Dr B. loved the 3rd Thursday of the month.
In fact, we all loved our 3rd Thursdays. It was Shawna's day. Shawna was our impeccably dressed pharma rep who walked in smiling, with her pearly whites, perfect hair, designer heels and gourmet lunch. She was a badass, boss babe. Yup, every third Thursday we knew we'd eat a yummy free gourmet lunch and take home 'goodie' bags filled with the latest pastel colored birth control pills samples, pens, notepads and hair scrunchies! Who doesn't love a goodie bag, right? So, happily ..... I got my monthly birth control and an endless amount of scrunchies that I can never keep track of anyway. I was set...... But, more so, I was sold. I thought Shawna was brilliant! Candy: After Decades It's Still The Only Prescription
I took the pill, on and off, for 10 years of my life. And, not because I had a boyfriend.
I happen to mention that I had bad cramping and horrible acne flare ups one day to Dr. B, my boss, and he just handed me Shawna's samples of Alesse BCP. I was 17 and trusted my doctor. You think he ever sat down and read the side effects to me? NO! Like millions of women, and girls, in our country, I took the pill like candy for years. HOWEVER, it's been well over 20 years since I met Shawna, and the pharmaceutical industry continues to pump out birth control pills, patches, hormone injections, IUD's and pain killers for anything related to our PERIODS, skin or moods. Why? Because Western doc's are only trained to treat symptoms, not the underlying causes such as inflammation. Stop Period Pain Before It Starts
When it comes down to it, period pain is caused by inflammation.
There are cells in your uterus that produce prostaglandins. Prostaglandins (PgE2) tighten up blood vessels, making the uterus contract, resulting in cramps. Higher levels of these naughty prostaglandins (PgE2) result in even more cramps. Now, before you go and get angry at your prostaglandins, there are 'good' prostaglandins (PgE1 & Pg E3) that act as natural painkillers to counter the affects of (PgE2) prostaglandins. Awesome! Your body has twice as many natural pain relieving prostaglandins than annoying ones, but because of our bad habits, most we don't even know about, the underdog, pain maker prostaglandins grows stronger. Now, birth control pills do NOTHING to relieve inflammation. There sole purpose is to manipulate ovulation to stop the process of pregnancy. That's IT.
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