The Pill

The birth control pill is the most effective and most recommended drug out there for pregnancy prevention. I think the most common ones prescribed are Ortho Novum and Loestrin. As you can guess Loestrin has a low amount of estrogen. Ortho Novum has a high amount--it floods your body with it. I was on Ortho Novum for five years. It's been so long since I've not been on the pill I don't even remember what it was like to be off of it. I have recently quit taking it, and am waiting for the hormones to completely leave my body.

menstrual flow

Over the years my periods became less and less in terms of flow.

PMS

PMS would soar a week or so before my period, especially in the beginning. after a few years this seems to lessen. The "peach pills" that show the week before your period will start more than likely will be dreaded by your family and friends. One girl I knew would cry whenever she knew that her mother was going to start on the peach pills--it meant that she would very likely have to deal with violent PMS-related outbursts. the pill effects some women by making them have these violent mood-swings all month long.

weight gain

People usually gain weight 10--lbs or so (as i did). although some people lose weight ( who are they? i've never met them)

apptitie

weight gain probably happens because you're so damn hungry all the time and you eat so much more! In other words, your appitite increases.

Headaches
After a couple of years I started getting very bad headaches which were diagnosed as migraines. The pill is shown to increase your risk for migraines by around %70--which means if you have migraines in your family already you'll probably be getting them if you take the pill long enough.

dryness

for some reason a lot of women experience dryness inside the vagina (notice during sex of course)and the consistancy of their lubrication changes--usually get thicker. Sometimes it is almost necessary to use some sort of purchased lubricant.

labido

many womens labido's drop--much to the chagrin of their mates. Now you can have sex all the time right? Except you don't really care to very often.

timing

you've got to remember to take the pill at the same time every day and you've got to take it every day. if you forget you could get pregnant. some people simply can't remember and then this method is a really bad idea.

breast cancer

chances of this increase. It is shown that if you have breast cancer and do not know it, the pill will increase the rate of cancerous growth, in essence, killing you faster.
--The good stuff? You don't have to use a condom. (and yes, unless you know them really well you probably should anyhow), you don't really have to worry about pregnancy if you take the pill on time and every day. No spermicides or worrying about if a condom slipped off or anything. Some months you don't even have PMS, your periods are lighter which is nice. Everything can be spontanious, sex whenever and wherever. I think it's okay to be on the pill--but to be cautious. Our bodies are not meant to be messed with in this way--hence all the side effects telling us to stop taking these aweful hormones.