Hormonal birth control a godsend -- stop trashing it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look, I'm all for realistic discussion of the risks of hormonal birth control. And they are there!

But it's not realistic discussion unless you acknowledge that pregnancy itself carries more risks of cause (not correlation, but causality) blood clots than birth control pills do. So, of course you can choose other methods to avoid that, but it's better to be on hormonal control than get pregnant, if those options are limited.

These are the weighings of risk and benefit that lead to doctors being willing to prescribed hormonal contraception. OdGyns know that avoiding pregnancy for most of these issues is actually more important.

And hormonal contraception does increase the risk of breast cancer. Not a lot, but it does. Alcohol use (even at 3 standard drinks a week) increases it a lot more. If you have a family history, that's a really high risk, but most women don't. It's much, much more common to develop breast cancer without a family history than with one.

And yes, you can decrease your risk by avoiding hormonal contraception -- but if that's important to you, avoiding alcohol should be even more important to you. If you don't consider the increased risk with alcohol to be relevant, then you need to know that the risk from hormonal contraception is even less than that.

Just as we should not be silencing discussion about the risks of hormonal contraception, we ALSO should not be silencing the discussion that puts them into perspective.

I can’t believe you wrote the bolded with a straight face. You have veered into outright absurdity here. Are you OP?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I might have been you when I was young. That’s before I learned I have a genetic blood clotting disorder and my mom almost died of a blood clot, and the hematologists warned me that I could never use hormonal BC again. One of them, a woman, told me she was angry about how many young women with clots she saw.

These aren’t risk-free. And it is not some conservative conspiracy to say that.

DP. I'm glad you found out, and I'm glad you have alternative options.

But before you knew about your inherited thrombophilia, you know what would have been a greater risk to you for forming clots than BCP? Pregnancy.

What a condescending and unnecessary response. Ugly.

But notably not untrue.

I’m the PP who posted about my blood clotting disorder. The PPs post about pregnancy suggests she has quite a dim understanding of causality. I’m not really convinced she is the best spokesperson for hormonal birth control, truth be told.

Pregnancy is a higher risk factor for blood clots than OCP. That is just medical facts. If you don't know that, then I'm afraid you have a rather dim understanding of how this works -- and why are you offering advice?

To put the risk of developing a blood clot from a birth control pill into perspective: The risk of blood clots is higher when using any birth control pills than not using them, but still remains lower than the risk of developing blood clots in pregnancy and in the postpartum period.

FDA Drug Safety Communication: Updated information about the risk of blood clots in women taking birth control pills containing drospirenone
https://www.fda.gov/drugs/drug-safety-and-availability/fda-drug-safety-communication-updated-information-about-risk-blood-clots-women-taking-birth-control

People use contraceptives for a number of reasons, including to regulate their periods, to help balance their moods, to reduce acne and to eliminate menstrual cramps. Of course, most people who take CHC do so to stop them getting pregnant - and pregnancy itself entails a far higher blood clot risk than that associated with combined hormonal contraceptives.

Does the contraceptive pill increase your risk of blood clots?
https://patient.info/news-and-features/does-the-contraceptive-pill-increase-your-risk-of-blood-clots

It's not like the only choice is using birth control pills or getting pregnancy and continuing a full term pregnancy. There are other methods for birth control and women can be advised about all of the advantages and disadvantages. I think the pill caused depression and headaches for me, but it was also the only thing that helped with acne in my 20's.

Of course. But it is more of a risk to be pregnant than to be on the pill. If you don't understand or acknowledge that, then you are promoting misinformation and not allowing women full autonomy. That is why people who prescribe should be going through these benefits and risks.

A lot of women still want the pill, and that actually is a safer option than getting pregnant.

Yes but you keep acting like the only choices are pill or pregnancy. Thats what people are trying to move away from. That there are more than those two choices. They want the pill because its conveyed as the easiest and most reliable method.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I might have been you when I was young. That’s before I learned I have a genetic blood clotting disorder and my mom almost died of a blood clot, and the hematologists warned me that I could never use hormonal BC again. One of them, a woman, told me she was angry about how many young women with clots she saw.

These aren’t risk-free. And it is not some conservative conspiracy to say that.

DP. I'm glad you found out, and I'm glad you have alternative options.

