“You f--ked me over and left my brain impregnated with your bastard babies called memories. It was all fun and games when I let you up in me, but now you won’t even take joint custody.”
That was the line that touched my soul. The line that stirred up some old memories of feeling used and emotionally abused after giving up a part of myself to a man boy who knew no more about how to love me than I knew about how to love myself. Because to be honest, if I truly knew my value and my worth at the time, he would have never been able to overdraft from my emotional bank account. He wouldn’t have been able to leave me emotionally broke and broken—curled up in a fetal position wondering what was wrong with me.
Via Buzzfeed
In a recent Buzzfeed video titled, “What I Wish Someone Told Me About Having Sex,” spoken word artist Daysha Edewi drops some heavy knowledge about the consequences of having (protected and unprotected) sex—not just physically, but mentally. With accompanying visuals that further enhance her words, she taps into a narrative that unfortunately too many women can relate to—one of passion that leads to pain after allowing a lover to play Geppetto with your emotions.
“I thought I knew everything there was to know about having safe sex. Always carry a condom, and never, ever get pregnant [...]People love to talk about how to avoid STIs of the physical kind, but nobody likes to talk about the STIs that can destroy your mind. The ones that can have you tossing and turning at 3am raking your brain and constantly wondering, was I not good enough for him?”
Because we’ve all been there. Those sleepless nights spent crying silent tears wondering how did you end up in this place? What could you have done to be better for him? Were you not caring enough, or not catering enough? Should you have been more submissive or more dismissive of the obvious bullshit that he was feeding you? Yeah, those thoughts.
“My sister always told me that my body was a temple, so never let a man in that doesn’t take the proper time to worship you, because you are a goddess that is truly worth sacrificing for. And I only wish that I had taken the time to listen to her more often, but instead I chose to listen to you. And that would’ve been okay if it weren’t for the fact that you’re love for me was untrue, because you liked someone else when you said that you liked me, too.”
Oh man, here we go. Here’s where we messed up, not realizing that his worthless lies weren’t worth our time.
[Tweet "We’re given the solution to problems we have yet to face by those who've been through the fire."]
But we choose to touch the stove to see if it’s hot anyway. And we get burned. Oh, do we get burned.
Via Buzzfeed
She continues:
“It took all but two texts to get you through my door, but let me text you about some child support. Just an honest why? Because I will never let myself be reduced to some 2am whore, creeping out of windows and sneaking through back doors. I will never let myself be reduced to just some side chick, just another side dish at the table that you pick at while you wait for your main entrée to just being your other bitch.”
How many of us still fight for a battle that we know we’ve already lost? Instead of walking away with our heads held high we come crawling back begging to be validated by the one who made us feel invalid to begin with.
“I am a person. I have feelings and emotions that have a right to be protected, and having a vagina and two tits shouldn’t make me any less deserving of your time or someone to be disrespected. So if you’re going to choose to be with her over me, well I guess you have to do what’s best then and I guess I just wish that we had taken the time to use both mental and physical protection, and had a conversation about what this all really meant before we had sex.”
Believe it or not, this last part breathes hope. It shows that she’s now aware of who she is and what she deserves, and that she no longer will accept that she’s anything less than a Queen to be treated like royalty. That this was just a lesson that she had to learn in order to win in the game called love. In this case, in order to win she had to start by loving herself.
Thank you, Daysha for speaking life back into the dead part of our souls.
Let us know what you think of Daysha's heartfelt words!
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These days, it's for a completely different purpose, though. Now that I am in the hopefully latter stages of perimenopause (I’m not sure because my mother had a full hysterectomy at 29, her mother died at 53 and I don’t deal with my paternal grandmother because…chile… ) — although I have always had relatively easy cycles and I could definitely set my watch to them, about two years ago, my periods started to show up whenever they felt like it and it was damn near a crime scene once they did.
It was driving me crazy, and so, my nurse practitioner recommended that I take progestin-only pills to shorten, if not completely stop, my cycle: “After a year or so, we can wean off and see if you are entering into menopause on your own.” (Whew, perimenopause, chile.)
Although the first five months of being on this particular pill made me wonder if it was worth it to take this approach, I actually re-upped for another 12-month cycle because the extra progestin (a synthetic form of progesterone) has benefitted me in other areas as well because I am sleeping more soundly and my weight is more stabilized (by the way, when these things are “off,” they are signs of low progesterone levels). However, I did ask my nurse practitioner if, once I do decide to wean off of the pill, would there be any issues.
Her response is what inspired me to write this article because, until she said “post-birth control syndrome” to me, I had no idea there was such a thing. Anyway, if you give me a sec, I’ll explain to you what it is and why you should care if hormone-related birth control is currently a part of your life.
Yes, Post-Birth Control Syndrome Is a Very Real Thing
GiphyOkay, so it’s important to always remember that the way that birth control works is it “manipulates” your hormones so that you can significantly reduce your chances of conceiving. This means that taking them could result in some side effects including nausea; weight gain; headaches; irregular periods and/or spotting; increased stress; depression; blurry vision; breast tenderness, and/or a lowered libido.
That said, even though birth control pills are basically 99 percent effective (when taken correctly and consistently), if the side effects that you are experiencing are making you close to miserable, you should absolutely share that with your healthcare provider because…what’s the sense in preventing pregnancy when you don’t even feel up to having sex because you don’t feel good or your sex drive is shot? More times than not, your provider can find you another pill brand or option that will help you to feel more like yourself.
With that out of the way, think about it — if going on the pill can produce side effects, why would going off of it…not? And this is where post-birth control syndrome comes in.
For the most part, it’s what can happen to your body once you decide to come off of birth control. Typically, the symptoms will last anywhere between 4-6 months and, although the symptoms seem to present themselves most intensely as it relates to going off of the pill, any hormone-related birth control (like IUDs, injections, patches, the ring or implants) could produce similar outcomes.
Outcomes like what?
- Irregular cycles
- Breakouts
- Excessive gas and/or bloating
- Weight gain
- Anxiety and/or depression
- Fertility issues
- Migraines and/or headaches
- Shifts in your libido
- Sleeplessness/restlessness
- Hair loss
Whoa, right? And if a part of you is wondering, “Okay, if this is indeed the case, why have I not heard of this syndrome before?” It’s because it’s not a term that conventional method uses nearly as much as alternative medicine does. Still, it makes all of the sense in the world that if your body has to adjust to an uptick in hormonal intake, it would also need to adjust to removing those extra doses of hormones from your system as well. COMMON. DAMN. SENSE.
Anyway, if you were thinking about taking a break from birth control and taking all of this in has you feeling a bit…let’s go with the word “trepidatious” about doing so, I totally get it. There are some things that you can do to make experiencing post-birth control syndrome either a non-issue or a far more bearable one, though.
7 Home Remedies That Can Make Coping with Post-Birth Control Syndrome Easier
Giphy1. Take a multivitamin.Something that’s fascinating about what going off of birth control can do is it sometimes has the ability to lower your nutrition levels as it relates to certain vitamins and minerals; this is especially the case when it comes to vitamins B, C, E and minerals like magnesium, selenium and zinc. So, if you don’t currently take a multivitamin, now would be the time to start (along with consuming foods that are particularly high in those nutrients as well).
2. Up your vitamin D intake. Speaking of nutrient levels, a vitamin level that commonly drops after going off of birth control isvitamin D. This is hella critical to keep in mind as a Black woman since many of us tend to be naturally deficient in the vitamin as-is and vitamin D is important when it comes to fighting off diseases, regulating weight and keeping your moods stabilized (for starters). So, make sure that your multivitamin has vitamin D in it. Also make sure to consume vitamin D-enriched foods like fatty fish, eggs, mushrooms, yogurt and fortified orange juice.
3. Drink herbal teas. Since going off of birth control will cause your hormones to be all over the place for a season, consider drinking some herbal teas that will help to stabilize them. Black cohosh contains phytoestrogen properties, Chasteberry can help to level out your prolactin levels and green tea can help your hormones out by helping to balance out your insulin (which can sometimes directly affect them).
4. Keep some ibuprofen nearby. The headaches and migraines? Until those subside, you and ibuprofen are probably going to become really good friends; although I will add that ginger tea and inhaling essential oils like chamomile and lavender can help to ease migraine-related symptoms too.
5. Do some meditating. Waiting for your hormones to get back on track can be stressful as all get out. That said, something that can get your cortisol (stress hormone) levels to chill out is to meditate. If meditation is new for you, check out “7 Meditation Hacks (For People Who Can't Seem To Do It).”
6. Get massages. As if you needed an excuse to get a massage, right (check out “12 Different Massage Types. How To Know Which Is Right For You.”)? However, there is some evidence to back the fact that regular massages (somewhere around once a month) can help to lower your stress, boost your dopamine, increase blood flow and drain your lymphatic system so that you will have more energy.
7. Sleep/rest more. There is plenty of scientific research out here which says that sleep deprivation can throw your hormones out of whack — and since your hormones are already trying to stabilize themselves, you definitely need to get 6-8 hours of sleep and not feel the least bit guilty about taking naps sometimes too.
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Post-birth control syndrome may not be the most pleasant thing about getting off of birth control yet it is manageable. So, now that you know all about it, you can feel more confident about taking a birth control break (or getting off altogether) — without the surprises that can come with doing it. Give thanks.
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