Would fundies approve "medicinal" use of the pill?

[CanticleoftheTurning]

Hi, I'm new here but I've been reading the message boards for awhile.

I have a unique view on this. I went to the Catholic University of America and have been raised in a strict catholic family. During college, my roommate, who was even more conservative then myself experienced cramps that sent her monthly to the emergency room. Her mother approved the use of the pill, but there was no chance she would ever have the "opportunity" to get pregnant since she abstained till marriage.

So, maybe in that situation the pill would be purely used as medical treatment and be ok since there is no baby making opportunity.

I have personally been put in this situation since I have an irregular and cycle and wish to become pregnant. My husband and I practice the Catholic version of "family planning". Currently I am altering my exercise, diet and stress level in hopes of regulating my cycle. If that fails, my husband and I will cross the "pill as means of regulating your cycle so you can get pregnant" bridge then. :) I hope I provided some thoughtful insight, and will limited TMI in the future;)

Thanks.

Hi and welcome, mrs.!

I'm Catholic too, and even since before I was married I tried many different ways of managing and regulating my cycle (PCOS made my periods far, far in between and I have bad cysts occasionally). I've tried tracking with CCL, Marquette, and Creighton. CCL sucks ass for my type of PCOS. Marquette is basically the Creighton model, with the added use of a ClearBlue ovulation tracker. However, ClearBlue is predictive in nature, and I quickly found out that I would either go through a gazillion pee sticks until it gives up and presumes I haven't ovulated, or it wouldn't let me pee on a stick around the time I suspected I ovulated/had a cyst. So, I used Creighton Model to track it, since it seems to work best for me.

I've also tried exercising, dieting (I'm not obese--some PCOS is obesity related), eating healthy, taking craploads of vitamins...nothing worked. Creighton worked really well for DH and me since we were trying to avoid. If your cycles are short enough that you bleed, you should be okay still using Creighton Model. DH and I used it very conservatively--we would abstain if there was ANY mucus/3 days after, whether or not it was fertile type. But with a 3 month long cycle that wasn't that big of a sacrifice :lol:

Unfortunately, the irregularity was bad enough that it was actually harmful to my health. I would go 3, 4 months in between periods and then have really really light periods, so I know I wasn't shedding any lining. So, finally I had to go on the progest-only pill to thin my lining to avoid endometrium (sp?) cancer or other fertility issues. I bled heavily for a month, since I apparently had a crapload of lining to shed.

My gyn wouldn't give me the combo pill, since estrogen is contraindicated with any migraines with aura, so hence, the minipill. Because it is less stable without estrogen to help suppress ovulation, DH and I used condoms to avoid any conception, and thus, any accidental abortion. It was a situation of picking the "lesser evil." Sometime this week or next, though, I'm getting the Implanon rod put into my arm, and that actually does suppress ovulation. (Most women on it don't ovulate for the first 2 years, and then in the third year a very small percentage may ovulate one or twice...it's a 3 year implant.) I'm looking forward to not needing to use condoms anymore :dance:

By treating my condition, I'll be in a better position to try to conceive whenever DH and I are ready, instead of having a gnarly uterus that suffocates any new life.

Best of luck to you! Hopefully you won't be put into the same situation I am, but yes, thank God Catholics can use the pill for medical reasons, even when married. Even my fundie-ish mom had to be on the pill to manage her endo, and didn't have to worry about any "sin."

[starfish]

I think since many of our fundies do not work at jobs "outside the home", they can just take to their beds or fainting couches whenever they feel ill.

They can make one of their older home-schooled daughters take over all the chores and what-not. Although I'm sure they are suffering, they can allow themselves a few days of down time.

Not really an option for me.

[liltwinstar]

Growing up fundie, the pill was NOT an option for me, even though I had really bad cramps and other issues. Honestly, I thought it was normal to be incapacitated for 1 day/month and then to feel like utter shit (but sort of able to function) for another 6 days or so. It got a bit better when I got older, thank goodness. But, my parents didn't even consider taking me to the doctor for the cramps and such, and I was too chicken to ask to go. Plus, I'd never had a pelvic exam, so I was scared of that too.

My mom had tried the pill off and on, and she believes it made her crazy. I would argue that her depression plus her major anxiety made her crazy, but what do I know? Further, when a family member was hospitalized for a mental health issue, my mom was convinced that the pill is what caused the psychosis, not the bipolar disorder that was eventually diagnosed.

So, anyway, no, the pill was not something that would have been allowed for medical reasons. You're just supposed to suck it up and pray, I guess. In fact, now at 31 years old and married, I would absolutely *not* tell my mother that I'm on the pill. No way.

[dawbs]

I get stabby that this is even debatable.

(I've improved over the years...but passing out from pain was a normal occurring through High School and college for me. ANd now, well, now the BC helps suppress migraines.)

I think people who think 'oh, just suffer through' don't understand the idea of 'degrees'. and 'interferes with day-to-day life.

I am sad today. I don't need an antidepressant. My husband suffers from depression. He needs antidepressants--his 'sad' is not MY sad, his 'sad' spirals into suicidal.

I have cramps today. I don't need good meds because I'm on BC. I had cramps a few years ago. I NEEDED good meds (because when I had kidney stones, I didn't go to the ER-I thought I was having normal period cramps. Considering I still think that kidney stones were worse than labor, that gives a basis for why I needed good meds)--my 'cramps' now and my 'cramps' then are not even comparable.

I have a headache today. I don't need good meds because it's just a headache. My husband has a migraine today. He needs good meds because it's beyond a headache and into a migraine. My headache on a bad day and my 'headache' when I have a migraine are not comparable--it's apples and bowling balls.

[celestial]

No, because fundies don't care about women's health.

So true, so true. Thanks everyone for your insights!

[bananacat]

The pill does not cause abortion. Can we please act like grown-ups and discuss this issue with facts?

[Paisy]

When the pill regulates your periods, it also suppresses ovulation so I don't see how you expect it to help you get pregnant. I'm pretty sure the cycle regulation stops as soon as you stop the pill. I did know a Catholic boy in high school who thought that taking the pill for regular cycles would somehow magically still allow ovulation, but surely most people aren't as uninformed as he was.

The pill actually can get a woman's cycle back on track if she doesn't have PCOS. I was amenorrhic for awhile in college and after being on the pill for just a month never missed my period again. I had to go off the pill as soon as I finally got a period because birth control pills make me insane. However if the reason she's experiencing irregular cycles is PCOS (as that is usually the cause), then a short stint on the pill's not going to do much for regulating her cycle or allowing her to ovulate.

[Esteleth]

Depends on the fundie, I'd guess.

I remember when I was a kid, a girl (she would have been 12/13 at the time) had horrid endometriosis that was so bad she was routinely HOSPITALIZED.

She went on the pill to try to regulate that. Someone found out, and soon everyone knew.

Cue fundie-shaming of her family. Her father ran a small business and there was chatter of boycotting him to punish him for encouraging his daughter's "immorality." Her parents, I'm glad to say (despite their fundieness) stood by her and said something to the effect that "We trust her. We care about her health. STFU." Mind-boggling that this kind of thing should have SURPRISED me coming from fundies.

Unfortunately, the pill wasn't enough. Her doctors eventually had to induce menopause in her. I think she was 15 at the time. 'Course, this pissed off the nutballs more because ZOMG they need to TRUST GOD.

[Guest Anonymous]

(de-lurking for a few) I am probably more what you would call fundie lite because I wear pants and *gasp* even jeans :P . I use the pill for medicinal reasons. I have really horrible periods and I refuse to suffer needlessly. I don't worry about any abortions each month or whatever crap the anti pill people say I take it to keep from having a period and I have my tubes tied anyway. (I guess I'm horrible for doing that too) In the IFB I attend the pill or the 5 year iud are the most common forms of bc used (we do discuss this with each other) None of us are rabbits so we don't intend on having a litter.

[leena_noor]

My Catholic 'friend' had periods so bad that she'd end up in the hospital b/c of the pain, puking and fainting. I asked if she'd use the pill and she said she would never put something so 'illicit' in her body. Her words, not mine. Her opinion sums up how all fundies pretty much feeling about the pill.

[ilovetchotchkes]

All the anti-pill people I have spoken to have been of the "well I have cramps/etc too and I don't need the pill I just deal with it" completely ignoring the fact that there are women for whom the cramps are so bad they can't even get out bed. I've heard people argue the "I deal with it" point of view against a woman who said her cramps were worse than labour.

My labor was 28+ hours. My son was badly positioned and would have been a c section if my midwife hadn't beed so awesome . Id rather go through labor than have the cramps I have monthly. Hands down.

[Lainey]

I am sort of angry reading about all this...I know my mom had terrible menstrual problems as a teenager, and my grandma (on my dad's side) used to have to go to the hospital for her menstrual problems every month (not sure on the details, just know it was bad). I had pretty long and awful periods when I was a teenager, and I had no idea that the pill could help. I don't think my mom did, either. So I sort of thought you had to just suck it up and deal with it. The difference now that I'm on the pill is unbelievable. I barely get a period.

[Brainsample]

I posted on a quite fundie mom blog a few years back, and I looked last week to find that all of my comments there had been deleted. The subject of OCs were introduced as a side debate, and the host of the blog became quite upset that I was not 100% against all oral contraceptives under all circumstances.

Along with the data about OCs and that pro-life GYNs accept the use of the more reliable OCs (that do the best job at suppressing ovulation, etc.), I introduced the topic of those who take OCs for other medical reasons.

I used the example of a young woman who trusts her physician for the best information about the safety, efficacy, benefit, and ethics of their use. Considering many pro-life physicians believe that a variety of OCs are acceptable for which I provided documentation, is it really the Christian thing to do to come along to that woman after the fact to tell her that she's been murdering her babies for however long she's taken the drug?

IIRC, I didn't get any support there from the other readers. Some commented to say that what I proposed was perverse, even though there are pills that demonstrate on ultrasound studies to suppress breakthrough ovulation to 0-2 incidences in five years of therapy.

I think that because most Evangelicals have been blackmailed into believing that OCs are all somewhat potentially abortifacient, people cannot think clearly about the matter. They cannot think past what they've been told is the potential outcome -- killing a baby -- so they don't do any analytical processing after that. I think that most go over into an emotional type of thought by the topic itself, and very few will actually listen to the scientific data. Confirmation bias of this type, especially when people believe that you're talking about murdering a baby, is quite strong. I agree that it should be when you are talking about murdering anyone, but they've been indoctrinated with so much black and white thinking concerning contraception that it's nearly impossible to get anyone to process this information.

My point on that blog years ago was that there was enough data to support that OCs could be used ethically (according to pro-life physicians who held to their beliefs strongly enough that they formed a special interest group within the ACOG) that it was a matter of personal conscience for each Believer. I stressed that people must be true to their conscience and to guard it as one of the most precious things that define a person, but it is a whole other thing to demand that all others accept the view of another on less definitive matters. Let people make their own choices, as even God provides.

[Guest Anonymous]

Not sure how to reply to a person. ilovetchotchkes, I can relate to this, my period cramps are so severe I would rather be in labor, having babies was nothing compared to having my periods, that's why i've taken the pill off and on for so many years. I only have 5 kids because antibiotics make birth control less effective :D (thus the reason my tubes are tied) I just recently found out I have been taking the wrong kind of birth control for a very long time. My body over produces estrogen and I should not ever have taken estrogen pills now that I take progesterone only pills a lot of the problems I've had for years have slowly been improving so I'm very happy about that. The pill is not evil it is one of the best inventions of modern medicine in my opinion, without it I would be in agony every month.

[Kitty]

Up until I was 18, I had horrible periods, extremely painful. I was nauseous, and literally went without food the first day of my period. They'd be so heavy I was changing super-absorbency tampons every 3 hours, and only because I couldn't change them sooner and I was bleeding into my underwear. I have exactly ONE pair of undies that doesn't have an old bloodstain, since at night the pads would leak. My periods were semi-regular at the start (from 12-13) but after that, I didn't know when they were coming. On top of all this, I had severe acne that not even a round of Accutane could tame.

Then 2 months before I was 18, I started feeling a pain in my right side. It was slight in my flex-bell math class (my school's block schedule got massively fucked up my senior year, don't ask), but by 8pm that night I was crying in pain. My parents took me to the doctor, thinking it was appendicitis, it wasn't. It wasn't until two months later that I had an ultrasound, and the doctors found a cyst on my left ovary (but couldn't even see my right, for some reason). they figured the problem was a cyst, so they put me on the pill. I took it for a few months, but it made me nauseous literally 24/7 so I stopped. I've been on the Nuva Ring for a while now, it's awesome.

Some fundies might approve the pill for the problems I had. They would never, ever approve the NuvaRing. :lol:

The rest of them... they'll just tell women to just shove a bezoar down their throats.