Dealing with Contraception Side Effects

MT shares her experience using birth control to treat heavy, painful periods. She notes that the first birth control pill she took alleviated the symptoms of her period but negatively affected her mood and weight.

Transcript

OBOS Today: Would you say that the negative side effects were worse than the original problems that you went for to the doctor, like regarding your cramps and stuff?

MT: Um, yeah, so my cramps were definitely way better, my period was way lighter. The problems that I was originally complaining about, like those were solved. But I also ended up having so many more problems than I had before. Like, I was having so much more difficulty with, like, my mood and, like, my weight. I was struggling so much more with my weight. So, overall, I think it really wasn't worth it. But, like, I—my period was so bad that I needed to, like, do something about it. So, that was like the first step in the whole process, and I know, like, sometimes the first time, like the first pill you choose doesn't always work, so I knew that was like a possibility going into it. And I had discussed that with my doctor, and I was, like, totally willing to have to try different options or medications because I was so sick of my—how, like, awful my period was.