptives to prevent anemia, which occurs mainly because they stop the continuous proliferation of the uterine lining.
Not only do I have awful, heavy, crampy periods, I get terrible PMS. Exhausted, anxious, and depressed. Now that I’m starting a heavy workload grad program, going on bc to surpress menstruation is appealing. I always did wonder about the uterine lining, so thanks for the heads up. When I go to the doctor to talk about bc, I’ll be sure to bring this up.
Also, vitamin B6 is great for problem periods. I take it everyday, and it has helped a lot of with the nasty PMS/menstrual symptoms.
Ok I have ZERO Firsthand experience with this but…
Anything that be done to make any woman have a less horrible experience with any Gender specific problems has my enthusiastic vote.
We men have it way too easy all the time. Any man who has any other opinion has his head firmly inserted…in my humble opinion.
Screw natural … go for functional and comfort
Steve
I’m going on BCPs after “soldiering on” with horrid PMS and up to 9 days of cramping, clotting, etc., for many years – exacerbated now by perimenopause. This first month has been a riot of clashing hormones, but things are starting to settle down. It’ll be great to be able to go to work five days a month without a fistload of ibuprofen, a box of tampons and several hot packs.
So I am right there with you, Mandolin. Rock on.
Ditto on the empathy. People who haven’t experienced severe dysmenorrhea have no clue just how debilitating it can be.
There is a short story by a lady named Connie Willis called “Even the Queen” that focuses on this topic. It is hysterical. She’s got two short story collections… Fire Watch and Impossible Things, I think it is the latter.
I urge you to find a copy of this and read it. It’s not profound, it’s not going to change your life or solve your problems but it’s a damn fine, funny story and I think it would cheer you up.
I’m currently undergoing treatment to force a period, myself. I have all kinds of period issues, including menstrual bleeding that wouldn’t stop and landed me in the hospital with severe anemia.
I, too, am for more research into menstrual issues. I don’t think they’ve done nearly enough. I still don’t know why my period wouldn’t stop the time it didn’t stop. I don’t know why my periods are irregular in the first place. I don’t think my doctors just neglected to tell me these things. I think they don’t know. More research definitely needs to be done.
-E
Period wars round 2. Just joking :)
I figure people who’ve never had horrific period pain think it’s a matter of nasty cramps every-so-often. When I had dysmenorrhea, it was like every muscle between the navel and the thighs had tightened up. Walking hurt. Sitting hurt. Without prescription-strength naproxen taken regularly, sex hurt. It was like having a giant abdominal charley horse.
But, heck, the main thing I hate about periods is just dealing with the mess. The pads, the tampons, the laundry, the everything. I got bored with involuntary bodily discharge after diapering the second baby. Just lost its charm for me, it did.
I guess my thing is that even justifications on some level miss the point.
Whether periods are (periodically) necessary or not, whether stopping them is medically necessary or not . . . I am broadly in favor of people doing as they please with their own bodies.
There shouldn’t be a justification needed, because it’s nobody else’s goddamn business, goddamn it.
More information is good. Crapping all over the personal choices of others is not.
—Myca
Myca said, “More information is good. Crapping all over the personal choices of others is not.”
Yeah, that’s the main problem. There isn’t enough thorough research about the long term effects of menstrual suppression and menstruaation in general. Moreover, there seem to be some patriachal biases creeping into how the research is framed and conducted.
I also don’t want this debate to be reduced to the whole “smoargasboard choice feminism” argument.
I am NOT saying that it is unhealthy to suppress your period when you are under medical supervision.
I AM saying that if your body stops menstruating on its own, you probably have to chat with someone about why it’s doing that — and you may have to figure out a way to induce a period.
The latter is unrelated to the former, except that I brought it up during a debate about the former, and was told it was untrue.
“Moreover, there seem to be some patriachal biases creeping into how the research is framed and conducted. ”
You’re right, Rachel. I agree with that.
Errggghhh. Damn, I wish I could just get rid of the uterine lining altogether, now that I’m done with it.
I too see it as a “what works for each person and her body” issue.
I myself don’t know if I’ll ever have another period, and I don’t much care. This agnostic state is due to perimenopause, not to any medical issue. My dysmenorrhea was pretty bad; it was cured temporarily by the pill (never knew that about the fake periods, very interesting) and permanently by childbirth, but that’s rather drastic if your primary goal isn’t to have a baby. If it is, there’s at least one nice side benefit, for some people, anyway.
Wait – please clarify for me, Mandolin, if it’s not too personal. Are the problems you’re experiencing the result of taking oral contraceptives to suppress periods, or because you stopped having them on your own? I’m a little confused as to why the uterine lining would be growing at all, and thus need to be purged, if the Pill were being used to prevent ovulation. Pill –> no ovulation –> no uterine lining build-up –> no need to purge, right?
No, I did not take the pill to suppress menstruation. I never said that I did.
i suppose it’s a good thing nobody’s tried to pull off any “fight until first blood” puns yet…
Wait, if regular periods is nature cleaning you out and menopause is natural—
Well, which is it?
Amanda said, “Wait, if regular periods is nature cleaning you out and menopause is natural—
Well, which is it?”
They can both be. We don’t have to have black/white either/or thinking about this issue.
What is very clear is that the jury is still out on the long term effects of menstrual suppression.
Now I will patiently wait for somebody to say the bleeding you have while you take the pill is not a period, and menstruation is completely useless, horrible, debilitating, gross, disgusting, and whatever else they want to say…….
This is an interesting and very informative post. I have the feeling that, at 56, I am likely older than most of you who have left comments, but I feel the need to share a bit of info with all of you – for what it will be worth. I began taking the Pill when it first became available, back in the dark ages of the late 60’s. Believe it or not the doctor (not an OBGYN but a small-town physician) prescribed it as a cure for ACNE. If anything, my skin was far worse while I was on the pill, but that’s another story. I was regular, didn’t have horrific cramps, and life went on. After about two years of taking the pill I decided it wasn’t right for me; I didn’t do a lot of research about it – way back then there wasn’t much out there in the way of information anyway. It just seemed to me that I didn’t want to mess around with my hormones, and that the drug makers really didn’t have much of a track record in the way of possible side-effects, etc.
Fast forward three (planned) pregnancies later to the mid-80’s. Something was happening to me inside, but no doctor, not even my OBGYN, would take my complaints seriously. “Women’s problems” … even “you need Paxil,” one of them said. “You’re getting close to menopause, just wait it out.” !!!
To say the pain I was experiencing was debilitating is a gross understatement. Turns out I had undiagnosed endo growing in the walls of my large intestine. Impossible to see with a lap test or even an endoscope; consequently, in 1999 when I had emergency surgery to remove 4 feet of bowel, it was hard for my attorney to justify a personal injury/malpractice suit.
To make a long story short – pleasepleaseplease talk to your physician about the possibility of endometriosis. Harrass him/her if you have to, but try your damndest to rule this condition out before you treat menstruation as the culprit. The symptoms are tricky – one OB confided to me that he had one patient who had endo in her lungs (she had to have half of one lung removed) and another of his patients had endo in her shoulder joint. Everyone has random endometrial cells floating around in their bodies from birth – even men, though they have little to fear unless they are taking female hormone therapy.
Do your research. This is a horrible disease. And good luck.
I’m closing comments on this entry as I closed comments on the other one. I don’t need any more unsolicited medical advice.
I mean, I know it’s well-intended, and I thank you for all your good intentions. But it’s also really, really upsetting to me to have people suggest I get a hysterectomy, or assume I haven’t talked to my gynecologist, or start an argument about their feelings about BIG PHARMA when the subject is my body.