That’s right! Today’s post I’m talking about periods. Sort of. I’m actually wanting to hone in on the complicated, but prevalent topic of hormonal contraceptives. “WHAT?! WHY?!” I hear you exclaim, “Last week you were talking about turbo training and training apps, and now you want me to sit here and read about PERIODS and THE PILL?”
Yes, folks, I do. And if you are a person that doesn’t have periods/take the Pill, then I hope you still carry on reading, because there’s a very high chance that people close to you do/are. I want to shed light on this topic in the context of sport and exercise, because I think we are vastly and hugely under-informed. Through no fault of our own, I might add. The science world has done a number on us over the years. Not including women in studies, essentially because it’s too awkward. Yes. The fact that women have menstrual cycles/hormonal fluctuations makes it more difficult to control study parameters, so the solution tends to be, you know, just don’t include them. FANTASTIC. However, the (sort of) good news is, in 2016 the National Institute of Health (NIH) mandated that ‘…any research money it granted must include female animals.’ Well, that’s a start, I suppose.
This post shouldn’t be too long (she says), because I can’t possibly do the subject matter justice and I don’t want to be having to write a reference list, bibliography and getting a peer review, if you know what I meannn.
The purpose is to introduce you to some of the things that blew my mind, prompted me make a pretty big decision, which I’ll tell you about, and point you towards the pieces of writing I have read (or am currently reading). I hope that you’ll go away from this post inspired to read a little more, dig a little deeper and potentially discover some things you didn’t already know.
Back in November I picked up a copy of Roar by Dr. Stacy Sims, whose mantra is ‘Women are not small men.’ Touching on the idea that you can’t study men and simply extrapolate the findings to women. [Please note, when I say Men and Women in this post, I’m referring to the chromosomal basis of gender: males (XX) and females (XY)]. Roar is the first thing you should put on your reading list, okay? Write that down. It is an extremely interesting book about how women can enhance their training by monitoring their menstrual cycle and working with it. She describes it as an ergogenic aid (broadly defined as ‘a technique or substance used for the purpose of enhancing performance’). For example, knowing that at certain times of the month, we respond better to high intensity training and at other times to endurance. It suggests how best to fuel at certain times of the month and when it’s critical to keep an eye on protein intake.
If you’re not a big reader or don’t have a lot of time, then check out this YouTube video or this Podcast (there are more, just Google her name). Whilst I was making my way studiously through this fascinating book, I came across a SHOCKING stat.
In a study of women on the Pill vs. women not on the Pill, those that were on the Pill experienced 50% less muscle gain during the same duration and type of training than the women that were not on the Pill. WHAT!? To me that was insane. I’d dedicated a LOT of my youth to competitive running and the idea that I’d potentially scuppered myself for no real reason made me pretty mad.
I had been on and off various types of Pill for years. Since I was about 17 when I got it to help bring some regularity into my life. It wasn’t a form of contraception back then (I was too busy running all the time for boyfriends), just a way for me to not get caught out (I also thought my boobs might grow, but no luck there). Also, everybody was on it, so it seemed like the obvious thing to do.
This is where my first issue lies. The GP I saw way back when, was quite happy to prescribe me the Pill, she told me how to take it and that I would need to come back in a few weeks to check that my blood pressure was okay. Other than that, I wasn’t given any other information. She didn’t ask me about my lifestyle or whether I was sporty etc. etc. This is NOT meant to be a slur against my GP or any GPs anywhere, I know they are under immense pressure and simply do not have the time to spend hours talking about this kind of thing. But I think the Pill has become something that women are expected to be on and, actually, we should be educated far more about it and given a lot more guidance around what might be best on an individual basis. Whether that’s in school or at a special clinic, I don’t know. But it’s a far bigger commitment than the 10-minute (if you’re lucky) appointment at the docs.
“[the contraceptive Pill is] a vast uncontrolled experiment, unparalleled in the history of medicine.”
