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[–]PenseePansyBio-Sex or Bust 6 insightful - 1 fun6 insightful - 0 fun7 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Wanted to share my (shitty) recent experience with a brand of birth control pill, and also the place that prescribed them. (Even lesbians might find this relevant, since birth control pills are often used to treat hormone-related medical conditions, such as PCOS.)

The pill is Estradiol (aka Blisovi Fe 1/20), and I got it from Planned Parenthood. Yeah, I realize that I shoulda known better than to go there, what with them being all aboard the Trans Train now... but I don't drive, arranging transportation to my regular doctor's office was too much of a headache, and PP-- besides being in walking distance-- was willing to do an appointment via Zoom. So I put my reservations aside and went ahead.

Birth control pills aren't effective as contraception (what I was using them for) till you've taken them for a week. On day seven, the lower back pain which I'd been experiencing for most of that time (but dismissed because the doc hadn't said anything about this as a potential side effect) got so severe that it pretty much immobilized me. We're talking inability to stand, let alone walk, unassisted; even merely sitting up was a struggle. Just rolling over in bed felt like more than I could bear. Thank god u/MarkJefferson was here! What I owe that man... particularly for standing by me when I nearly passed out from sheer pain, thereby scaring both of us half to death.

Of course I quit taking those damn pills immediately, but it was still a good two weeks before I fully recovered. So, ladies: if your doctor wants to put you on Estradiol? Beware! NOT that you'd necessarily have the same experience, I hasten to add... but lower back pain is a recognized side effect, apparently. And if you feel even a twinge of it after starting the pills, DON'T just go on taking 'em the way I (like an idiot) did!

The other thing I wanted to mention was Planned Parenthood's role in all of this. Specifically how, even though I asked them to tell me about ALL side effects, this one-- (potentially incapacitating) lower back pain-- never even came up. And it makes me wonder if this might be the result of trans-capture: that Planned Parenthood is now so focused on "gender affirmative care" that they don't even know how to provide birth control anymore. Maybe they see Estradiol not in terms of contraception but of (ew) "titty skittles" for men-with-ladyfeelz, and can't summon up much interest in a boring "cis woman" who doesn't have special sparkly pronouns, and just wants the pills to keep from getting pregnant. How fuddy-duddy! Where's the fun (and queerness) in THAT?

Anyway, lesson learned: no more Estradiol OR Planned Parenthood for me!