But before you knew about your inherited thrombophilia, you know what would have been a greater risk to you for forming clots than BCP? Pregnancy.

What a condescending and unnecessary response. Ugly.

But notably not untrue.

I’m the PP who posted about my blood clotting disorder. The PPs post about pregnancy suggests she has quite a dim understanding of causality. I’m not really convinced she is the best spokesperson for hormonal birth control, truth be told.

Pregnancy is a higher risk factor for blood clots than OCP. That is just medical facts. If you don't know that, then I'm afraid you have a rather dim understanding of how this works -- and why are you offering advice?

To put the risk of developing a blood clot from a birth control pill into perspective: The risk of blood clots is higher when using any birth control pills than not using them, but still remains lower than the risk of developing blood clots in pregnancy and in the postpartum period.

FDA Drug Safety Communication: Updated information about the risk of blood clots in women taking birth control pills containing drospirenone
https://www.fda.gov/drugs/drug-safety-and-availability/fda-drug-safety-communication-updated-information-about-risk-blood-clots-women-taking-birth-control

People use contraceptives for a number of reasons, including to regulate their periods, to help balance their moods, to reduce acne and to eliminate menstrual cramps. Of course, most people who take CHC do so to stop them getting pregnant - and pregnancy itself entails a far higher blood clot risk than that associated with combined hormonal contraceptives.

Does the contraceptive pill increase your risk of blood clots?
https://patient.info/news-and-features/does-the-contraceptive-pill-increase-your-risk-of-blood-clots

It's not like the only choice is using birth control pills or getting pregnancy and continuing a full term pregnancy. There are other methods for birth control and women can be advised about all of the advantages and disadvantages. I think the pill caused depression and headaches for me, but it was also the only thing that helped with acne in my 20's.

Of course. But it is more of a risk to be pregnant than to be on the pill. If you don't understand or acknowledge that, then you are promoting misinformation and not allowing women full autonomy. That is why people who prescribe should be going through these benefits and risks.

A lot of women still want the pill, and that actually is a safer option than getting pregnant.

NP. I agree that you are not the best spokesperson for bcp.

Women today are no longer faced with multiple unplanned pregnancies. The choice is not between hormonal birth control or 6-10 children. We are well below replacement rate, there are many options for birth control that many different women use.

I do know how hormones, risk, pregnancy and clots work instead of just thinking I do, though.

Make all the spokesperson shouts you want for your side. Just be accurate.

You are starting to sound like a old man shouting at the sky. None of us who have had problems with the pill have a side other than “it actually has serious issues for some of us, and we’d appreciate it if young women weren’t gaslit by people like you.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/hormones/oral-contraceptives-fact-sheet

From cancer.gov: there is an increased risk of breast cancer.

I never used oral BC and I don’t drink. Those are two things I can control…and not have to second guess myself down the road if I develop bc.

Ditto for exercise and not being obese. And not smoking.

Right, and it is less of an increased risk for the average woman than drinking is.

You are making the choices you made at least in part to decrease that risk. That's great! And it's great to talk about the risks that come into play with hormonal contraception. But it's disingenuous to say that risk is important without putting it into perspective with other things that increase risk, if it is really the risk that we are talking about. That's all.

Ok.

But I’m talking about increased risk of breast cancer.

I think Big Pharma and doctors failed when it came to disclosing the increased risk.

I understand there are obvious risks related to pregnancy. I suspect most women have a handle on those risks. But we have a problem when generations of women believe birth control decreased their breast cancer risk. We have a problem when women used it for 30+ years thinking it didn’t come without risk. We have a problem when doctors think BC is okay for women with severe migraines.

Doctors aggressively push the pill and other hormonal BC. Do they truly believe all women are too inept to use condoms and the calendar? I switched doctors when one told me I was reckless for refusing the pill. My next doctor told me I was wise. He said his wife and daughters aren’t using hormonal birth control either.

You don't know the new data on this, do you?

I have severe migraine with aura, so I am a stroke risk. No hormonal BC for me.

I take a daily low-dose aspirin.

Right. You are not aware of the updated recommendations. A low dose hormonal contraceptive may actually decrease the risk of stroke in women with severe migraine with aura by decreasing events. OF COURSE, talk to your doctor first -- or, if they are not updated, talk with a headache specialist and/or neurologist.

