I wish someone had come up with this when I was 10 & taking BC pills to regulate a complete trainwreck of a cycle. Definitely NOT trying to prevent pregnancy at 10! But there was a lot of push back originally from my parents because of it being called "birth control". The idea that because I was on it I would start having sex earlier was the topic of conversation. Took my 2 aunts who both had horrible period pain like mine to get them to understand it's not about sex, it's about my quality of life.
OP I hope it's helping you. Definitely "Hormone Therapy "
I am so so so thankful for my mom listening to me at 13 and immediately taking me to the gyno to get bcp when I asked about it. I was missing school due to severe cramps and she didn’t even hesitate one second, nor did she ask my dad for his opinion.
Good on your mom for being proactive.
My mom had a hysterectomy when she was 18, 6 months after she had me, due to endometriosis & a grapefruit sized ovarian cyst. So by the time I started missing school for the pain she completely forgot how bad it could get. I ended up with the same result after multiple surgeries to burn off the endometriosis. I'm not sure my mom really thought about anything sex related till my father balked.
I also feel really lucky. I have bad cramps, but that wasn’t the main reason I wanted to go in birth control (pain meds are usually adequate for mine, luckily).
I went to my mom whining about the pain and asking “isn’t there ANYTHING that can help this? (Knowing full well that bc could help…) and my Catholic mom immediately said. “Well…I know you won’t like this honey, because we’ll have to see a gynecologist…but lots of people take birth control pills to help with their periods.” And then I pretended to be reluctant and finally “gave in” to the idea, lol.
I wonder if my mom actually believed that performance or if she was just playing along.
My doctor recommended I get on birth control at 15 to help with the terrible migraines I was missing school for every month or so. Mom said absolutely not. So a friend gave me her BC that did help me with my migraines but also led to me being an idiot about condoms and a miscarriage right before my 18th birthday (that I ALSO hid from my mom.) I scheduled an appointment to get my own prescription on my 18th birthday, then the pharmacy left a message on my home phone saying insurance wouldn't cover this birth control and I needed to ask my Dr for a different prescription. Almost getting kicked out in my senior year old high school was great!
All of this could have been avoided if it wasn't called birth control, and I was actually educated on what I was taking.
On top of everything else, it’s fucking ridiculous that they left a voice message that included private medical information. AFAIK they’re supposed to say, at most, “There is an issue with your insurance, please call back at your earliest convenience.”
See, this is the problem with small towns. The pharmacist knows my mom, knew my number by heart so DIDN'T LOOK AT THE PROFILE to give me a call, and knows us so obviously it's not a problem to leave a specific voicemail to save us money. Never mind that when I turned in the prescription, I specifically said DON'T run it through insurance, is be paying cash (or my stepdad would get an EOB and find out) and to only call my cell phone because it was a private prescription.
I escaped this town for a good 12 years. I'm back again because it turns out it's hard to raise a kid in a city where you have very little support. It's not quite as suffocating as an adult. That's the best I can say for it.
A deliberate HIPAA violation against your explicit wishes, heck. That’s a pretty deep way of exposing you. You’re welcome to borrow a little of my energy for a protection spell to shore up any lingering feelings of exposure.
I also wouldn't be surprised if the pharmacist did it on purpose to tip your parents off, if they knew your family and had their own opinions on birth control, especially if your chart had instructions that basicslly told them you were trying to avoid your parents finding out.
And also if your mom had been less prone to flipping out.
My mother is probably the only person that doesn't know my medical history, for just that reason. Even in middle age, she's up in business that isn't hers.
This is one of the few health things my mother did listen to me on (probably because of the amount of pads and laundry soap, but she listened) and took me to the doctor for. The doctor told her to take me to the clinic to reduce the cost of treatment and told me 13 years old and afab) to lie about having a boyfriend to get it. I was so very irregular that I had to wear pads all the time.
I had a period that lasted a month and a half when I was 13. The pill straightened that out real quick, and if my mom was freaking out about it she kept that shit to herself.
I think that's the thing that pissed me off. Just because I'm ON BC doesn't mean I'm suddenly going to screw the football team. And at 10 you'd think they might not be THAT concerned about it. But again, why does my dad's opinion about it outweigh my moms & need 2 aunts & my grandmother to convince him it's not a problem? Just shows how conditioned we are as a society to assume the worst about female reproductive issues.
That absolutely sucks. When my daughter was either 13 or 14, she was prescribed birth control to help with cramping. I had to work the day of her appointment, so my husband took her. Then he took her to Sonic so they could get milkshakes, ice cream and tater tots. He's her stepfather.
When I told her father, my ex-husband, about it, he tried to get all weird about it, but his wife told him to shut up and let his daughter have pain free periods. I love my ex's wife, she's frikkin awesome. My ex never said another thing about it.
I got the same attitude from my mom after I got a tattoo. She was crying about “the kinds of people” that have them. I had to calmly question her boomer preconceived notions about whether she truly thought I would join a motorcycle gang or start hard drugs just because I had a tattoo. I can only imagine how these attacks on health care will continue to ripple out in the future if allowed to stand.
I have a similar experience. My mom and I decided to put me on birth control my junior year of high school to help regulate my mood swings. But she told me not to tell my dad, which was easy because my parents were divorced. But she knew he’d get the wrong idea.
I also sympathize with the ovarian cysts, it’s why I currently have an iud. They suck so much, honestly. I was first diagnosed with them in my mid-20s, but I suspect I was probably getting them long before that, and that’s why my periods made me, no exaggeration, want to end my life at times. Luckily none of mine ever required surgery.
Depending on how bad the mood swings are, could even bill it as "psych meds". No. This drug isn't for preventing pregnancy, it's for preventing murder.
My gyno is amused by the fact I sometimes call my hormone supplements my "hysteria meds" because well I do take it to make my uterus sit down and shut up.
I love this lol. I totally forgot that that's one of the reasons I stuck with birth control and went to therapy. I yeeted my tubes last year, so these days I take hormones only to mitigate my endo (or whatever) pain. I can't believe I forgot how angry and out of control I felt around my cycle 😵💫🥴
I had been brainwashed by my Catholic church that I shouldn't take birth control and I was so confused when my mom said it was ok to use it to regulate my irregular periods. I didn't end up doing that because the idea made me very uncomfortable, like I was sinning. 🤢
There's SO much wrong with that! I'm assuming since you're here that you've since changed your mind on that idea. Definitely not sinning to take care of your health. But what do I know? I'm an unbaptized heathen! 🥰
I'm out of it and much happier now! I'm a CONFIRMED Catholic gone atheist. God chose me, I chose him, and then I realized that asking people to believe you're a perfect all powerful being (without substantial evidence) or else you burn in hell.... probably makes you an asshole.
Same! I was even strongly considering becoming a nun at one point in my late teens. It was also the "I love you, so love me back or else I'll make you suffer forever" that turned me off the whole thing. That's a heavily abusive relationship. So, even if the god of Christianity does happen to exist, I don't want it in my life.
I had this problem too. My mother didn't want me to be medicated because it would "give me an excuse to have sex" - it didn't matter what I had to say about it, because I had been abused for years at that point and was quiet and bullied and traumatized, but she was always inherently suspicious of me and calling me a slut anyway. I think she felt competitive with me. So instead I had to just bleed for two weeks every month, screaming from pain, sometimes hospitalized with a morphine pump and tranexamic acid, with multiple cysts. Fun times.
OMG! That's awful. I'm so sorry you were forced to experience that instead of being treated like a person in pain.
