My Period Is My Friend. Yours Should Be Too.

The medical exam paper scraped underneath my fingertips as I sat patiently listening to my doctor. It had been 10 minutes of her rattling off the different types of birth control. Ten minutes of her staring blankly at me as she recited the name brands, explained how each worked, and reluctantly granted a few words to describe the possible side effects, brushing over the host of changes my body may go through.

This may have been helpful for me if I had asked about birth control. I hadn’t; I had asked about painful cramps.

In the United States, 25% to 30% of women of reproductive age are using a hormonal form of birth control. One in three women takes The Pill (the most common form of hormonal contraception) to regulate their periods.

​Don’t get me wrong, the Pill helps many women, especially those suffering from conditions like endometriosis or those looking for a trustworthy contraception. I appreciate that this form of birth control has been freeing for many and necessary for some.

​But in a quiet way, it has also been harmful and caging. It is handed out like candy. Quite literally, it’s given out to 15-year-olds with irregular periods, like it’s sugar, spice, and everything nice. Maybe it shouldn’t be.

​When I told my doctor that I experience painful cramps, she listed off my birth control options like they were ice cream flavors. If I were one of the 37% of women who lack knowledge about my cycle’s importance, I may have swallowed her words as quickly as I can swallow a pill. Little did my doctor know that I had been doing my reading, and I was armed with background knowledge and growing passion.

​At 16, I had had enough of my uncomfortable PMS symptoms, so I considered doing what most of my friends did: going on the Pill. My mom suggested I read the Period Repair Manual by naturopathic doctor Lara Briden, before determining if the Pill is my best option. Thus began a journey of learning to befriend my monthly cycle, instead of fighting it.

Girls with irregular cycles are often told that going on hormonal birth control will regulate their period, but this statement is blatantly false. The Pill does not actually regulate hormones; it shuts them down. Dr. Briden explains that the Pill does not deliver real hormones and therefore does not provide the same benefits as real hormones. Hormonal birth control would not truly “solve” my cramps because pill bleeds are, in fact, not real periods.

​A natural menstrual cycle consists of the follicular and luteal phase, where estrogen, progesterone, and luteinizing hormone rise and lower, regulating ovulation and menstruation. Hormonal birth control, which contains a synthetic form of estrogen and progesterone, mimics the flow of these naturally occurring hormones. Released at a threshold amount, the body recognizes the hormones and thus stops producing its own, halting the tightly orchestrated hormone production of the menstrual cycle.

​Why is this bad? Technically, the same hormones that occur naturally are also occurring from the Pill. Right?

Wrong.

Remember that the Pill delivers synthetic hormones. Consider progesterone, for example. Progesterone is naturally produced in a woman’s body. Progestins are the synthetic, slightly different versions of progesterone that the Pill produces. While progesterone improves heart health and is good for mood and sleep (among other benefits), progestins can cause high blood pressure, anxiety, and depression (among other risks). While we think these hormones involved in our period just impact our cycle, they actually do a lot more. In fact, they have receptors in the brain, not just the uterus, impacting various neurological processes. Estrogen plays a role in memory formation and protects the brain against damage.

​Did your doctor tell you that? Nobody told me. Most of my friends only knew about side effects (depression, weight gain, thinning hair, etc.) because they had already experienced them, not because anybody warned them.

The problem is not that hormonal contraception is prescribed and available, but that women are not fully aware of the impact the Pill has on their bodies. Many women rely on a rushed visit with their gynecologist when seeking trustworthy information, and in the 10 minutes offered by their doctor, take what they can get. And what they get is a doctor who has enough time to say, “Oh, you have this problem, here’s the Pill.”

​Because of this casual dismissal of the nuanced workings of the female body, women are completely unaware of the importance and benefits of their cycles.

A woman’s period is like a report card. A vital sign that can inform her about what is truly going on in her body. Abnormal cycles can signal anything from poor diet to thyroid disease or tumors. If a woman does not get her report card at the end of the month, she won’t know what’s going on. She won’t necessarily know if something’s wrong.

Imagine if you changed all of your grades in high school from C’s to A’s. You may be fooling your parents with your fake 4.0. You may even be fooling yourself. But nothing can change the fact that you don’t know the material.

​If a woman stops her natural period through the Pill, she is not solving the underlying issue — she is simply avoiding it.

​Even more problematic is that women are not aware of the various options they have outside of hormonal birth control. If I had never read the Period Repair Manual, I wouldn’t have known about the day-to-day changes I could instill to make my cycles less unpleasant. Cutting down my dairy consumption and increasing daily exercise almost immediately led to less painful cramps.

​A quick fix. I didn’t have to swallow anything synthetic. Did your doctor give you that option?

​I didn’t think so.

​So what really needs to change?

While better medical conversations would undoubtedly help, women also need foundational knowledge to ask informed questions. We must do our research, not through Google or AI, but through meaningful learning to seek trustworthy information. Find books, podcasts, and scientific literature. Become body literate, and go to the doctor prepared. Know enough to ask valuable questions. To push back. To critically think about the list the doctor so confidently recites to you, like she did 100 times over that day.

​I know it may be inconvenient for those of you who struggle with periods that seem to be your enemy, but I urge you to try the unconventional methods before you are quick to take the Pill. Consider lifestyle adjustments and medical testing before resorting to hormonal changes.

​Your menstrual cycle is a messenger that delivers vital information about your health. Don’t shoot the messenger. Befriend your period instead of shutting her down, and you may find that she is a tool and a gift, and not just an obnoxious, ever-present bitch.