This is all still in flux, but the guidelines are changing. Stay safe and take care of yourself, and make the choices that are right for you (whatever they are).

Unnecessary confusion still surrounds the use of combined hormonal contraceptives (CHCs) in the setting of migraine with aura (MwA). Clearing this confusion is a key issue for headache specialists, since most women with migraine have menstrual-related migraine (MRM), and some CHCs can prevent this particularly severe migraine. Their use, however, is still restricted by current guidelines due to concerns of increased stroke risk - concerns that originated over half a century ago in the era of high dose contraceptives. Yet studies consistently show that stroke risk is not increased with today's very low dose CHCs containing 20-25 µg ethinyl estradiol (EE), and continuous ultra low-dose formulations (10-15 µg EE) may even reduce aura frequency, thereby potentially decreasing stroke risk. This article clarifies the stroke risk of CHCs and examines their impact on migraine. It also examines how stroke risk is altered by the estrogen content of the CHC, by contributing factors such as smoking, age and hypertension, and by aura frequency. And finally, it puts these risks into a meaningful context with a risk/benefit assessment.

Hormonal Contraceptives and Migraine With Aura-Is There Still a Risk?
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27774589/

Sigh

Anyone who has suffered with severe migraine with aura as I have for several decades is under the care of seasoned neurologists and tracks the latest research.

I’m not convinced, and neither are they.

After consulting top docs up and down the east coast, the consensus is blood vessel infrastructure and inflammation play a role.

Plus, estrogen. Not interested in increasing my odds of breast cancer.

Lastly: a friend died of a stroke. She was practically bullied into going onto the pill after a surprise yet very much wanted baby in her late 30s. She suffered from severe migraines and her young OB pointed to the latest research saying it was fine.

PP as an FYI I get migraines too, am under the care of neurologists from one of the top medical research institutions in the country, and they are also skeptical of this research and recommend no hormones for me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went on BC at 16 not because I was sexually active but because every month I would get so sick I couldn't function. When I went off of it to conceive, I again got very sick every month. I do have a couple of side effects but after working with my doctor we determined that was the best choice for me.

Personally I just want all women to have  choices with their bodies. That means all types of birth control are available and all types of abortions are available. I don't want some old white dude sitting in a room full of other old shite dudes deciding what I and my family members can do with their bodies. It's ridiculous.

Fyi, advocates for getting rid of birth control include men and women, younger and older, white and POC.

I guarantee none of them suffered from debilitating periods. They think thy "know" all there is to know to make decisions for others.

Did you check for endo? Adenomyosis? Get your constipation under control?

Did I check? I'm not a doctor. I was 26 before a doctor first mentioned that any of those gyn conditions existed. I cried when I read the pamphlet she handed me, just to know it had a name: endometriosis. We didn't have Web MD back in the 80s and relied on our doctors to know what was possible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I might have been you when I was young. That’s before I learned I have a genetic blood clotting disorder and my mom almost died of a blood clot, and the hematologists warned me that I could never use hormonal BC again. One of them, a woman, told me she was angry about how many young women with clots she saw.

These aren’t risk-free. And it is not some conservative conspiracy to say that.

I am OP and in my 60s. All my friends were on the pill, no one was having serious enough side effects to stop. 20 years on the pill and it was easy breezy. I only switched in my 40s after I had kids to a hormonal IUD, which is even better.

Yes, some people can't take it. But for my crowd growing up, it was much better than getting pregnant.

In fact, the 5 people in my circle who got pregnant did so went they switched to other methods or didn't know about the effects of antibiotics on the pill. They all had abortions.

I see all the time women of the DCUM badmouthing hormonal birth control.
For the majority women it is fantastic.

Lots if sex, no pregnancy worries. Women like my mother would have given anything for this control over their lives.

I'm glad this was your experience. I'm glad the pill exists. I want the pill to be available more freely and I want it available as an option for my daughter.

But you are asking people to only say nice things about a medication that only women or people who were born female use, but is not always adequate and can sometimes be dangerous. I spent 6 years trying to find a hormonal birth control hat worked for me before just deciding to stop trying, and it was very frustrating being told over and over that actually, HBC is a godsend and I should be happy with my choices, which all sucked.