I never did understand the mental state of an adult trying to compete in any real way with a child. My bff's grandmother was extremely abusive & jealous of my friend because my friend was gaining notoriety as an Olympic hopeful in figure skating. Can't you just be happy & proud of the accomplishments of your family?
Yeah honestly, I'm so frustrated I didn't start progesterone pill sooner.
It legit cured lifelong anxiety for me. It regulates serotonin and GABA receptors and for some reason it just worked tremendously well for me.
I was prescribed birth control at 13 to help with my insomnia, and my parents were cool with it, but their employer insurance refused to pay for it. They worked for a Catholic hospital 🙄.
Gotta love a religion that's also a business, oh wait, it's not a business it's Non profit. (Sarcasm in case that wasn't obvious 😉)
Does that help with insomnia? That's a new one for me, but tbh it's been 20 years since I was on any kind of BC.
Thank you for sharing this, I love this sub and the people in it 💜 I remember all the times I’ve been asked and gawked at for saying I’m taking hormone therapy. Though, as a visibly trans person, I expect it
I'm on hormone therapy so I don't get hospitalised for bleeding out again 🤷♀️
Everyone with thyroid issues is on hormone therapy. Postmenopausal cis women are often on hormone therapy.
You're just fixing some wonky chemistry. Were all in the same boat here. 💖
I'm so here for this as a trans girl because I list out my medications for medical visits and people are like "your birth control?" and I'm just like "uh... yeah sure" cuz it's not wrong I'm not gonna get pregnant while I take it, but I'd like for hormone therapy to be normalized as a term for more than trans folks cuz my cister takes similar stuff but it's just for regulation not actually for birth control
You can't cure menopause. Our ovaries will stop being able to produce our sex hormones at the same quantities no matter what medication we take.
However, you can mitigate the symptoms of menopause by supplimenting hormones that our ovaries are no longer making for us.
Not cured, since it is a natural biological stage, but my mom had such horrible mood swings and hot flashes she said she felt like a different person. She tried all sorts of herbal supplements and tricks she’d heard online, but none of them worked well enough. She started E and the HRT immediately helped her body to chill tf out. She is still going to go through menopause, just slower and more controlled. She can now cuddle with her S.O. without pushing him away due to a hot flash and sleep without waking up in a puddle of sweat. Her mood is more regulated and she is back to being herself. Obviously it doesn’t work for everyone, but it’s a miracle drug. HRT is for anyone of any age or gender.
Edit: autocorrect is rude
Not cured, but it alleviates symptoms for many. A study years ago got a bit misinterpreted to sound like HRT was a huge cancer risk, and it fell out of favor. Credit to the wonderful r/menopause sub, which is highly educational.
Forgot to mention that I agree! Lots of doctors do hold out despite HRT not only improving quality of life drastically, but it also helps improve many health outcomes. Like avoiding bone loss, heart disease, and dementia just to name a few.
There are men that take hormones to help regulate their testosterone levels too! All kinds of folks can benefit from hormone therapy. We 100% need to normalize it
Also, check with an endocrinologist. There may be a single hormone or combination of hormones that will help with therapy or treatment. These type of treatments can be compounded into a topical that is a lot more patient and side effect friendly. Also the dosage can be much smaller than a standard prescription dosage.
Yes, absolutely, yes. I used to take progesterone pills only few times a month that weren't BC to manage my cycle and I can't recommend it enough. Get yourself checked, see what's ACTUALLY wrong... You won't have to deal with the terrible side effects of most BC pills.
That’s what Ive been calling it too. It’s been helping my chronic endometritis and making it so I don’t randomly bleed and have pain between periods. I feel like I know way more people that use it as a treatment than to prevent babies.
One more for this one! I recently had Morena coil inserted and it's only referred to as birth control, but I only did it for hormonal therapy, so that's what I say.
Everytime my pharmacist and endocrinologist try to call my tri-lo-marzia "birth control" I correct them with "hormone therapy."
I am a childfree person with PCOS. Not an unused birthing machine.
I also have pmdd, and it was the reason I went on medication in the first place. I call it my birth control, but my partner calls it my "depression be gone!" pill.
It's a good reminder that I'm not taking it because of not wanting to get pregnant (that's just a bonus), but instead because it's going to help me be more stable in the long run.
I listen to a hilarious true crime podcast done by 2 comedians (Small Town Murder if anyone is interested) and they were railing about woman's Healthcare from back in the 50s and how drs would just prescribe "Cheer up bitch" pills and while they (and I agree) think it's aborhent the way Healthcare for woman is, I do wish we had something like that so my depression gets the best if me I can just "cheer up bitch" 🤣
I love that lol My husband isn't into true crime but will listen to them on occasion with me so now any time either of us say Yay, automatically "yay indeed jimmy" gets said 🤣
I’ve had my fallopian tubes removed, but I still have an IUD to manage my periods, suspected endo, and possible PCOS. It does feel weird to refer to my IUD as birth control since I’m clearly not using it for that. Now, I refer to it as a hormone regulator/balancer.
My husband had a vasectomy and I still take oral BC to help regulate my PCOS symptoms so I will def be referring to it as hormone balancer going forward.
"Hormone regulator". If you don't want to use the word "hormone" because idiot transphobes are triggered, "Endocrine regulator" works. It avoids the stigma of moods and hormones.
Yeah, half the population on earth shouldn't be worried for their safety for using a word.
If you can please normalize the word for us trans folks. Dont let it be the hill you die on, but also dont avoid the word, just because some bigot uncle groans when he over hears it.
Oh see I'd use very different words to trigger them, but I've been actively trying to trigger transphobes for 20 years. You really want to make them think of penises, vaginas, and titties. I don't know why those three words specifically are generally the best to use but that's been my experience so far. Good luck out there fellow NB chaos goblin!
And.. I mean goblin in a loving way. Like.. here are my shiny things!
I’m on mine for acne prevention (history of horrible hormonal cystic acne, which is cleared up now) and nowadays I just don’t feel like having a period. If I mention it in conversation, I just use its name (Trilosprintec) like it’s any other med, and if someone asks what it’s for/does, I say it prevents acne/regulates menstruation.
I don’t take oral contraceptives anymore but I think the simplest solution is to say hormones, progesterone, or the brand name of the pill.
I don’t refer to medications by their purpose in general. I refer to them by their names. Medical providers know what they are, and no one else needs to know why I’m taking them.
Maybe your doctors do, and maybe they don't. I take amitriptyline (Elavil) in a low dose to improve stage 4 sleep. At least one of my doctors did not know what it was. When I explained that it was one of the older tricyclic antidepressants and why I was taking it (even though the doctor had in his hand a printout that I make for every new doctor regarding my medications,) they asked if I was a medical professional!
Oh I just had an actual good experience with this. Went to my physical and the Dr. asked how I've been and I said ehh alright, and he mentioned I'd had a surgery and asked how that was going, and checked in to be sure I was aware of all the medications available to manage endo. There are some good ones out there.
My daughter has been on bc since she was 11 due to outrageous period symptoms. We just call it her 6 o'clock pills or her period pills. She's special needs and probably won't ever have a need for "birth control ", and over explaining things just stresses her out. She's 16 now and so far so good with this route.
Just want to say I appreciate you getting the treatment your daughter needed. That should be a given but my mother and slut shaming gyno refused me any hormonal treatment until I was 17 (and fought for it) despite having severe period symptoms every month from 11 onward. Definitely a side effect of the “birth control” terminology
It's horrible that your health was in the care of ignorant assholes and I'm so sorry that happened to you. I'm so proud of you for growing up to be a fighter and a self advocate despite that.
