What Birth Control did to my body (what I wish I knew)

[@slsmith-xp2hq]

What do you recommend to avoid pregnancy?

[@DrBethWestie]

Cycle tracking and recording your Basal Body Temperature each morning!

[@laurelstacey9319]

what would you say about going on birth control for 3 months to see if it will regulate my hormones? I'm an athlete so have always had irregular periods but in the last few months my energy randomly drops and then i had a 19 day period, then about a month later a 3 day period (i usually have a longer break in between) and then a month and 2 weeks later (right now) I just started having the HEAVIEST blood flow I've ever had (went thru a Super in an hour). I'm also about to go scuba diving with sharks in a few days but I don't want to like gain weight and mess myself up for when i go off of it.

[@DrBethWestie]

Birth control doesn’t regulate your hormones it just suppresses them. So going on it for a short time isn’t going to “fix” anything in the long run. I would highly recommend more comprehensive hormone testing to understand the root of the problem and addressing it from there so that you actually resolve your symptoms instead of just masking them for a short time.