Birth control and my libido

From the age of 15 to 32, I tried to figure out the world of birth control and its impact on my body. The decision to start birth control wasn’t even initially mine. I was put on it as a teenager, not for contraceptive purposes, but to “regulate my periods”.  I didn’t realise at the time the changes and effect this had on my body. I feel like this was a real lack of informed consent and adequate education regarding medical procedures and prescriptions.

As I got older I remained on birth control, but things were never right especially regarding my libido. By that time (early 20s) I had done some reading on birth control and wanted to know if there was a link between my birth control and my libido. Every.single.time, the doctors dismissed my worries, attributing them to depression. It was as if my concerns were being buried beneath a blanket diagnosis, without recognizing the root cause. 17 long years went by, and I could never really shake the feeling of something not being right with my emotion status and libido.

I have spoken to loads of my friends about this now and many have the same issues of feeling unheard or misguided by the medical professionals they trusted. The experiences some of them faced ranged from physical side effects like weight gain, recurrent UTIs, and cysts, to mental health fluctuations. One of my friends feels that birth control even affected her partner preference.

Once I stopped birth control in my 30s, my body and mind felt in sync for the first time ever. I figured out my cycles, and I felt better mentally and emotionally.  My libido surged !!!  Clearly there is a link between birth control and libido. Having health professionals ignore this and tell women that all is ok, or not consider what women are telling them is incredibly frustrating.

The solution obviously is more listening in the healthcare field. But also more open discussions about women’s experiences is also helpful. I saw a female comedian reference this the other day and I was just so relieved that there are now enough of us in different spaces in the world to talk about this.

SW, United Kingdom