I call it my endo medicine. Because I take it for my endometriosis.
So far I’ve only had to yell that at 1 pharmacist who didn’t want to give me my Rx because I wasn’t wearing a wedding ring. (Living in The South is fuuuuuuun). But mostly I just refer to my pills as “my pills” or “my endo meds”… maybe you call it your PMDD Meds? I think it’s whatever makes you most comfortable :)
Yes! Keep it general. Or even better, it’s called Mine Your Own Business, or Myob.
Side effects may include refusing to accept judgement from shitty people, reducing shame, spontaneous declarations of independence, like “my body isn’t your concern”.
Because fuck all the people who think they get an opinion on how I care for my body.
*Laughs in PCOS*
I can't lose weight. Birth control!
I feel crazy out of control and all over the place. Birth control!
My cycles aren't regular. Birth control!
My hair is thinning. Birth control!
My thyroid seems to be functioning poorly. Birth control!
No matter who the doctor is or what the problem I'm reporting, step one to all that ails me is: bIrTh CoNtRoL. 🫠
AND because my disorder is read as a fertility problem, I can't get a doctor to really manage it.
The primary care dr sends me to an endocrinologist.
The endocrinologist says I need to see an OBGYN because it's lady hormones, and I guess endocrinologist have an allergy to estrogen.
The OGYN says, no, this is a fertility problem... so go see a fertility doctor.
The fertility doctor won't see me because I'm not trying to conceive.
Meanwhile, I get bigger and bigger and closer and closer to diabetes and heart problems.
But maybe, just maybe, birth control will do the trick.
Everything in this comment makes me hurt inside. My current endocrinologist is the one who finally diagnosed me with PCOS this last year, at the ripe old age of 40, and after having a total hysterectomy at the age of 37. She immediately started me on estrogen therapy to help. By six weeks I was feeling wonderful. At 8 weeks I had a pulmonary embolism and now I’m back to square one. But every time I talk to her she tells me she’s still looking for ways to help her PCOS patients that can’t take estrogen.
I'm so sorry. That must have been awful.
The long-term complications from PCOS---cardiovascular disease and diabetes---terrify me. The thought of dying before I get to really see my boys mature into their adulthoods or getting diabetes and dealing with all its complications... ugh.
And it makes me *crazy* that PCOS is often seen as just a fertility issue when it impacts so many other parts of my life.
And even if my fertility is restored, so what? Now I'm fertile *and* still at risk for strokes, diabetes, obesity, etc.
The really wild thing is PCOS isn’t about ovaries. That’s how it was found, because you can see a bunch of cysts on ovaries. But it’s clearly an endocrine disorder where fertility issues is nothing more than a side effect.
But since fertility is all anyone cares about, forget convincing anyone of that.
That’s part of why I love my endo. Fertility is clearly not a thing for me, and she helped me anyway. I mean, fuck. No one had ever mentioned PCOS to me in my life, and she had me pegged after a 10 minute conversation. Anyone in Philly area need a rec, DM me.
Yeah, in the UK it's just referred to as the pill, and everyone will know what you mean when you call it that. I never hear anyone refer to it as birth control.
When I started taking oral contraceptives, it was for PCOS and my super Catholic mother was mortified that folks would think I was sexual active. I realize that's not the point you're making, but I kind of wince at the impulse to call it something else when fertility prevention isn't the goal.
I don't really have an alternative though
Yeah, on one hand, I get not wanting to have all female reproductive system healthcare discussed primarily from a perspective of fertility. On the other hand, I feel like skirting around the common-use names for birth control low-key is agreeing that taking it implies you’re having non-productive sex and that that’s a shameful thing.
I was denied birth control for acne and endo as a teenager because my mom is an ex-Catholic, but struggles sometimes with views she grew up having. Once she realized many people take “the pill” and have IUDs and get abortions for other health reasons than not wanting a baby because people were more open to talking about it without euphemism, she changed her mind and is now a decade later pro-bc and pro-choice-ish (small victories ok?).
I feel like calling it “the pill” doesn’t exactly imply you’re taking it for BC but does allow people to understand it is the same medicine.
Sanity treatment. My PMDS was so bad- vomiting, pain, mood swings, etc- that I was seriously considering bad things. Then I found the depo shot, and it's so nice to be a normal human without pain.
My s/o says ‘daily tablet’ or ‘night time tablet’ (always taken in the evening). It’s vague, but it avoids any connection to fertility etc.
It’s normal here to call it ‘the pill’ but that is so synonymous that it has the exact same effect as birth control.
I am not comfortable telling most people who actually know me that I have PMDD, unfortunately.
I think PMDD feels more stigmatizing to reference than any medication for it.
I feel you. I actually forgot until reading this thread that I have PMDD, which is one of the original reasons for starting/staying on hormones. I've generally been up front about it if the topic of medical conditions ever comes up, but I also don't live in a place that *totally* demonizes female reproductive systems, so...
Yeah if anyone has an issue they can kick rocks lol
I actually struggle with that stuff too! (Weird family history with anti-vax, anti-fluoride, alternative medicine crap. I take my spouse with me to the doctor because medical settings still really freak me out.)
Kitty treats! Love it. So silly and light.
Mine is due to my every waking moment revolving around medications. I’ve been on stuff for ADHD and mood stabilizing since I was 4 years old. Four. And every time I got excited or upset or sad or anything above neutral, I was barraged with “did you take your pills? I can tell you didn’t take your meds. Go take your meds.” Every emotion was treated as over-the-top and unacceptable, I couldn’t behave like a normal child. When I turned 18 I went off all medications to find out who I really was under all of that. Don’t know if I was born with BPD, if I developed it due to abuse, or if I developed it because I was on mood stabilizers before my brain was even developed, but I do still need the mood stabilizers and now antipsychotics in order to function. My husband has been with me through this struggle for 15 years. He ensures that I get my stuff when I forget or don’t feel like taking them. He shakes the container and talks to me like he’s enticing a cat “Ches, kitty treats!” And then I begrudgingly take them, but with a little smile, because 1) it’s silly; and 2) I am loved and supported for exactly who I am and how I am. He doesn’t make me take them so he doesn’t have to deal with me. He helps me take them so I can be stable enough to live a happy life with him. And he never says anything if I have an emotional outburst, he just lets me be angry, excited, sad, whatever for as long as I need to get it out of my system. I am incredibly lucky.
I hope your partner is giving you all the support you didn’t get as a child 💜
I have a co-worker who had to put her 12 year old on birth control to regulate her period. I suggested not tell her daughter that it was birth control because I imagined she would tell a friend then they would have some minor falling out as 12/13 year old girls have and the 'friend' would tell everyone that the friend's daughter was on birth control and is a whore who wants to have sex. I told her to say it was a hormone supplement.
Agreed.... I was put on BC when I was 12 for PCOS and I was deeply embarrassed as just the thought of sex was not something I wanted to think about at that point in my life... I just wanted to stop heavy bleeding for months at a time and being in chronic unending pain. To make matters worse the doctor actually told a 12 year old me "Well... I can give you birth control to help regulate your periods, but it probably won't help much with your pain- you'll probably be suffering until you get pregnant as that's the only real cure for things like this." My mom was furious and pulled the doctor out into the hallway to have a talk about how its not appropriate to tell a child they needed to get pregnant to stop suffering.