I reserve the right to complain all I want about HBC. I want more and better options.

DP. Of course women should be able to share their actual experiences, but the reason that HBC is so widely recommended and obtainable without a prescription in parts of the world is that we have 60 years of research and actual use that prove that the vast, vast majority of women do not suffer from the side effects your suffered from. So when right wing doctors and political organizations demonize HBC by exaggerating the risks and mainstream doctors and women fight back, the goal is not to invalidate your experience, but to present the reality of use by the average woman.

I have an allergic reaction to a widely prescribed high blood pressure medication that is well tolerated by the vast majority of people. My uncommon allergic reaction doesn't mean it's a bad medication.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went on BC at 16 not because I was sexually active but because every month I would get so sick I couldn't function. When I went off of it to conceive, I again got very sick every month. I do have a couple of side effects but after working with my doctor we determined that was the best choice for me.

Personally I just want all women to have  choices with their bodies. That means all types of birth control are available and all types of abortions are available. I don't want some old white dude sitting in a room full of other old shite dudes deciding what I and my family members can do with their bodies. It's ridiculous.

Fyi, advocates for getting rid of birth control include men and women, younger and older, white and POC.

I guarantee none of them suffered from debilitating periods. They think thy "know" all there is to know to make decisions for others.

Did you check for endo? Adenomyosis? Get your constipation under control?

Did I check? I'm not a doctor. I was 26 before a doctor first mentioned that any of those gyn conditions existed. I cried when I read the pamphlet she handed me, just to know it had a name: endometriosis. We didn't have Web MD back in the 80s and relied on our doctors to know what was possible.

Doesn’t that make you furious with your doctors?

I’m similarly upset by doctors who just throw HBC at any young woman who complains about cramps.

[Anonymous]

While we are talking about other things that increase breast cancer risk: meat (pumped with hormones), soy, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I might have been you when I was young. That’s before I learned I have a genetic blood clotting disorder and my mom almost died of a blood clot, and the hematologists warned me that I could never use hormonal BC again. One of them, a woman, told me she was angry about how many young women with clots she saw.

These aren’t risk-free. And it is not some conservative conspiracy to say that.

I am OP and in my 60s. All my friends were on the pill, no one was having serious enough side effects to stop. 20 years on the pill and it was easy breezy. I only switched in my 40s after I had kids to a hormonal IUD, which is even better.

Yes, some people can't take it. But for my crowd growing up, it was much better than getting pregnant.

In fact, the 5 people in my circle who got pregnant did so went they switched to other methods or didn't know about the effects of antibiotics on the pill. They all had abortions.

I see all the time women of the DCUM badmouthing hormonal birth control.
For the majority women it is fantastic.

Lots if sex, no pregnancy worries. Women like my mother would have given anything for this control over their lives.

I'm glad this was your experience. I'm glad the pill exists. I want the pill to be available more freely and I want it available as an option for my daughter.

But you are asking people to only say nice things about a medication that only women or people who were born female use, but is not always adequate and can sometimes be dangerous. I spent 6 years trying to find a hormonal birth control hat worked for me before just deciding to stop trying, and it was very frustrating being told over and over that actually, HBC is a godsend and I should be happy with my choices, which all sucked.

I reserve the right to complain all I want about HBC. I want more and better options.

DP. Of course women should be able to share their actual experiences, but the reason that HBC is so widely recommended and obtainable without a prescription in parts of the world is that we have 60 years of research and actual use that prove that the vast, vast majority of women do not suffer from the side effects your suffered from. So when right wing doctors and political organizations demonize HBC by exaggerating the risks and mainstream doctors and women fight back, the goal is not to invalidate your experience, but to present the reality of use by the average woman.

I have an allergic reaction to a widely prescribed high blood pressure medication that is well tolerated by the vast majority of people. My uncommon allergic reaction doesn't mean it's a bad medication.

I can’t believe you wrote the bolded with a straight face. Do you know nothing about the history of how medicine treats women’s complaints? Nothing about how researchers routinely dismiss women’s symptoms, dismiss women’s problems? How many, many times “research” has shown that something is safe for women when it turns out it’s only safe when you ignore all the women who had problems?

