Life changing choice that will affect future quality of life

Ok. So I'm neutral to this topic. My objective is to acquire references to support either decision.

The decision relates to Birth Control.

My wife and I do not want a child right now seeing we are both in our early 20's and don't feel we have the baseline resources to support and give to another human. Thus, my wife takes birth control.

My wife and I also like to balance western medicine with eastern. Our herbologist feels my wife's estrogen levels are low because of taking broth control and her body not producing any because of the BC. He also is concerned that there are long-term effects (E.g. If you stop, your body will not be able to produce estrogen ever again because it's been so dependent on birth control).
I don't have enough resources to make an educated decision. I want to weigh the risks. My wife feels a lot of her generalized symptoms may be directly related to the BC use that is causing low estrogen.

How does BC physiologically keep the endocrine system from producing estrogen?
Also, some my wife's symptoms are symptoms like mood swings, being excessively tired occasionally, overly-emotional, etc...
I told her we could stop taking it and use condoms to see if it helps.
If it doesn't we will know it's other things.
Any information will help. If you are biased to one side it's ok, I'm neutral and want to be convinced either way.
I just want to keep doing BC to ensure we don't have a kid, because it has been working and let's face it, sex feels best without condoms.

a reply to: TheCretinHop

Any time you take exogenous hormones you will have diminished natural production. Also the type of estrogen is far more toxic to the body than natural estrogen. It's more powerful and kicks out your normal healthy estrogen. It is no good. Stay away from birth control pills.

There is more than one sort of BC pill.

There is oestrogen, progesterone only and oestrogen progesterone combined.

In my 20's I tried them all, to adverse affect, mood swings, depression, thoughts of suicide, malaise.

I cannot take any of them and wouldn't recommend any of them.

There are non chemical ways of BC that are more effective IMO.

a reply to: TheCretinHop

You don't have to use the BC 'pill' in order to prevent pregnancy - there's a thing called an IUD that, I believe, is supposed to be as effective as the pill...

...Now, back in the 70's there was a big 'to do' over a brand of IUD that turned out to be very harmful, but since then there has been a lot of progress and they are quite safe now.

Whatever you do, don't try to rely on the "Rythym Method", it is extremely unpredictable because it is possible for women to produce eggs at random - also, sperm can stay alive in the woman's body for up to three days after sex, so you may think you are in a safe 'window' of her cycle, but if she is 'off' by just one or two extra days, pregnancy could occur...

Also, whatever you do - please do not take any risk of pregnancy at all until you are absolutely certain you are emotionally and financially ready for children...Having a child is far more stressful than people realize and added to the stress of it being an 'unwanted' pregnancy, parenthood can seem far more a burden than a joy...and parental stress can be a major factor in having a negative effect on the child's development...

...Also, during pregnancy, stress can cause the mother to produce chemicals (like cortisol) that can cause defects as the baby's brain is developing...

Sorry for the preaching - child development is a major concern of mine..

a reply to: TheCretinHop

First, your wife should get a second opinion on the "never gonna produce estrogen again due to the BC" info. Women taking oral BC , who take certain antibiotics for minor infections of ear, respiratory, etc....can become pregnant. Those antibiotics can neutralize the efficacy of the oral BC.

You are to be commended for your decision to wait to have children until you can financially afford to provide for their care and rearing.
Kudos!!

There are many excellent resources online to help you answer all your questions. Have you been to Just answer.com? I am not advertising or advocating for that site but they have the kind of resources that might assist you.


My best wishes for your marriage and future children.. Sounds like they will be blessed with excellent parents.

a reply to: TheCretinHop

My ex used to take them.. She didn't like it after awhile. She also hated condoms, lol...
Now she is getting back to normal. She says she will NEVER ever again take hormones of any kind. I don't know if that's true, who knows the future, but she means it.

I noticed a steep drop in desire upon quitting the pills. That may have been one of the last straws that broke our relationship.
She seems better now though.


And OP.. What is Broth Control?? She wasn't foaming at the mouth?
Hahahaha..

You can always get a vasectomy.

a reply to: lostgirl

IUD's are very effective and also some alleviate heavy menstruation.

I have been on bc pills that made me feel like I was having a 'roid rage! Some not so bad in that area, but killed my libido! I had the copper IUD and it was atrocious. First, 2 week long periods, with horrible cramps, then it evolved into a week, couple days off, back on for another week. I had it removed at that point. My sister had great success with the hormonal IUD, but I didn't want to chance it.

Now I "listen" to my body. I know when I am in my fertile week. Since my last child was born I get a pretty intense cramping feeling for the days leading up to and during ovulation. It's weird, but very handy.

I realize this isn't the case for most women; knowing when your fertile week is by physical symptoms alone, but it works well for me.

a reply to: TheCretinHop

If you want a healthy kid in the end

You wear rubber and don't touch your woman's chemical mechanism

Up to you, buy into doctors bs if you want an easy life with hardship later

Thank you very much! I will go to that site and see what I can learn.a reply to: Ultralight

Thanks for all the replies! It really helps me weigh in more options.

Do some research into birth control. Only you and your wife can determine what is right for you.