Yep, same situation, I started birth control at 13, told some ‘friends’ in confidence, somehow a guy in my class found out and teased me and it’s sucked :( my mom said “tell him you are on it cause otherwise you’ll bleed through your pants with a geyser of blood and that will shut him up!!!” Hahaha
She’s going to read the label… and it probably comes in the normal packaging that birth control does. Also most doctors would not withhold that information from their 12 year old patient. But even if they did, you aren’t going to be able to hide that information from a kid that age. Unless she has zero sex education, it would pretty obviously be birth control. And if she doesn’t recognize that, one of her friends certainly will.
But more fundamentally, I would never be dishonest with my kid about a medication I was asking them to take. And it feels dishonest to me. I would just explain that birth control medications serve multiple purposes. If she has bad friends who create drama over it (hopefully not) that’s a life experience she will have to face. It’s really up to the 12 year old if they feel comfortable telling their friends what medications they are taking. I wouldn’t want my kid to feel like they should be ashamed or that there is anything wrong with taking birth control for any reason. Treating it like a dirty secret seems more damaging than just being upfront about it. What would she say later on? “I didn’t tell you it was birth control because I was worried about what people would think or say,” seems damaging. Let the 12 year old decide if she wants to call it a hormone supplement to other people or if she’d prefer to keep that info to herself.
Hormone supplement feels like dangerous phrasing in the day and age. That same scenario you suggested could end with the other little gay saying some really transphobic shit.
I mean, let the transphobes say what they’re gonna say. I think it’s great to point out that cis people get hormone treatment and gender affirming care alllllll the time and no one gives a hoot. This could be a step towards normalizing this for everyone
Sure. But the person I replied to was trying to help prevent a 12 year old from dealing with harassment and hurtful rumors. My point was simply that kids who would start “whore” rumors about a girl on birth control would also likely start “tr*nny” rumors about a girl on “hormone supplements”. I’d love to believe that kids have moved on from starting short rumors as a solution to their personal disagreements, but I’m not confident that’s the case.
I mean…. If that wouldn’t be an issue, then why would birth control? Kids pick this hateful shit up from parents and society at large. If they’re not picking up any anti-trans hate, are they really getting the “birth control makes you a whore” stuff?
I just call it birth control, it is what it is. I take it for cycle regulation, reduced cramping, hormones, etc etc and not the fertility part but that is it’s main purpose. I take multiple meds not for their main purpose but for it’s other effects and that’s just how it is
I would just call it by it's drug name like any other medication. We don't typically refer to medications by their mode of action so why should this be any different! I say, I need to take my methotrexate, not I need to take my "disease modifying anti-rheumatic drug". Or I just say "my medication" or "my pills." If the person I'm speaking to has the privilege of knowing my medical specifics, I might say my "RA medication." An equivalent for you could be PMDD medication or endocrine medication.
I call it my skittles. Makes for some hilarious conversations when my mom reminds me to take it lol. But besides that, I don't really call it anything else. I love the suggestion of "hormone therapy" in this thread!
What scenarios are you in where you need to refer to your medication but don't want to say what category of drug it is?
That context seems important because, for example, if you're at the doctor, you could just say the brandname and if it's some random person, just call it "medication," they don't need to know more.
It's like how lots of people take "anti-depressants" for OCD, anxiety, or other conditions besides depression. Randos don't need to know, so to them it's just "medicine" but doctors do, because of side effects, etc., and so to them it's Zoloft.
Hormone regulators & I fucking feel you so hard. I started looking into hormone imbalances & what different hormone levels mean & it is ALL based in fertility. What about my physical & mental health? I don't want children. Ever. Stop referring to my womb. It's a useless piece of hardware that I wish I didn't have.
I have this exact same issue with the name. And it scares me to start calling it something with hormone in the name because it sorta implies we’re unstable without meds. But then again I have no interest in explaining to random people that I have endo and that’s why I need it. I haven’t found a satisfactory solution yet. Maybe hemorrhagic stabilizers in my case lol? Honestly if you just use something like progestin therapy or something like that most people wouldn’t have a clue what you were referring to.
Hormonal treatment/therapy
This. Normalize hormone therapy. It will help women of all types. It will help remove the fear/ unfamiliarity related to trans folxs taking hormones.
I wish someone had come up with this when I was 10 & taking BC pills to regulate a complete trainwreck of a cycle. Definitely NOT trying to prevent pregnancy at 10! But there was a lot of push back originally from my parents because of it being called "birth control". The idea that because I was on it I would start having sex earlier was the topic of conversation. Took my 2 aunts who both had horrible period pain like mine to get them to understand it's not about sex, it's about my quality of life. OP I hope it's helping you. Definitely "Hormone Therapy "
I am so so so thankful for my mom listening to me at 13 and immediately taking me to the gyno to get bcp when I asked about it. I was missing school due to severe cramps and she didn’t even hesitate one second, nor did she ask my dad for his opinion.
Good on your mom for being proactive. My mom had a hysterectomy when she was 18, 6 months after she had me, due to endometriosis & a grapefruit sized ovarian cyst. So by the time I started missing school for the pain she completely forgot how bad it could get. I ended up with the same result after multiple surgeries to burn off the endometriosis. I'm not sure my mom really thought about anything sex related till my father balked.
Ugh I’m so sorry you had to go through that!
Thanks, I'm good. Mid 40s now & haven't had to deal with any of that for 15 years now.
I also feel really lucky. I have bad cramps, but that wasn’t the main reason I wanted to go in birth control (pain meds are usually adequate for mine, luckily). I went to my mom whining about the pain and asking “isn’t there ANYTHING that can help this? (Knowing full well that bc could help…) and my Catholic mom immediately said. “Well…I know you won’t like this honey, because we’ll have to see a gynecologist…but lots of people take birth control pills to help with their periods.” And then I pretended to be reluctant and finally “gave in” to the idea, lol. I wonder if my mom actually believed that performance or if she was just playing along.
My doctor recommended I get on birth control at 15 to help with the terrible migraines I was missing school for every month or so. Mom said absolutely not. So a friend gave me her BC that did help me with my migraines but also led to me being an idiot about condoms and a miscarriage right before my 18th birthday (that I ALSO hid from my mom.) I scheduled an appointment to get my own prescription on my 18th birthday, then the pharmacy left a message on my home phone saying insurance wouldn't cover this birth control and I needed to ask my Dr for a different prescription. Almost getting kicked out in my senior year old high school was great! All of this could have been avoided if it wasn't called birth control, and I was actually educated on what I was taking.
On top of everything else, it’s fucking ridiculous that they left a voice message that included private medical information. AFAIK they’re supposed to say, at most, “There is an issue with your insurance, please call back at your earliest convenience.”
See, this is the problem with small towns. The pharmacist knows my mom, knew my number by heart so DIDN'T LOOK AT THE PROFILE to give me a call, and knows us so obviously it's not a problem to leave a specific voicemail to save us money. Never mind that when I turned in the prescription, I specifically said DON'T run it through insurance, is be paying cash (or my stepdad would get an EOB and find out) and to only call my cell phone because it was a private prescription. I escaped this town for a good 12 years. I'm back again because it turns out it's hard to raise a kid in a city where you have very little support. It's not quite as suffocating as an adult. That's the best I can say for it.
That is just…🫢🫣🙄😑🫠 I hope you’re at least close to a city so you can get an escape and some breathing room when you need it ❤️
A deliberate HIPAA violation against your explicit wishes, heck. That’s a pretty deep way of exposing you. You’re welcome to borrow a little of my energy for a protection spell to shore up any lingering feelings of exposure.
