The Atlantic's Crap Article On Women Using Mirena Birth Control
Essayist Alana Massey has a piece in The Atlantic with the URL showing up with the text, "Getting Rid of Women's Periods with Birth Control is Perfectly Safe" (see top of your browser for that line). Massey decides this based on convenience and talking to a few ob/gyns -- one of whom is a prof:
"There is no medical reason why a woman has to menstruate every month," said Alyssa Dweck, an assistant clinical professor of OB/GYN at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in New York. "And there is nothing wrong with tweaking the system if bleeding is difficult for women."Cherry Collier, an executive coach based in Marietta, Georgia, was such a woman. Her doctor suggested a hysterectomy when, after she reported heavy bleeding, he discovered three fibroids in her uterus. Because she was still of child-bearing age, she sought alternative opinions and learned that she could stock up on birth-control pills, skip the placebo week and be on a continuous hormone dose that would eliminate her periods and alleviate her suffering. "It was so liberating and so exciting. The result is the period is lighter, less painful, and it is so different because I chose how to handle it," she told me.
Carolyn Thompson, an OB/GYN and fellow at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, told me via email that this method is both safe and was especially common before the introduction of "extended cycle" birth-control pills like Seasonalle, Seasonique, and Quartette. These brands are specifically packaged to enable skipping periods but are hormonally the same as other birth-control pills. "There are some women whom we would prefer to avoid periods: those who have migraines, severe bleeding/cramping, endometriosis," Thompson said. "There are also many women who just don't want to have a period every month and who take the pill continuously. This carries no harm, either short- or long-term."
Before at-home pregnancy tests, it made more sense that women wanted their periods as reassurance against pregnancy. "When people were designing the pill, they asked women what they wanted, and women said they wanted to have a period to confirm they're not pregnant," says James Segars, director of the division of reproductive science and women's health research at Johns Hopkins University's department of gynecology and obstetrics, "The period you have on birth-control pills is totally pharmacologic."
The problem is that you're changing your hormonal balance. From Mirena:
Mirena and hormones Mirena releases small amounts of levonorgestrel, a progestin hormone found in many birth control pills, locally into your uterus at a slow rate. Because of this, only small amounts of the hormone enter your blood. Mirena does not contain estrogen.
Leigh Cuen writes at Mic:
Not all doctors are confident that using birth control to stop a natural cycle is completely safe. Jerilynn Prior, an endocrinologist at the University of British Columbia, believes that people should think carefully before opting for menstrual suppression, especially young women whose bodies are still developing. "Important studies, like what are the effects on the breast? What are the effects on bone -- haven't been done," Prior told NPR.
Here's a smarter article from The Atlantic, from 2012, with a more prudent, informed approach. Muye Zhu, then a doctoral student, and Roberta Diaz Brinton, Professor of Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences, are the authors:
Despite the widespread use of progestins around the globe, relatively little is known about the effect of long-term treatment in the brains of women during and following their reproductive years. Animal and human studies strongly suggest that progestins have important effects on neurological function, ranging from regeneration in the brain to cognition.These effects may be both positive and negative, as progestins appear to protect the brain against certain forms of degeneration while making it more vulnerable to others. The range of neurological and cognitive effects progestins have on the brain make it especially important for researchers to continue to tease apart the circumstances under which progestins may be an advantage or a drawback to the brain, whether during the reproductive years or beyond.
Their sources and more here.
Of course, this is anecdotal, it's just my own experience, but I've found that a period was an important "reset" for my body. My body would start to get out of balance every one in s while (too much natural yeast or too much natural bacteria) and my period seemed to cleanse everything and I would be fine on 5 days with seldom any need for treatment.
The pill did not work for me psychologically. I did not want to be around people. I didn't want to even be touched much less have sex. Without the pill, my sex drive went through the roof around ovulation and was okay the rest of the time.
A couple of years ago, I had a hysterectomy. I miss those hormones and my sex drive. I can't seem to clear any imbalances. I've been on medication 3 times in the past month and need another round of treatment. I've tried hormone sprays, creams, patches, and now I have an implant but it just doesn't seem the same.
Jen at January 14, 2017 8:07 AM
Pinsky was saying this fifteen years ago. "There is no medi cal reason for a woman to complete her menstruation if she doesn't want go."
crid at January 14, 2017 8:26 AM
Want TO.
Because autocorrect.
The statistics on all this stuff are slender and dicey. We're doomed, but it's nothing personal.
crid at January 14, 2017 8:31 AM
Hysterectomy. Best. Thing. Ever! If you're done with having, or not having, kids. Just leave the ovaries.
Momof4 at January 14, 2017 10:44 AM
Having a monthly period is a modern phenomenon though.
Ancient women probably weren't having the same kind of periods we are having now.
Ppen at January 14, 2017 10:46 AM
Having a monthly period is a modern phenomenon though.
Ancient women probably weren't having the same kind of periods we are having now.
Ppen at January 14, 2017 10:46 AM
That is a fair point. There are many natural things that will retard or stop menstruation .
Natural for women 5000 years ago was either pregnant or nursing unless they were celibate, barren or past menopause.
