Sunday, April 28, 2013

The Truth Behind Birth Control Pills and What You Need to Know.



As women, we have so much pressure put on us about birth control and reproduction. Somehow, society has made us feel as if it is our responsibility to “take care of things,” when it comes to having children. Women are the ones who carry the child for nine months. Women are also the ones, who must take proper measures to control whether they get pregnant or not. When we are young, we are taught about abstinence and waiting until marriage. Once we are married, we are told to “take the pill” or “protect ourselves” if we wish to not get pregnant.

At a young age, there were several people who said that I “needed to get on the pill.” After having my daughter before I was twenty, the nurses didn't really feel that it was an option to “fix me,” since I was still young. I took a trip to Planned Parenthood, and was informed I should be on the pill until I decided to have more children. Nobody informed me of the possible health risks, or what it could do to my body. I was told it was safe, and to take it at the exact same time each day. As long as I took this pill every day, I could avoid pregnancy. So like I was told, I took the pill. I took it every day for 12 years.

There are repercussions to taking the pill every single day for 12 years. Just recently, I found out what those were. After having terrible side and stomach pain, a trip to the emergency room, a CT scan, a visit with my doctor, ultra-sound and an MRI, I received somewhat disturbing news. While I am not terribly ill, the news still wasn't great.

I had a benign tumor known as a Hepatocellular adenoma on my liver. A Hepatocellular adenoma is a rare tumor that is thought to be caused by the use of oral contraceptives. In fact, it is so rare, that about 4 out of 100,000 cases are reported annually. While the presence of it being there isn't life threatening, it could cause some complications if it were to burst. If the tumor was to rupture, it could cause internal bleeding. In rare cases, it could become malignant. For now, there is no treatment for liver adenomas. If they grow larger, it is necessary to surgically remove them, which sometimes involves a liver resection.

In my case, thankfully, my tumor is still small. My gastroentologist informed me to stop taking birth control pills and to avoid pregnancy. The tumor must be monitored by ultrasound every six months to watch for any changes. As for the constant pain in my side, I can only treat that with Ibprofen. If I have other symptoms that show up, I must inform my doctor.

I urge young women to be more upfront with their healthcare-especially when it comes to their reproductive health. To avoid such a situation as this, ask about non-hormonal ways to avoid pregnancy. If I would have had any idea this could happen, I never would have taken the pill. I don't think it's possible to forget about the tumor on my liver-especially when I am monitoring it every six months. I don't like the idea of having a tumor on my liver-even if it is benign. Just the fact that there's any chance that it could become malignant scares me....

Read your prescription and over-the-counter drug labels carefully every time. You certainly don't want to end up with any type of “rare tumor,” or medical condition because of your own lack of knowledge.

*(Learn more about this condition at Wikipedia)

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