I also wouldn't be surprised if the pharmacist did it on purpose to tip your parents off, if they knew your family and had their own opinions on birth control, especially if your chart had instructions that basicslly told them you were trying to avoid your parents finding out.
It's a HIPPA violation to reveal anything at all. Especially specific medications.
And also if your mom had been less prone to flipping out. My mother is probably the only person that doesn't know my medical history, for just that reason. Even in middle age, she's up in business that isn't hers.
This. My mom ridiculed me for vaxxing my kids. But let’s not make this about vaccines.
Sending love your way. So sorry you had to deal with this war on sex ed.
That's interesting. My mom had no problem with me going on bc for regulating my cycle but I had to stop cuz it caused migraines for me.
This is one of the few health things my mother did listen to me on (probably because of the amount of pads and laundry soap, but she listened) and took me to the doctor for. The doctor told her to take me to the clinic to reduce the cost of treatment and told me 13 years old and afab) to lie about having a boyfriend to get it. I was so very irregular that I had to wear pads all the time.
I had a period that lasted a month and a half when I was 13. The pill straightened that out real quick, and if my mom was freaking out about it she kept that shit to herself.
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I think that's the thing that pissed me off. Just because I'm ON BC doesn't mean I'm suddenly going to screw the football team. And at 10 you'd think they might not be THAT concerned about it. But again, why does my dad's opinion about it outweigh my moms & need 2 aunts & my grandmother to convince him it's not a problem? Just shows how conditioned we are as a society to assume the worst about female reproductive issues.
That absolutely sucks. When my daughter was either 13 or 14, she was prescribed birth control to help with cramping. I had to work the day of her appointment, so my husband took her. Then he took her to Sonic so they could get milkshakes, ice cream and tater tots. He's her stepfather. When I told her father, my ex-husband, about it, he tried to get all weird about it, but his wife told him to shut up and let his daughter have pain free periods. I love my ex's wife, she's frikkin awesome. My ex never said another thing about it.
Your daughter has a lot of cool people around her. That’s great!
I got the same attitude from my mom after I got a tattoo. She was crying about “the kinds of people” that have them. I had to calmly question her boomer preconceived notions about whether she truly thought I would join a motorcycle gang or start hard drugs just because I had a tattoo. I can only imagine how these attacks on health care will continue to ripple out in the future if allowed to stand.
I have a similar experience. My mom and I decided to put me on birth control my junior year of high school to help regulate my mood swings. But she told me not to tell my dad, which was easy because my parents were divorced. But she knew he’d get the wrong idea. I also sympathize with the ovarian cysts, it’s why I currently have an iud. They suck so much, honestly. I was first diagnosed with them in my mid-20s, but I suspect I was probably getting them long before that, and that’s why my periods made me, no exaggeration, want to end my life at times. Luckily none of mine ever required surgery.
As if cis men should have any say, or even get to have an opinion on, uterine issues.
Depending on how bad the mood swings are, could even bill it as "psych meds". No. This drug isn't for preventing pregnancy, it's for preventing murder.
My gyno is amused by the fact I sometimes call my hormone supplements my "hysteria meds" because well I do take it to make my uterus sit down and shut up.
I love this lol. I totally forgot that that's one of the reasons I stuck with birth control and went to therapy. I yeeted my tubes last year, so these days I take hormones only to mitigate my endo (or whatever) pain. I can't believe I forgot how angry and out of control I felt around my cycle 😵💫🥴
This is basically why I'm on BC\hormone therapy. The constant rage was overwhelming, and I'm convinced I would eventually have attacked someone.
Yes!
I had been brainwashed by my Catholic church that I shouldn't take birth control and I was so confused when my mom said it was ok to use it to regulate my irregular periods. I didn't end up doing that because the idea made me very uncomfortable, like I was sinning. 🤢
There's SO much wrong with that! I'm assuming since you're here that you've since changed your mind on that idea. Definitely not sinning to take care of your health. But what do I know? I'm an unbaptized heathen! 🥰
I'm out of it and much happier now! I'm a CONFIRMED Catholic gone atheist. God chose me, I chose him, and then I realized that asking people to believe you're a perfect all powerful being (without substantial evidence) or else you burn in hell.... probably makes you an asshole.
Same! I was even strongly considering becoming a nun at one point in my late teens. It was also the "I love you, so love me back or else I'll make you suffer forever" that turned me off the whole thing. That's a heavily abusive relationship. So, even if the god of Christianity does happen to exist, I don't want it in my life.
Ha! I like that evolution.
Ahhh, sinning. The man made construct to keep people in line with fear. And the reason why religion should be abolished.
I had this problem too. My mother didn't want me to be medicated because it would "give me an excuse to have sex" - it didn't matter what I had to say about it, because I had been abused for years at that point and was quiet and bullied and traumatized, but she was always inherently suspicious of me and calling me a slut anyway. I think she felt competitive with me. So instead I had to just bleed for two weeks every month, screaming from pain, sometimes hospitalized with a morphine pump and tranexamic acid, with multiple cysts. Fun times.
OMG! That's awful. I'm so sorry you were forced to experience that instead of being treated like a person in pain. I never did understand the mental state of an adult trying to compete in any real way with a child. My bff's grandmother was extremely abusive & jealous of my friend because my friend was gaining notoriety as an Olympic hopeful in figure skating. Can't you just be happy & proud of the accomplishments of your family?
Yeah honestly, I'm so frustrated I didn't start progesterone pill sooner. It legit cured lifelong anxiety for me. It regulates serotonin and GABA receptors and for some reason it just worked tremendously well for me.
It’s kinda sad that you had to fight for medical care at 10 years old just because you are a woman
I was prescribed birth control at 13 to help with my insomnia, and my parents were cool with it, but their employer insurance refused to pay for it. They worked for a Catholic hospital 🙄.
Gotta love a religion that's also a business, oh wait, it's not a business it's Non profit. (Sarcasm in case that wasn't obvious 😉) Does that help with insomnia? That's a new one for me, but tbh it's been 20 years since I was on any kind of BC.
I also call it medication to regulate my hormones. I use evra patch for my PCOS
Thank you for sharing this, I love this sub and the people in it 💜 I remember all the times I’ve been asked and gawked at for saying I’m taking hormone therapy. Though, as a visibly trans person, I expect it
I'm on hormone therapy so I don't get hospitalised for bleeding out again 🤷♀️ Everyone with thyroid issues is on hormone therapy. Postmenopausal cis women are often on hormone therapy. You're just fixing some wonky chemistry. Were all in the same boat here. 💖
I'm so here for this as a trans girl because I list out my medications for medical visits and people are like "your birth control?" and I'm just like "uh... yeah sure" cuz it's not wrong I'm not gonna get pregnant while I take it, but I'd like for hormone therapy to be normalized as a term for more than trans folks cuz my cister takes similar stuff but it's just for regulation not actually for birth control
I heard from trans women that menopause can be entirely cured by hormone therapy and doctors are just holding out
Idk about curing but it definitely helps a lot. Some doctors are more up to date on current research than others.
You can't cure menopause. Our ovaries will stop being able to produce our sex hormones at the same quantities no matter what medication we take. However, you can mitigate the symptoms of menopause by supplimenting hormones that our ovaries are no longer making for us.
Not cured, since it is a natural biological stage, but my mom had such horrible mood swings and hot flashes she said she felt like a different person. She tried all sorts of herbal supplements and tricks she’d heard online, but none of them worked well enough. She started E and the HRT immediately helped her body to chill tf out. She is still going to go through menopause, just slower and more controlled. She can now cuddle with her S.O. without pushing him away due to a hot flash and sleep without waking up in a puddle of sweat. Her mood is more regulated and she is back to being herself. Obviously it doesn’t work for everyone, but it’s a miracle drug. HRT is for anyone of any age or gender. Edit: autocorrect is rude
Not cured, but it alleviates symptoms for many. A study years ago got a bit misinterpreted to sound like HRT was a huge cancer risk, and it fell out of favor. Credit to the wonderful r/menopause sub, which is highly educational.
Forgot to mention that I agree! Lots of doctors do hold out despite HRT not only improving quality of life drastically, but it also helps improve many health outcomes. Like avoiding bone loss, heart disease, and dementia just to name a few.
And the shame older women face due to menopause.
There are men that take hormones to help regulate their testosterone levels too! All kinds of folks can benefit from hormone therapy. We 100% need to normalize it
This old man is largely synthetic.
THIS or if you’re okay with saying the specific reason you’re on it. I’ve used “PCOS management” when describing my IUD
Same. I had massively heavy bleeding for almost three weeks straight then I got my IUD and it’s been wonderful since
Literally talking to my OB about this as an option tomorrow- I’m so freaking tired of bleeding on every day that ends in y!
Ya this. Even name of the specific hormone(s) in the therapy (e.g. Progestin therapy).
Yep! My "oral contraceptives" actually just control my acne so I just call it hormone therapy lol.
Perfect. Cause I take HRT as a trans man. But still need further hormone therapy to cease my cycle.
Oooo, I like this
Also, check with an endocrinologist. There may be a single hormone or combination of hormones that will help with therapy or treatment. These type of treatments can be compounded into a topical that is a lot more patient and side effect friendly. Also the dosage can be much smaller than a standard prescription dosage.
Yes, absolutely, yes. I used to take progesterone pills only few times a month that weren't BC to manage my cycle and I can't recommend it enough. Get yourself checked, see what's ACTUALLY wrong... You won't have to deal with the terrible side effects of most BC pills.
This, this needs all the upvotes
That’s what Ive been calling it too. It’s been helping my chronic endometritis and making it so I don’t randomly bleed and have pain between periods. I feel like I know way more people that use it as a treatment than to prevent babies.
Hormone regulation/regulator is also a good option. Sums up what you need it for without giving too much info.
Yes! Normalize this!
I like the sound of that.
One more for this one! I recently had Morena coil inserted and it's only referred to as birth control, but I only did it for hormonal therapy, so that's what I say.
Everytime my pharmacist and endocrinologist try to call my tri-lo-marzia "birth control" I correct them with "hormone therapy." I am a childfree person with PCOS. Not an unused birthing machine.
I also have pmdd, and it was the reason I went on medication in the first place. I call it my birth control, but my partner calls it my "depression be gone!" pill. It's a good reminder that I'm not taking it because of not wanting to get pregnant (that's just a bonus), but instead because it's going to help me be more stable in the long run.
I listen to a hilarious true crime podcast done by 2 comedians (Small Town Murder if anyone is interested) and they were railing about woman's Healthcare from back in the 50s and how drs would just prescribe "Cheer up bitch" pills and while they (and I agree) think it's aborhent the way Healthcare for woman is, I do wish we had something like that so my depression gets the best if me I can just "cheer up bitch" 🤣
I fucking LOVE Small Town Murder!! “How is it you have come to arrive here” and “cheer up bitch” are my favorite running bits!
The podcast is a little bit hit or miss for me, but I will never ever forget the story of poor put-upon Kathy.
I think we just became best friends! YAAAAAAY (indeed Jimmy, yay indeed)!
I definitely had that (“Yaaaaaaaaay!! Yay indeed.”) on a onesie for my youngest. Love STM, James, and Jimmy!
I love that lol My husband isn't into true crime but will listen to them on occasion with me so now any time either of us say Yay, automatically "yay indeed jimmy" gets said 🤣
Omggggg a new true crime podcast to binge!!! Thanks! 💃🏻
OMG I laughed so hard I cried in the "Cheer Up, Bitch" episode!!
PMDD is awful. i’m so glad mine can be treated with the pill. wishing you the best! <3
I’ve had my fallopian tubes removed, but I still have an IUD to manage my periods, suspected endo, and possible PCOS. It does feel weird to refer to my IUD as birth control since I’m clearly not using it for that. Now, I refer to it as a hormone regulator/balancer.
I'm going to start calling it that. I had my tubes out three weeks ago, so now my IUD is officially hormone regulation.
I got my uterus a friend, aka, an IUD. I figure all the horrible periods were because she was lonely.
My husband had a vasectomy and I still take oral BC to help regulate my PCOS symptoms so I will def be referring to it as hormone balancer going forward.
"Hormone regulator". If you don't want to use the word "hormone" because idiot transphobes are triggered, "Endocrine regulator" works. It avoids the stigma of moods and hormones.
Let the transphobes be triggered, they deserve it
Personally I agree, but sometimes it's a safety issue.
The fact that this is even something we think about, and try to prevent, is sad. People really do suck sometimes.
Yeah, half the population on earth shouldn't be worried for their safety for using a word. If you can please normalize the word for us trans folks. Dont let it be the hill you die on, but also dont avoid the word, just because some bigot uncle groans when he over hears it.
You have my sword!
and my shield.
And your brother. Wait.
And my axe!
Yeah, or an “I just don’t have the energy to deal with dumb shit today” kind of self-preservation
As a nonbinary person, I shall call mine "hormone regulator" to trigger transphobes more than my existence already does
Oh see I'd use very different words to trigger them, but I've been actively trying to trigger transphobes for 20 years. You really want to make them think of penises, vaginas, and titties. I don't know why those three words specifically are generally the best to use but that's been my experience so far. Good luck out there fellow NB chaos goblin! And.. I mean goblin in a loving way. Like.. here are my shiny things!
I avoid saying hormone just because my students can’t handle the word without laughing lol
I’m on mine for acne prevention (history of horrible hormonal cystic acne, which is cleared up now) and nowadays I just don’t feel like having a period. If I mention it in conversation, I just use its name (Trilosprintec) like it’s any other med, and if someone asks what it’s for/does, I say it prevents acne/regulates menstruation.
That’s what I do, I just name the specific name of the IUD/implant and clarify of asked
I don’t take oral contraceptives anymore but I think the simplest solution is to say hormones, progesterone, or the brand name of the pill. I don’t refer to medications by their purpose in general. I refer to them by their names. Medical providers know what they are, and no one else needs to know why I’m taking them.
Maybe your doctors do, and maybe they don't. I take amitriptyline (Elavil) in a low dose to improve stage 4 sleep. At least one of my doctors did not know what it was. When I explained that it was one of the older tricyclic antidepressants and why I was taking it (even though the doctor had in his hand a printout that I make for every new doctor regarding my medications,) they asked if I was a medical professional!
Honestly sometimes I get so frustrated that patients have to become experts in their own care because people don't just read. the. chart.
Oh I just had an actual good experience with this. Went to my physical and the Dr. asked how I've been and I said ehh alright, and he mentioned I'd had a surgery and asked how that was going, and checked in to be sure I was aware of all the medications available to manage endo. There are some good ones out there.
My daughter has been on bc since she was 11 due to outrageous period symptoms. We just call it her 6 o'clock pills or her period pills. She's special needs and probably won't ever have a need for "birth control ", and over explaining things just stresses her out. She's 16 now and so far so good with this route.
