My Hormone & Acupuncture Journey by Sophie Allegra

It’s been a journey…

Let’s back up – in early 2021, I started thinking about stopping my hormonal birth control, which I’d been on for nearly ten years. It was one of those things that became as routine as brushing my teeth, but one night as I popped the little blue pill out of its case, I started having a gut feeling that I should take a closer look at it. I knew in the back of my mind that it had been a while, but it was easy to put off – if something’s “working” for you, why change it? At this time I had been in a long term relationship for 6 years (I was engaged later that year) and the pill was an easy convenience, one less thing to worry about.

It’s important to note that when I started taking the pill 10 years ago, it was not for the obvious reason. I was 20, in college, and was experiencing sporadic cystic breakouts (the hormonal, annoying kind of under-the-skin bump that topical treatments don’t respond to). It was never that bad – we’re talking one or two bumps every few weeks – but it was occurring frequently enough that it frustrated me and I sought out help from a dermatologist. After treating the cysts with cortisone injections for a while (really not a sustainable solution, more for an emergency), she suggested I go on the pill, saying since the breakouts were hormonal, it would “heal” them and help get me though this phase until my hormones “balanced on their own.”

Those words were magic to my ears – who wouldn’t want an instant, quick fix?! Looking back, part of me wishes I never started and had really dove deeper into my hormones/stress levels and made some lifestyle changes first to try to help my skin, but hindsight is 20/20. I was a sophomore in college and completely consumed with school, friends, dating, and life – I just don’t think I would have taken it as seriously back then. It’s also a time in life where it’s a lot harder to stick to “routine” lifestyle changes like sleeping times, meditation, clean eating etc. I was a healthy person overall – I ate pretty well for being in college, I exercised, I was never that into drinking or partying. And my skin was generally ok – a few cysts here and there didn’t seem like reason to overhaul my routine. Going on the pill was a much more attractive approach, not to mention a convenient one, as I started dating my college boyfriend shortly after (and the thought of an accidental pregnancy was terrifying enough).

The pill did help my skin – it didn’t eliminate the cystic breakouts, but it definitely reduced them. I didn’t have any other side effects besides a few initial pounds which went to my boobs (who wouldn’t want that?) before evening out. Looking back at photos from this time, I feel like I don’t look like myself – I can see it in my face, I look swollen and bloated, just off – but at the time I didn’t notice it. On the pill, I completely stopped paying attention to my cycle. I was on Loestrin, a low estrogen dose pill, and my period vanished – I had no clue when it should or would have occurred. Now, I find it sad that women have such little education around their cycles, ovulation, and fertility – I knew nothing about it (I think there may have been one measly afternoon in middle school when a teacher rolled out the television on a cart and played the “educational sex video” amidst a giggling, embarrassed class but that was it.) In college, I couldn’t describe to you what “ovulating” even meant. All I knew was that a) I was mostly protected from pregnancy and b) I didn’t get a period, which my doctor said was normal.

(Before I get any DM’s debating the pill’s value:  it is important to note that this post is NOT a commentary on if the pill is “good” or “bad.” Like anything, it comes with pros and cons. It was obviously an incredibly significant medical breakthrough in women’s lives in the 1950’s – enabling a new generation of women to be educated, have careers, plan their families and futures, and shifting the power dynamic between genders from what was previously solely a “men at work, women at home” status quo. It allowed women to stand in control and own their sexuality in a way that hadn’t existed (although today, it begs the question – why is the responsibility to have safe sex up to the woman? A topic for another day) I’m also aware the pill can help reduce risk of ovarian cancer, and manages severe cramps. I absolutely think it should be made available to women at their will, without government intervention. I just think it’s important to know what the pill does to the body, as I think girls really see it as something as simple as popping a vitamin, and are unaware of the side effects and major changes it can produce to the body with years of use (and potentially its impacts on fertility – it’s hotly debated, but I personally believe it does impact it). Non-biased education about the pill’s effects would help women make better choices about if and when to take it, when to stop it, and what the other options are.)

Ok so, fast forward to 2021....

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