Every single time I get a new script my GP asks questions about my health, my mental health, my weight, and my reproductive health (she especially asks about the list of known side-effects for the brand of pill I’m on).

She also ensures my pap smears are up to date, or I’m not allowed a new script.

I’m beginning to think, from some of the stories, here that I’ve somehow stumbled on an awesome doctor who does a fantastic job of proactively keeping me healthy

A lot of coverage around this has been very negative. I saw an article (in Vice I think) that asked women to write about their horror stories with the pill. I think the study is great and will hopefully allow women to make informed choices about it. But the coverage surrounding it isn’t great. It’s like they’re trying to scare women off their contraception which isn’t a great idea. It reminds me a bit of when Yasmin/Yaz was found to have a slightly higher risk of blood clots than other pills – a lot of media coverage portrayed unnecessarily scary pictures of what can happen when you take the pill. 

So many good points here. When I first read that article I was really outraged, cos it confirmed a lot of anecdotal stories from friends and myself about hormonal contraception and doctors invalidating women’s concerns. I still think this is a very real problem but… Looking deeper into it though, I know that most friends my age are uncomfortable, and almost scared, about seeking out a good GP, or changing doctors and finding someone good, asking for a longer consultation to talk about their concerns, things like that. Myself included! I wonder if its partly to do with growing up with the internet, maybe we don’t try and seek out these conversations irl? @Aunt_Flo , such a good point! I feel like the same thing happened with IUDs back when they had a crappy design and it was having serious health effects. They only seem to be making a comeback now- shows how powerful media can be! Will be interesting to see how long this plays out…

True @NickiPower! There’s a lot of people who demonise the pill and suggest getting off it without explaining that mood swings and other issues can also occur when coming off the pill. 

I wasn’t surprised by this study, I’ve experienced depression while on pill with a higher dose oestrogen + progesterone a few years ago and when I tried to explain how I felt to the doctor she completely invalidated my experience by just saying “no… the pill doesn’t have that effect, maybe you’re just not eating well or exercising enough.” 

I agree @v4wanndii whats most important is being fully informed – not only the health practitioner but also the individual so they can make an informed choice about whats best for them. @MsBlueStreak it sounds like your doctor is doing a good job of that! I think its important to be continually checking up on it as mental health and reactions to medication can change over time!

When I did my thesis on how young women make contraceptive decisions, we found that most women just put all of their trust in GP’s and just went with whatever they suggested – which was almost always the pill. We also found that most of the women weren’t very well informed about the many different options or the pill itself or how it worked in their body. So maybe we just need to motivate people to ask questions and be as informed as possible and this would minimize the risk/symptoms for certain women!

@RoseHill That sounds like a super interesting thesis! I also agree, I was a teenager when I went on the pill and went back and forth between different brands over the years, however received no information on the changes in each brand, hormone dosage etc. I found greater access to information, and becoming self informed made me make the decision to go off entirely.  

Has anyone seen the news on male hormonal contraceptives? A trial of an hormonal injection has been blocked because of the side effects. http://www.sbs.com.au/topics/life/health/article/2016/10/31/extremely-effective-male-contraceptive-injection-trial-ditched

Very interesting to see that trials stopped there, yet the side effects mimic those which can be quite common among pill users.