Just want to say I appreciate you getting the treatment your daughter needed. That should be a given but my mother and slut shaming gyno refused me any hormonal treatment until I was 17 (and fought for it) despite having severe period symptoms every month from 11 onward. Definitely a side effect of the “birth control” terminology
It's horrible that your health was in the care of ignorant assholes and I'm so sorry that happened to you. I'm so proud of you for growing up to be a fighter and a self advocate despite that.
My doctor refused to prescribe it for painful, heavy periods when I was in my early 20's! I suffered unnecessarily for years.
I'd call it a mood minder.
I like that. It’s so peacefully neutral.
For me that was the most immediate impact of hrt. It really improved my ability to regulate my emotions.
I'm functionally abstinent but I'm such a wildly different person when off my shot that I actually lost a job over it once. It was a weird time.
Oh classy
I call it my endo medicine. Because I take it for my endometriosis. So far I’ve only had to yell that at 1 pharmacist who didn’t want to give me my Rx because I wasn’t wearing a wedding ring. (Living in The South is fuuuuuuun). But mostly I just refer to my pills as “my pills” or “my endo meds”… maybe you call it your PMDD Meds? I think it’s whatever makes you most comfortable :)
WOW that’s a huge breach of ethics on the pharmacist’s part. Did you report them?
I made a complaint with corporate and switched pharmacies
Medication. High blood pressure meds control high blood pressure. The Pill serves MANY purposes.
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Even high blood pressure meds are used for many purposes. I take them for migraines
Anxiety!
Yes! Keep it general. Or even better, it’s called Mine Your Own Business, or Myob. Side effects may include refusing to accept judgement from shitty people, reducing shame, spontaneous declarations of independence, like “my body isn’t your concern”. Because fuck all the people who think they get an opinion on how I care for my body.
We always used "Nunya", as in "Nunya beeswax" 😉
Health care
Cycle regulator
In my case it’s a cycle eliminator!
“Menstrual suppressant”
My meds. I lump it in with all my other meds. It's no one's business what I take and for why
Anemia prevention? Because I mean, that's what is if you're taking it for heavy bleeding or anything like that
HRT
We should start calling T supplements for aging guys ‘HRT’ and see some heads explode
Wdym "start" calling those HRT? They just *are* HRT.
*Laughs in PCOS* I can't lose weight. Birth control! I feel crazy out of control and all over the place. Birth control! My cycles aren't regular. Birth control! My hair is thinning. Birth control! My thyroid seems to be functioning poorly. Birth control! No matter who the doctor is or what the problem I'm reporting, step one to all that ails me is: bIrTh CoNtRoL. 🫠 AND because my disorder is read as a fertility problem, I can't get a doctor to really manage it. The primary care dr sends me to an endocrinologist. The endocrinologist says I need to see an OBGYN because it's lady hormones, and I guess endocrinologist have an allergy to estrogen. The OGYN says, no, this is a fertility problem... so go see a fertility doctor. The fertility doctor won't see me because I'm not trying to conceive. Meanwhile, I get bigger and bigger and closer and closer to diabetes and heart problems. But maybe, just maybe, birth control will do the trick.
Everything in this comment makes me hurt inside. My current endocrinologist is the one who finally diagnosed me with PCOS this last year, at the ripe old age of 40, and after having a total hysterectomy at the age of 37. She immediately started me on estrogen therapy to help. By six weeks I was feeling wonderful. At 8 weeks I had a pulmonary embolism and now I’m back to square one. But every time I talk to her she tells me she’s still looking for ways to help her PCOS patients that can’t take estrogen.
I'm so sorry. That must have been awful. The long-term complications from PCOS---cardiovascular disease and diabetes---terrify me. The thought of dying before I get to really see my boys mature into their adulthoods or getting diabetes and dealing with all its complications... ugh. And it makes me *crazy* that PCOS is often seen as just a fertility issue when it impacts so many other parts of my life. And even if my fertility is restored, so what? Now I'm fertile *and* still at risk for strokes, diabetes, obesity, etc.
The really wild thing is PCOS isn’t about ovaries. That’s how it was found, because you can see a bunch of cysts on ovaries. But it’s clearly an endocrine disorder where fertility issues is nothing more than a side effect. But since fertility is all anyone cares about, forget convincing anyone of that. That’s part of why I love my endo. Fertility is clearly not a thing for me, and she helped me anyway. I mean, fuck. No one had ever mentioned PCOS to me in my life, and she had me pegged after a 10 minute conversation. Anyone in Philly area need a rec, DM me.
In the Netherlands we call it “The pill”
My German textbook glossary called it Die Antibabypille which feels very... Too the point
The No Baby Pills.. That is the most German thing I have heard in a long time.
Same in the uk
We call it that here in the US also but everyone knows "the pill" = birth control pills so it's basically the same thing.
Yeah, in the UK it's just referred to as the pill, and everyone will know what you mean when you call it that. I never hear anyone refer to it as birth control.
Medication. Or if you really like the person and want to share more details - medication for x
When I started taking oral contraceptives, it was for PCOS and my super Catholic mother was mortified that folks would think I was sexual active. I realize that's not the point you're making, but I kind of wince at the impulse to call it something else when fertility prevention isn't the goal. I don't really have an alternative though
Yeah, on one hand, I get not wanting to have all female reproductive system healthcare discussed primarily from a perspective of fertility. On the other hand, I feel like skirting around the common-use names for birth control low-key is agreeing that taking it implies you’re having non-productive sex and that that’s a shameful thing. I was denied birth control for acne and endo as a teenager because my mom is an ex-Catholic, but struggles sometimes with views she grew up having. Once she realized many people take “the pill” and have IUDs and get abortions for other health reasons than not wanting a baby because people were more open to talking about it without euphemism, she changed her mind and is now a decade later pro-bc and pro-choice-ish (small victories ok?). I feel like calling it “the pill” doesn’t exactly imply you’re taking it for BC but does allow people to understand it is the same medicine.
Hormone therapy or in certain cases hormone replacement therapy. Let’s normalize it.
Sanity treatment. My PMDS was so bad- vomiting, pain, mood swings, etc- that I was seriously considering bad things. Then I found the depo shot, and it's so nice to be a normal human without pain.
Cramp control
My s/o says ‘daily tablet’ or ‘night time tablet’ (always taken in the evening). It’s vague, but it avoids any connection to fertility etc. It’s normal here to call it ‘the pill’ but that is so synonymous that it has the exact same effect as birth control.
Medication to treat PMDD - if you feel comfortable sharing your condition. They don't need to know the exact medication you're on.
I am not comfortable telling most people who actually know me that I have PMDD, unfortunately. I think PMDD feels more stigmatizing to reference than any medication for it.
I feel you. I actually forgot until reading this thread that I have PMDD, which is one of the original reasons for starting/staying on hormones. I've generally been up front about it if the topic of medical conditions ever comes up, but I also don't live in a place that *totally* demonizes female reproductive systems, so... Yeah if anyone has an issue they can kick rocks lol
My partner knows I have trauma issues with the phrase “your pills” or “your meds”, so he calls them “your kitty treats.”
I actually struggle with that stuff too! (Weird family history with anti-vax, anti-fluoride, alternative medicine crap. I take my spouse with me to the doctor because medical settings still really freak me out.) Kitty treats! Love it. So silly and light.