Pregnancy, prolonged nursing of infants, low body fat, stress, etc, all affect menstruation
Elite runners sometimes dont menstruate for months or years.
My experiences were much the same as Jens. The pill just made me feel icky. Like I was perpetually three months pregnant. I took them for about a year, and then said, not worth it.
Isab at January 14, 2017 11:59 AM
Anthropologist Beverly Strassman, who studies menstruation, pointed out to me that women had far fewer periods in ancestral times, because they were often pregnant and lactating. However, another person I speak with -- an epidemiologist -- frequently emphasizes the need to look at side-effects, and we don't know what they are from taking these hormones into our bodies.
People don't assess medical risk well. Our minds don't deal well with abstractions and potential negatives in the future as opposed to benefits in the now.
Amy Alkon at January 14, 2017 4:00 PM
"I don't trust anything that bleeds for five days and doesn't die."
Patrick at January 14, 2017 4:16 PM
But Patrick, if it bleeds, we can kill it!
Back on topic - what about contraceptive implants though? They don't turn off every month. Ok, the continuous dosing into the bloodstream means they can get away with a lower hormone blood level than a pill that has to get though the GI drug chainsaw and last all day, but they still screw with your period.
Ltw at January 14, 2017 10:21 PM
Here's the only place I could find the whole piece:
"A Person Who Menstruates Is Unfit to be a Mother"
https://books.google.com/books?id=eyK52OvOMb0C&pg=PA24&lpg=PA24&dq=baxendale+%22Person+Who+Menstruates+is+Unfit+to+be+a%22&source=bl&ots=UcnlwiFFuy&sig=FIurAy2zGlA1daAkAcWf20tCctI&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiHgsei-8TRAhXHeCYKHYh3CmMQ6AEIGjAA#v=onepage&q=baxendale%20%22Person%20Who%20Menstruates%20is%20Unfit%20to%20be%20a%22&f=false
(excerpted from the book "Are Children Neglecting Their Mothers?")
Very amusing.
lenona at January 15, 2017 12:21 PM
From Lenona's link, "... Little boys constructed model penises, thus demonstrating a symbolic interest in guns, warfare, ..." Plus another line about drawing wombs means you like interior decorating.
So first off, I can understand boys drawing penises. It's fairly common behavior. But since when do girls start drawing wombs when asked to draw anything they like? That alone is enough for me to call shenanigans on 'Dr.' Baxendale. Secondly, while boys like guns and penises that is all that is. The penises don't stand in for guns and guns don't stand in for penises. (Still not sure where aerosol deodorants fit in the picture.) And wombs don't represent household decor. At least I really really hope not.
This is why the soft sciences get that appellation. But yes, very amusing bunk Lenona.
Ben at January 15, 2017 3:29 PM
Ben, if you'd read just slightly to the right (you didn't even have to scroll) you'd have noticed that it said that "Baxendale" is a "psychoanalyst, husband and father of three - a caricature invented by Joyce Wood for her book Are Children Neglecting Their Mothers?"
I.e., the whole book is satire. So is much of the book it comes from - "Pulling Our Own Strings: Feminist Humor & Satire." You can see the title on the left. (Somehow, I thought the titles I gave in my last post would have made anyone guess that.)
lenona at January 15, 2017 4:41 PM
I'm 47, done with having kids, and I've used Mirena for about 10 years. It's amazing. Others on Mirena do menstruate, but I don't. I'd have to see some evidence that there might be some kind of problem for me down the road, and understand the nature of that problem, before stopping. The convenience has been just incredible.
Deb at January 15, 2017 8:15 PM
I'm 47, done with having kids, and I've used Mirena for about 10 years. It's amazing. Others on Mirena do menstruate, but I don't. I'd have to see some evidence that there might be some kind of problem for me down the road, and understand the nature of that problem, before stopping. The convenience has been just incredible.
Deb at January 15, 2017 8:15 PM
You're the lab rat. Chances are pretty good that if there are any long term problems, they will start being documented 20 to 25 years from now.
Considering the variety of chemicals we are exposed to issues causation will be tough to pin down that long after the fact.
Isab at January 16, 2017 3:09 AM
I understand Lenona. Depressingly I still find it believable for a psychologist to write such bunk.
Ben at January 16, 2017 11:24 AM
People are worried about the long-term effects of giving females female hormones, but no one seems to worry about the long term effect of giving a male female hormones or vice versa.
It's a puzzler.
JoJo at January 20, 2017 12:58 PM
My point at 6:14 p.m. is that we have to be careful before we use the word rights. The things we call rights should be what you and I would be willing to fight on the street about... Enslavement of blacks, the torture of prisoners, or something so obviously wrong that we would be prepared to make personal sacrifices in response without further inquiry.
Spending other people's tax dollars to solve problems, or to hire people to solve those problems, does not qualify as an admirable defense of rights.
Before I stand up to defend perfectly healthy college students who let things get out of hand, I'm going to have questions. And I don't want to go through my life asking questions of that kind. It's just not worth it.
Crid at February 15, 2017 10:39 PM
wrong thread! wheeeeee
.Sorry
Crid at February 16, 2017 12:20 AM
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