I am going to share something very personal with you. I was on hormonal birth control (pill then Nuvaring) for 8 years. I originally went on to it for acne in high school, then it became a necessity for, well, you know.
Over the last few years, I have had a decreasing libido which has been hard on my relationship with my husband. I was beginning to think I had mental issues causing me to be this way, and even did some hypnosis for it. It wasn't mental.
I finally had suffered too long, and decided it was time to see a specialist.
I went to a clinic that specializes in female sexual issues, and had some tests done to determine if this was a physical issue or mental issue, or even both.
The blood work results came back, and I found out that my testosterone levels were so low, that they couldn't even measure it! If you didn't know already, women do have testosterone and it affects our libido. Mine was so low that it was causing me to not have a libido.
Why was it so low? Hormonal Birth Control.
Hormonal birth control can lower your testosterone levels. Women are not told this when they go on to hormonal birth control methods...but they SHOULD be told!
I was told by my doctor that I would need to go on Androgen (testosterone) for a while to bring up my levels to normal. I was warned of the possible side effects, and decided that since my levels were so low, that I would do this for a few months and see what happened.
So far, no side effects and I'm feeling very good about my decision to go off of hormonal birth control. I have switched to the Fertility Awareness Method and a diaphragm. I do not want to be on androgen for longer than I have to, but I am willing to do it to help my body recover from being abused for so long.
If you are on hormonal birth control, PLEASE get your blood levels checked to make sure your birth control is not depleting your "natural resources".
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment