No Period Cramps

Birth Control Pills For Period Cramps Has Risks

Posted by Cathy on with 2 Comments

Birth Control for Menstrual Cramps Carries Risks

The Dr. Oz web site says birth control pill are safe for young girls period cramps. Dr. Oz and his writers haven’t done the research because studies show the risks are great, especially for young developing bodies under the age of 18.  Educate yourself and your daughters on the risk associated with oral contraception, the birth control pill.  The research is overwhelming.  There are serious risks to taking the pill for long periods of time and when starting usage at an early age.  Dr. Larry Norton from Memorial Sloane Kettering Hospital in New York City said this on the Oprah Magazine website when asked about the safety of birth control pills.

“Birth control pills are an estrogen-progesterone combination, so they bring up the same fears as HRT. Some disagree with me, but I just don’t see a reason to take the Pill—even for younger women. The fact is, breast cancer cells, at least in the formative stages, like estrogen. So the more continuously you feed them the estrogen, the greater the likelihood you’ll have a malignancy. With the sexually transmitted diseases that we have to worry about nowadays, I think barrier methods make a lot more sense.”

Say no to birth control pills for young girls painful menstrual cramps.  There are better, safer, natural choices to relieve menstrual cramps and PMS.  The “PILL”  was never intended to be used for severe menstrual cramps.   Do your own research, because too often doctors don’t even know these studies exist.  Learn about herbal remedies for period cramps  have been relieving menstrual cramps and PMS for hundreds of years. There are many natural alternatives for period pain. Learn about ours here.  Natural options such as Traditional Eastern herbal combinations have been used for generations, safely,most and are successful at relieving menstrual cramps and most period symptoms.

Teens Use The Pill For Cramps and Acne?

Posted by Cathy on

The results of a study by the Guttmacher Institute were just released.  It tells an interesting story about why American teenage girls are choosing birth control pills for noncontraceptive reasons. 

 

The study points out that little data has been gathered previously on the use of oral contraception for purposes beyond that of preventing pregnancy.   The federally funded survey done from 2006-2008 titled the "National Survey of Family Growth" examined the reasons why women and teens are  using the pill for noncontraceptive reasons.

 

The Guttmacher Institute estimated from this survey that 1.5 million women in the U.S. are using oral contraception for noncontraceptive purposes.  This includes reasons such as acne, primary dysmenorrhea, prevention of migraines, fibroids, excessive pelvic pain, bleeding and other "side effects" of menstruation.  The Guttmacher institute says "The reliance on birth control pills for noncontraceptive reasons is highest among pill users who are teenagers. In fact, teens are more likely to report using the pill for noncontraceptive purposes than for birth control: Some 82% of 15-19 year-olds who use OCPs say they do so for non-contraceptive reasons".6  The three most common reasons are: menstrual pain, menstrual regulation and acne.   The survey did not ask about other hormonal methods of contraception ie. the ring, patch, implant or IUD.  The data was gathered using in-person interviews with 7356 women aged 15-44.

 

Oral contraception is artificial hormone regulation of the endocrine system and the risks of these drugs can be serious.  A friend of mine, healthy at age 30 suffered a stroke from birth control pills and four years later still has no use of her left arm and walks with an extreme limp. She started the "Pill" at age 15 to alleviate her painful periods.  I do not want to scare you, so I will refrain from further stories from patients or friends, about the use of birth control pills.   But, do the 82% of teenagers using the pill for noncontraception reasons understand the risks of these drugs?  Do they know all the possible ramifications of their choices? My friend has said many times,

 

"I wish I had known, I never would have taken the pill if I knew this could happen." 

 

Dr. Larry Norton is a well known breast cancer doctor at Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital in New York City and when interviewed on Oprah.com  had this to say about birth control pills.  "Birth control pills are an estrogen-progesterone combination, so they bring up the same fears as HRT. Some disagree with me, but I just don't see a reason to take the Pill–even for younger women. The fact is, breast cancer cells, at least in the formative stages, like estrogen. So the more continuously you feed them the estrogen, the greater the likelihood you'll have a malignancy. With the sexually transmitted diseases that we have to worry about nowadays, I think barrier methods make a lot more sense." 1

 

Do our teenagers have this information?  Do they know that in 2005 the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that "combined estrogen-progestogen oral contraception is carcinogenic to humans."2

 

Do these teenagers know about  BRCA 1 and BRCA 2 genes?  Are teens getting checked to see whether they carry this gene mutation?  This mutation gives a woman "a 36-52 percent risk of  developing breast cancer by age 70"3.   Personally, I would want this information to make my choice about oral contraception an informed one.  I want to know about any drug that can possibly cause cancer cell growth, especially if I have a gene that puts me at a higher risk for cancer.

