In today’s Chicago Tribune there’s an article about the effect of the pill on women’s libido & the fact that it often kills the sex drive. And that pharmaceutical companies downplay this effect.
From personal experience, both on and (recently) off the pill, I’d say it’s quite true and very dramatic. And I was even on the expensive type of pill with the extra added horny ingredient!
A birth control pill that contains Viagra? Talk about mixed messages.
Never happened to me.
I read the article as well, and my first thought about the phone call to the doctor that was required to discover that reduced sex drive might be a side effect was, “What, she’s never read the package insert?”
Considering some of the other possible side effects, including blood clotting, almost most anything that’s not a direct threat to health - weight gain, headaches, spotting - could be considered “downplayed”. Sure, it’d be interesting to know why this might be a side effect, but the research on if/when/what kind of cancer it causes/prevents is more important to a lot of researchers.
It is unfortunate that men’s sex drive seems to get a lot more focus - for instance, Viagra and its coverage by health insurance companies when some don’t cover oral contraceptives - compared to women’s, but I didn’t see this potential side effect of oral contraceptives as being a big secret.
Isn’t Viagra intended for treating erectile disfunction, not reduced sex drive?
Oh, and I forgot to add that I never noticed it in my several years on oral contraception, and that the majority of the time, most side effects can be avoided by changing prescriptions to another hormonal mix.
You’re right, I was being sloppy there. Anecdotal reports that I’ve read - from men and some women who’ve experimented with it - do seem to indicate some increased sexual drive from taking it, though that might just be a result of the sensations going on in the genital area.
At any rate, Viagra and oral contraception are often compared when discussing the disparity of treatment between men and women in sexual matters, and I was trying to draw a comparison regarding the (according to the article) minimization of issues with women’s sex drive. I shouldn’t bother with any attempts at good analysis until I have two Mountain Dews in me in the morning I guess.
All this time I thought that’s how the Pill worked–it made you such a frigid bee-yatch that even if you for some reason wanted to have sex, there’s not a man alive who’d be brave enough to poke you.
My pill didn’t include Viagra - I believe it was progesterone. The brand is Nordette. Perhaps it runs in our family - my sister had a tough time w/the pill as well. When I was on the Ortho/Novum 777 it was a living hell!
Reduced sex drive? I think I may have to rethink my plan to go on the pill! My boyfriend wouldn’t be able to cope! lol
A female friend of my SO recently switched to the patch and stopped using the pill.
She calls it “the horny patch”! Of course, the patch doesn’t make her horny, it just is a noticable difference not having the pill interfere with her sex drive.
I must say, it sounds like a good idea to me. ( I am male )
I’d take the patch. The pill (Yasmin) didn’t really effect my sex drive at all but the patch has made me even hornier! 
My boy loves it!
i hate the pill and am still on it.
It totally destroys my sex drive. i could care less if i have sex or not. It sucks and is ruining my relationship w/ my s/o.
But when i’m off the pill?? Oh my god watch out!!!
Progesterone couldn’t be the “horny” ingredient because theat’s the hormone that reduces sex drive. I’m suprised a lot of people didn’t know this, I always thought it was common knowledge. Of course they’re going to downplay the side effects, they do that with all medications. Ever notice how all of the commercials for new drugs on the market have that blurb on the end spoken so fast you can barely keep up with it? Usually a bunch of side effects that seem as bad if not worse than the very ailement you’re taking the medication for? If they played up the side effects, they wouldn’t be able to push the stuff!
Personally, I can’t take the pill as it immediately makes me blow up like a beached whale along with heart palpitations from hell. I’d get out of breath from talking.
Word of advice: always read the package insert of any medication you’re taking. Especially when you’re taking hormones.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, but it did it clear up your skin?
Yeah, that’s fine, read the package insert. Report side effects. Only it’s kind of hard to draw a direct cause-and-effect with some medications. Sulfa drugs make be blow up immediately, but the side effects of BCP were more subtle and difficult to isolate.
Plus a woman who’s going on the pill for the first time is likely experiencing other major life changes, such as a new relationship, perhaps marriage, moving, etc. We don’t start BCP out of the blue, and those other very stressful life changes that go along with being in late teens/early twenties make it difficult to figure out where the problem is coming from.
I guess it’s just the value of hindsight, but I wouldn’t have guessed that the BCP were having such a profound effect on me. It was more than a year after I stopped taking them before my body started rebounding.
Well, I’m not a woman, but here’s my take:
Most contraception that we’ve used, (oral, shot, monthly shot, patch), prevented pregnancy well. The drawbacks to all of these are weight gain, reduced sex drive and in all cases with the
exception of the pill-lunacy!
The worst for that side-effect was a tie between Depo and Ortho-Evra(patch). The patch was the winner by a nose due to the frequency of these “episodes” wherein my fiancee completely lost her mind. Any woman who is hormone-sensitive should avoid them at all costs.
Lunelle worked, but wasn’t worth the scare factor. In the middle of treatment with it, they announced that they had fucked up and the amount of hormone in the shot could possibly not be enough to prevent pregnancy.
The pill works and doesn’t have the same effect on her mental state. I’ll take a little reduced sex drive as a side-effect ANY DAY.
Sam
fessie, I’m on Nordette too (since fall of '99) and haven’t given a shit about sex for more than two years. I just never think about it. I actually look forward to the week of placebos, and so does my SO.
Yeah, lack of sex drive works wonders for a relationship. :rolleyes:
Your point that it is hard to attribute the effects to a single source is definitely worth considering. I do have a hard time believing that a crappy job situation, or graduating college, etc., would kill all drive for this length of time. But it’s so hard to know! Sucks. I’d love to quit taking them (with a guarantee of no pregnancy, of course).
You know, lesbians don’t need birth control.
need that fuckin’ toaster…
Holy fuck, I hope my sex drive isn’t reduced. I absolutely shudder to think of what my sex drive would be like if it wasn’t reduced, I’d be humping all day and night.
FWIW, when I got on the pill (Alesse) it increased my sex drive.