I suspect what we have are 60 years of research where often the researchers studiously avoided looking for negative impact for women, not this pristine research you put so much blind faith in.

[Anonymous]

I think the driving impetus behind HBC is to prevent pregnancy among low-income women coupled with preventing unwanted pregnancy among the general female population who are presumably too stupid or reckless and need something “easy.” Who cares if it increases cancer or stroke?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:While we are talking about other things that increase breast cancer risk: meat (pumped with hormones), soy, etc.

Are you a rat?
Soy reduces cancer risk in humans.

https://amp.cancer.org/cancer/latest-news/soy-and-cancer-risk-our-experts-advice.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/hormones/oral-contraceptives-fact-sheet

From cancer.gov: there is an increased risk of breast cancer.

I never used oral BC and I don’t drink. Those are two things I can control…and not have to second guess myself down the road if I develop bc.

Ditto for exercise and not being obese. And not smoking.

Right, and it is less of an increased risk for the average woman than drinking is.

You are making the choices you made at least in part to decrease that risk. That's great! And it's great to talk about the risks that come into play with hormonal contraception. But it's disingenuous to say that risk is important without putting it into perspective with other things that increase risk, if it is really the risk that we are talking about. That's all.

Ok.

But I’m talking about increased risk of breast cancer.

I think Big Pharma and doctors failed when it came to disclosing the increased risk.

I understand there are obvious risks related to pregnancy. I suspect most women have a handle on those risks. But we have a problem when generations of women believe birth control decreased their breast cancer risk. We have a problem when women used it for 30+ years thinking it didn’t come without risk. We have a problem when doctors think BC is okay for women with severe migraines.

Doctors aggressively push the pill and other hormonal BC. Do they truly believe all women are too inept to use condoms and the calendar? I switched doctors when one told me I was reckless for refusing the pill. My next doctor told me I was wise. He said his wife and daughters aren’t using hormonal birth control either.

Ah, the tried and true "don't get raped" solution to pregnancy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/hormones/oral-contraceptives-fact-sheet

From cancer.gov: there is an increased risk of breast cancer.

I never used oral BC and I don’t drink. Those are two things I can control…and not have to second guess myself down the road if I develop bc.

Ditto for exercise and not being obese. And not smoking.

Right, and it is less of an increased risk for the average woman than drinking is.

You are making the choices you made at least in part to decrease that risk. That's great! And it's great to talk about the risks that come into play with hormonal contraception. But it's disingenuous to say that risk is important without putting it into perspective with other things that increase risk, if it is really the risk that we are talking about. That's all.

Ok.

But I’m talking about increased risk of breast cancer.

I think Big Pharma and doctors failed when it came to disclosing the increased risk.

I understand there are obvious risks related to pregnancy. I suspect most women have a handle on those risks. But we have a problem when generations of women believe birth control decreased their breast cancer risk. We have a problem when women used it for 30+ years thinking it didn’t come without risk. We have a problem when doctors think BC is okay for women with severe migraines.

Doctors aggressively push the pill and other hormonal BC. Do they truly believe all women are too inept to use condoms and the calendar? I switched doctors when one told me I was reckless for refusing the pill. My next doctor told me I was wise. He said his wife and daughters aren’t using hormonal birth control either.

Ah, the tried and true "don't get raped" solution to pregnancy.

Are you literally crazy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I might have been you when I was young. That’s before I learned I have a genetic blood clotting disorder and my mom almost died of a blood clot, and the hematologists warned me that I could never use hormonal BC again. One of them, a woman, told me she was angry about how many young women with clots she saw.

These aren’t risk-free. And it is not some conservative conspiracy to say that.

DP. I'm glad you found out, and I'm glad you have alternative options.

But before you knew about your inherited thrombophilia, you know what would have been a greater risk to you for forming clots than BCP? Pregnancy.

What a condescending and unnecessary response. Ugly.

But notably not untrue.

I’m the PP who posted about my blood clotting disorder. The PPs post about pregnancy suggests she has quite a dim understanding of causality. I’m not really convinced she is the best spokesperson for hormonal birth control, truth be told.

Pregnancy is a higher risk factor for blood clots than OCP. That is just medical facts. If you don't know that, then I'm afraid you have a rather dim understanding of how this works -- and why are you offering advice?