 

The Breast Cancer Fund has a book called "State of The Evidence"4   (this book is free and online) in which they sum up a number of studies on birth control pills with the following statements: "Numerous studies have shown an increase risk of breast cancer in women using oral contraceptives …. especially those who start taking birth control pills earlier in life and take them for a longer period of time."5

 

What do you think?  Do the teenagers possess this information and are they making informed choices about their health?  Is all the information available to them and are  the facts presented  properly?  Drugs have serious ramifications and not all are immediately evident.  Teens choosing oral contraception for menstrual cramps and acne is a personal choice that requires some serious study.

 

Women have more choices today than ever before.  Choices have ramifications and choices about our health and drug use are no exception.  Freedom of choice is a wonderful thing and I support it 100%.  I believe choices should be made after carefully weighing benefits and risks.  Due diligence is especially important when the choice could involve serious health consequences.

 

____________________________________________________

References:

1.  http://www.oprah.com/omagazine/Breaking-News-on-Breast-Cancer/2#ixzz1dzBMRJKk

2. http://www.iarc.fr/en/media-centre/pr/2005/pr167.html

3. Dr. Susan Love  http://blog.dslrf.org/?p=24

4. & 5.  Breast Cancer Fund  http://www.breastcancerfund.org/assets/pdfs/publications/state-of-the-evidence-2008.pdf

6.  Guttmacher Institute study   http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/Beyond-Birth-Control.pdf

Holy Hormones – Evidence Shows How Menstrual Cramps Effect Women’s Brains

Posted by Cathy on with 2 Comments

Often, menstrual pain and cramps are not taken seriously. But here at Pack Herbs we take them very seriously, as do a group of researchers at the University of Taipei.  These researchers from Taiwan have made international news.  Using highly specialized brain scanners the researchers found the anatomy of the female brain changed as a result of painful menstrual cramps.  If fact, even if women did not have cramps at the time of the brain scans, yet had experienced moderate to severe cramps on a regular basis for years, scans still showed their brains gray matter had abnormalities.  Yes, abnormalities!  This is the first documented evidence of it’s type. This research proves the monthly misery of menstrual cramps have serious lasting side effects, similar to the effects of people who deal with chronic pain issues. This research is published in the Sept. 2010 issue of PAIN.

“A long-term bombardment by peripheral pain can elicit plastic changes in the central brain as a reactive adaptation,” Hsieh explained. “It can also be a crucial mechanism that perpetuates the ‘chronification’ of pain” — that is, a mechanism that can turn pain into a lingering affliction, says  Dr. Jen-Chuen Hsieh, a professor of neuroscience at the Institute of Brain Science at National Yang-Ming University in Taipei, Taiwan, and lead researcher.  Previously, the researches found PET brain scans also showed differences in brain activity.

Menstrual cramps, or pain in the lower abdomen occur when the uterus contracts during menstruation.  Cramps are one of the most common gynecological disorder in women of childbearing age. As a woman who has been through some pretty painful menstrual cramps in my life, I found Chinese herbs can eliminate monthly suffering and I wanted to share it with others. This is the reason I gave birth to PMS Relief Herb Pack.  (Not a traditional birth, but a birthing of sorts.)

Whether you experience the moodiness, cramps, backaches, bloating, breast tenderness or all of the above, PMS Relief will work for you.  It’s packed with 14 herbs (a dried powder extraction) which has been used through-out Asia for centuries.  Based on Traditional Chinese Medicine, our herbal blend of Chinese herbs (not Western herbs) is nothing like what’s been on the American market before.  One packet mixed in water is all you need to start feeling the immediate relief.   Most women use a packet the day before their cycle starts and then a packet or two on their worst cramping days. Did I mention it’s all natural herbs, nothing artificial added and it taste good too.   

Do your brain and your body a favor and give PMS Relief a try.  There is really no reason to suffer any longer. Chinese herbs have the longest continual use history of any medicine on earth. What are you waiting for, an abnormal brain to develop?

Connect to a Australian study:  549 women had documented results on the severity of PMS using Chinese herbs. By restoring the imbalance in the reproductive system, Chinese herbal medicine can prevent monthly menstrual cramps, depression, PMS, and abdominal pain.

Read the abstract here: http://www.painjournalonline.com/article/S0304-3959(10)00329-5/abstract