Barbara Seaman, 1969
I had no idea that taking this tiny Pill would have such an effect on my entire body. I had no idea it would affect my sports performance (I genuinely wouldn’t have gone on it) and I certainly had no notion that if I felt like crap on it, that was normal, in fact, very probable, and I could come back and try another one. And another one. And another one… if need be, to find one that suited me better. It was just assumed (hoped) that I’d be fine and not come back.
Do you know there are 42 different types of hormonal contraceptive? No. I didn’t either. I learned that the other day in this book: This Is Your Brain on Birth Control, by Sarah Hill. This is the second book for your reading list. This one is less sports based and focuses on the numerous ways in which hormonal contraceptives addle our brains; how they influence our decision making, ability to react to stress, our capacity to retain information, who we are attracted to (and vice versa) and how we feel about our appearance, whilst also physically changing our appearance (weight, chest size, skin). Some of these things you might have experienced, and quite happily and consciously put it down to Pill taking, but some of these side-effects might be affecting you without you really knowing it…
* Jess you said you would keep this short *
Okay, yes, yes. SO. For a while I’d been feeling not quite myself. George and I had been going through a lot; moving house, changing jobs, deciding to do ridiculous cycle challenges, and I kept describing to him that I didn’t feel right. I felt fuzzy. Cloudy.
Flat.
I thought I was just not coping very well with all the change, and was just waiting for it to pass once we’d settled into our life properly. I was also enduring a ‘period’ (actually a withdrawal bleed. Hormonal contraceptives suppress your genuine period) every two weeks pretty much, preceded by a week feeling physically in pain in various parts of my bod. NOT JOYOUS. Again, I just kept telling myself it would eventually pass.
But after reading that fact in Roar (the one about the 50% less muscle gain) I started to wonder whether I was feeling so odd because something tiny and shoved inside my right inner arm 18 months previously was having more power over me than I could ever have imagined. With this big TdF challenge looming ahead, I didn’t want to encumber myself in any way, especially when I was seemingly experiencing so many other downsides.
THUSLY (great word), I decided in December to have the tiny monstrosity extracted from my arm. I’m not trying to be dramatic, but the Doctor was literally digging around in there for what felt like hours until she triumphantly raised the match-sized BRAIN-FOGGER into the air.
“Got it!”
She asked why I wanted it out and I explained that I’d done some reading and had decided I wasn’t too happy about what I thought the hormones were doing to me. That I believed I wasn’t myself whilst it was in there and, also, I wanted to get hench.
Just kidding! I will literally never be hench.
She was pretty keen for me to go back on some other type of hormonal contraceptive, but I said, ‘No thanks.’ And skedaddled. I know too much now and I’m not going to put myself through it again. Plus, there are other ways and means for, you know, stuff…and things… *awkward snuffle*.
Also, I’m intrigued to see whether I notice any differences in my performance now I’m synthetic-hormone free and having normal periods. [Check out this article about the England football team training around their menstrual cycles (nice one, Neville)].
It’s been a couple of months now and I can honestly say I feel so much better. The brain fog has lifted, I feel more alert, generally happier and my periods come just once a month (hurrah!).
I wanted to write this not to scaremonger (scaremong? Scaremongerize?) or sensationalise. I’m not saying everyone should immediately whip out/halt their hormonal contraceptive (I cannot take responsibility for lots of new born babies, although I WOULD happily cuddle each and every one of them), but I am saying make sure you’re really and truly aware of its influence on you. If you’ve been on one for years and years, it can be hard to know what normal is. If you feel like you’ve been on them all, there are probably others that are better! Keep trying.
So, if this has sparked your interest, definitely read the books and articles I’ve included in this post. Google around, there are more books and more articles, and make sure your brain and body are living their best life.
“By altering our natural hormone levels, the Pill induces in us a different biochemical and psychological stage of life we’re in and may affect our unfoldment thereafter…While it may be difficult to prove the effect that taking the Pill has on our psychological development we can see that through its profound hormonal impact the Pill may also be interfering with the fundamental chemistry of who we are and what we can become”.
Maeve McKeivor, from here
Thanks so much for reading!
J x
Words by Jess 