To put the risk of developing a blood clot from a birth control pill into perspective: The risk of blood clots is higher when using any birth control pills than not using them, but still remains lower than the risk of developing blood clots in pregnancy and in the postpartum period.

FDA Drug Safety Communication: Updated information about the risk of blood clots in women taking birth control pills containing drospirenone
https://www.fda.gov/drugs/drug-safety-and-availability/fda-drug-safety-communication-updated-information-about-risk-blood-clots-women-taking-birth-control

People use contraceptives for a number of reasons, including to regulate their periods, to help balance their moods, to reduce acne and to eliminate menstrual cramps. Of course, most people who take CHC do so to stop them getting pregnant - and pregnancy itself entails a far higher blood clot risk than that associated with combined hormonal contraceptives.

Does the contraceptive pill increase your risk of blood clots?
https://patient.info/news-and-features/does-the-contraceptive-pill-increase-your-risk-of-blood-clots

It's not like the only choice is using birth control pills or getting pregnancy and continuing a full term pregnancy. There are other methods for birth control and women can be advised about all of the advantages and disadvantages. I think the pill caused depression and headaches for me, but it was also the only thing that helped with acne in my 20's.

Of course. But it is more of a risk to be pregnant than to be on the pill. If you don't understand or acknowledge that, then you are promoting misinformation and not allowing women full autonomy. That is why people who prescribe should be going through these benefits and risks.

A lot of women still want the pill, and that actually is a safer option than getting pregnant.

Yes but you keep acting like the only choices are pill or pregnancy. Thats what people are trying to move away from. That there are more than those two choices. They want the pill because its conveyed as the easiest and most reliable method.

It is. It is also affordable. I like my IUD with HORMONES even better, but I could only afford it with insurance.

All this calendar garbage is not easy and if you are off a smidgen, you have an unwanted pregnancy. It also takes intense buy in from a partner.

Again, so many women discount life before the pill, when life was a nightmare for women who didn't want children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I might have been you when I was young. That’s before I learned I have a genetic blood clotting disorder and my mom almost died of a blood clot, and the hematologists warned me that I could never use hormonal BC again. One of them, a woman, told me she was angry about how many young women with clots she saw.

These aren’t risk-free. And it is not some conservative conspiracy to say that.

DP. I'm glad you found out, and I'm glad you have alternative options.

But before you knew about your inherited thrombophilia, you know what would have been a greater risk to you for forming clots than BCP? Pregnancy.

What a condescending and unnecessary response. Ugly.

But notably not untrue.

I’m the PP who posted about my blood clotting disorder. The PPs post about pregnancy suggests she has quite a dim understanding of causality. I’m not really convinced she is the best spokesperson for hormonal birth control, truth be told.

Pregnancy is a higher risk factor for blood clots than OCP. That is just medical facts. If you don't know that, then I'm afraid you have a rather dim understanding of how this works -- and why are you offering advice?

To put the risk of developing a blood clot from a birth control pill into perspective: The risk of blood clots is higher when using any birth control pills than not using them, but still remains lower than the risk of developing blood clots in pregnancy and in the postpartum period.

FDA Drug Safety Communication: Updated information about the risk of blood clots in women taking birth control pills containing drospirenone
https://www.fda.gov/drugs/drug-safety-and-availability/fda-drug-safety-communication-updated-information-about-risk-blood-clots-women-taking-birth-control

People use contraceptives for a number of reasons, including to regulate their periods, to help balance their moods, to reduce acne and to eliminate menstrual cramps. Of course, most people who take CHC do so to stop them getting pregnant - and pregnancy itself entails a far higher blood clot risk than that associated with combined hormonal contraceptives.

Does the contraceptive pill increase your risk of blood clots?
https://patient.info/news-and-features/does-the-contraceptive-pill-increase-your-risk-of-blood-clots

PP here. My God. Do you truly only think my only choices were pregnancy or hormonal birth control?

Wow. You really are dim.

No, but you apparently think we can't tell women than pregnancy is a higher risk factor for clots than OCP, because they won't be able to figure out that there are other options.

Give them some credit. Some women can't tolerate or don't want other options, and the pill is safer than pregnancy. Stop hiding that from them for your own political agenda.