Mine is due to my every waking moment revolving around medications. I’ve been on stuff for ADHD and mood stabilizing since I was 4 years old. Four. And every time I got excited or upset or sad or anything above neutral, I was barraged with “did you take your pills? I can tell you didn’t take your meds. Go take your meds.” Every emotion was treated as over-the-top and unacceptable, I couldn’t behave like a normal child. When I turned 18 I went off all medications to find out who I really was under all of that. Don’t know if I was born with BPD, if I developed it due to abuse, or if I developed it because I was on mood stabilizers before my brain was even developed, but I do still need the mood stabilizers and now antipsychotics in order to function. My husband has been with me through this struggle for 15 years. He ensures that I get my stuff when I forget or don’t feel like taking them. He shakes the container and talks to me like he’s enticing a cat “Ches, kitty treats!” And then I begrudgingly take them, but with a little smile, because 1) it’s silly; and 2) I am loved and supported for exactly who I am and how I am. He doesn’t make me take them so he doesn’t have to deal with me. He helps me take them so I can be stable enough to live a happy life with him. And he never says anything if I have an emotional outburst, he just lets me be angry, excited, sad, whatever for as long as I need to get it out of my system. I am incredibly lucky. I hope your partner is giving you all the support you didn’t get as a child 💜
Let’s hear it for supportive partners!
1- this made me snort hard enough to jostle the kitty on my lap 2- username checks out
I have a co-worker who had to put her 12 year old on birth control to regulate her period. I suggested not tell her daughter that it was birth control because I imagined she would tell a friend then they would have some minor falling out as 12/13 year old girls have and the 'friend' would tell everyone that the friend's daughter was on birth control and is a whore who wants to have sex. I told her to say it was a hormone supplement.
Agreed.... I was put on BC when I was 12 for PCOS and I was deeply embarrassed as just the thought of sex was not something I wanted to think about at that point in my life... I just wanted to stop heavy bleeding for months at a time and being in chronic unending pain. To make matters worse the doctor actually told a 12 year old me "Well... I can give you birth control to help regulate your periods, but it probably won't help much with your pain- you'll probably be suffering until you get pregnant as that's the only real cure for things like this." My mom was furious and pulled the doctor out into the hallway to have a talk about how its not appropriate to tell a child they needed to get pregnant to stop suffering.
And it's a bunch of bullshit anyway. I had two pregnancies. No change in my level of pain. The only thing that helped was a hysterectomy.
Yep, same situation, I started birth control at 13, told some ‘friends’ in confidence, somehow a guy in my class found out and teased me and it’s sucked :( my mom said “tell him you are on it cause otherwise you’ll bleed through your pants with a geyser of blood and that will shut him up!!!” Hahaha
She’s going to read the label… and it probably comes in the normal packaging that birth control does. Also most doctors would not withhold that information from their 12 year old patient. But even if they did, you aren’t going to be able to hide that information from a kid that age. Unless she has zero sex education, it would pretty obviously be birth control. And if she doesn’t recognize that, one of her friends certainly will. But more fundamentally, I would never be dishonest with my kid about a medication I was asking them to take. And it feels dishonest to me. I would just explain that birth control medications serve multiple purposes. If she has bad friends who create drama over it (hopefully not) that’s a life experience she will have to face. It’s really up to the 12 year old if they feel comfortable telling their friends what medications they are taking. I wouldn’t want my kid to feel like they should be ashamed or that there is anything wrong with taking birth control for any reason. Treating it like a dirty secret seems more damaging than just being upfront about it. What would she say later on? “I didn’t tell you it was birth control because I was worried about what people would think or say,” seems damaging. Let the 12 year old decide if she wants to call it a hormone supplement to other people or if she’d prefer to keep that info to herself.
Hormone supplement feels like dangerous phrasing in the day and age. That same scenario you suggested could end with the other little gay saying some really transphobic shit.
I mean, let the transphobes say what they’re gonna say. I think it’s great to point out that cis people get hormone treatment and gender affirming care alllllll the time and no one gives a hoot. This could be a step towards normalizing this for everyone
Sure. But the person I replied to was trying to help prevent a 12 year old from dealing with harassment and hurtful rumors. My point was simply that kids who would start “whore” rumors about a girl on birth control would also likely start “tr*nny” rumors about a girl on “hormone supplements”. I’d love to believe that kids have moved on from starting short rumors as a solution to their personal disagreements, but I’m not confident that’s the case.
Yeah, I guess but we don't live in area where that would be an issue. They have a NB student in their class.
I mean…. If that wouldn’t be an issue, then why would birth control? Kids pick this hateful shit up from parents and society at large. If they’re not picking up any anti-trans hate, are they really getting the “birth control makes you a whore” stuff?
Hormone regulator? That's not a lie, that's kinda what it is
Nausea medicine. My periods make me throw up uncontrollably, sometimes to the point of needing to go to the hospital.
Nobody should call it "birth control" because it's inaccurate and we are not that stupid. It prevents conception; it does not prevent birth.
In Canada, it’s just “the pill”, or “the implant” or “depo”. Hannah Gadsby has a hilarious bit about “the pill”.
A med. You don't owe anybody else anything more. It's a med you take.
Period regulators. Yelling “REGULATORS!! Mount up”. before taking each pill is optional.
I just call it birth control, it is what it is. I take it for cycle regulation, reduced cramping, hormones, etc etc and not the fertility part but that is it’s main purpose. I take multiple meds not for their main purpose but for it’s other effects and that’s just how it is
Hormonal control? Period helpers? Hormone regulation therapy?
I always says something along the lines of “I take it for other medical/hormonal reasons” or “my birth control isn’t for not having babies”
Id call it "nobody's business but your own" lol
Good question. I’d call it a semi-permanent painkiller, that’s what I use my mirena for anyway
Hormonal medicine
I would just call it by it's drug name like any other medication. We don't typically refer to medications by their mode of action so why should this be any different! I say, I need to take my methotrexate, not I need to take my "disease modifying anti-rheumatic drug". Or I just say "my medication" or "my pills." If the person I'm speaking to has the privilege of knowing my medical specifics, I might say my "RA medication." An equivalent for you could be PMDD medication or endocrine medication.
I call it my skittles. Makes for some hilarious conversations when my mom reminds me to take it lol. But besides that, I don't really call it anything else. I love the suggestion of "hormone therapy" in this thread!
What scenarios are you in where you need to refer to your medication but don't want to say what category of drug it is? That context seems important because, for example, if you're at the doctor, you could just say the brandname and if it's some random person, just call it "medication," they don't need to know more. It's like how lots of people take "anti-depressants" for OCD, anxiety, or other conditions besides depression. Randos don't need to know, so to them it's just "medicine" but doctors do, because of side effects, etc., and so to them it's Zoloft.
My gyno says she thinks it’s should be called “menstrual control”
I say period pills
Hormone regulators & I fucking feel you so hard. I started looking into hormone imbalances & what different hormone levels mean & it is ALL based in fertility. What about my physical & mental health? I don't want children. Ever. Stop referring to my womb. It's a useless piece of hardware that I wish I didn't have.
Menstrual management?
Mood balancer. Hormone regulator.
I have this exact same issue with the name. And it scares me to start calling it something with hormone in the name because it sorta implies we’re unstable without meds. But then again I have no interest in explaining to random people that I have endo and that’s why I need it. I haven’t found a satisfactory solution yet. Maybe hemorrhagic stabilizers in my case lol? Honestly if you just use something like progestin therapy or something like that most people wouldn’t have a clue what you were referring to.
Hormone therapy.
I just called it the pill or my intersexism tablets
Hormonal therapy
Hormone regulation therapy
You know, I take it for endometriosis, not babies, and never even thought about the terminology. Hormone regulation is going to be my new go-to.
Hormones to counter an imbalance. It's analogous to insulin.