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Discussion
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Let me start by saying that I’m turning 50 in a few days, so, short of a National Inquirer-style medical miracle, I probably don’t need birth control to not become pregnant. However, I do have this pesky condition called Adenomyosis that has caused me to bleed heavily for months at a time – it’s similar to endometriosis, but is confined to the uterus. Quick and dirty version — due to the effects of estrogen, the uterine lining grows out of control into the surrounding muscle, and it’s not a good time for anybody.
In my research about my condition, someone (on Reddit, I believe) mentioned that women were having a lot of success treating it with the once-a-week non-hormonal Indian birth control pill. Brand name: Saheli. Uhhhh… what? There’s a once-a-week birth control pill? Yeah, right. We would know about it. No, there is is. And it’s non-hormonal. We just don’t have prescription access to it in the US.
Apparently this pill is so well-received in India (where it’s now been used for 30 years), the government makes it available for free for any woman who wants it under a differed name, Chhaya (gee, can you imagine that, in our current political climate? Free birth control?) I was floored. I’d never heard of this. The pill itself (generic name: Centchroman) is an estrogen blocker to the uterus only — does not affect other areas of the body (edit: yes, it does) – but it is not, in itself, a hormone. It’s taken twice a week for the first 3 months, then once a week there after. The only reported side effects are delayed or absent periods (but there may be others). It also works as a (very effective) morning after pill.
Wow. Why don’t my daughters have this option? Why don’t any of us? Would FDA-approval be SO hard in the US for a drug that has been used safely in another country for 30 years? Apparently so. I guess there’s simply not enough money in it, or women’s health isn’t very important to the powers that be in this country. Or more likely, it’s too much power in the hands of women — power over our bodies that they don’t want us to have. I feel so… angry and frustrated. I never tolerated the estrogen/progesterone pill well during my younger years and would have loved to have this as an option.
Anyway, sorry for the book. I am not a medical professional of any kind, and do not have the authority to recommend this pill to anyone. I do, however, encourage you to research on your own about it. The netflix series Sex Explained (episode title: Birth Control) mentions Saheli and the mechanism by which it works. It is NOT FDA approved in the United States, however, it is available through some sources as a “supplement” – again, not recommending, but knowledge is power. I’m certainly going to share this info with my daughters, and want as many women as possible to know every option we have, despite the powers trying so hard to limit them.
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Edit: While Saheli (Ormeloxifene) is described in several places online as having “no side effects” – there is definite potential for there to be some side effects (both good and bad), just different ones from the estrogen/progesterone combination pill. Thank you to all who have shared your thoughts and experiences, I will definitely be sharing mine with this treatment. I’ve discovered there is subreddit about this drug (not created by me) — but here it is for more info/experiences: [https://www.reddit.com/r/SaheliBirthControl/](https://www.reddit.com/r/SaheliBirthControl/)
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Thanks for the Reddit Gold, kind stranger!
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I learned about a birth control method today that makes me angry…
updated 11 months ago
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Damn. 4 weeks post OP from hysterectomy here after 15 years of trying every BC in the US book and that would have been fucking amazing. To not have to go on Vitamin d after my depo, to not have ridiculous weight gain from an IUD or norethincdrone. Jesus christ.
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Commenting here to show my wife. I had a vasectomy 7 years ago, so we don’t need the birth control. But if there’s something that would take away the cramping pain, I’d make some risky purchases.
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As a dude, I’m pissed off for y’all. Lots of my women friends can’t use hormonal BC because it makes them horribly depressed, this sounds like an amazing bridge between hormones and IUDs.
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To be fair, the american market did this to men too with vasalgel. It was available forever ago. Again i India. Its scheduled to start trials here at the end of the year.
Instead of being an anti women thing, i see it as a reiteration of the good old fashioned American way of experimenting on poorer demographics. Much like they did with bc in Puerto Rice in the 50s. It’s completely problematic and disturbing when seen through that lens
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My partner had endometriosis and adenomyosis. It is impossible to understate how positively life changing the hysterectomy was. It impacted nearly every aspect of their life in a positive way. Modern techniques are freaking amazing. The significant recovery period was a few days. Modern HRT can severely reduce or eliminate the menopausal side effects. There was only 1 negative effect, which I won’t detail unless asked because it is sex related.
I noticed you mentioned ablation. Did the doctors make you aware it would have nearly zero effect on the adenomyosis?
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Huh! I never heard of this. That is so weird. What a find.
Wikipedia page: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ormeloxifene](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ormeloxifene)
It [does not exist in Sweden](https://www.fass.se/LIF/result?query=Ormeloxifene&userType=2) other than a note at [Karolinska Institutet](https://mesh.kib.ki.se/term/D002486/centchroman).
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The story is more complex than what you are saying. This drug not only lacks FDA approval, it is not approved by any drug agency anywhere in the world but India. So there is a real issue of how much one wants to trust their safety to India’s notoriously…lax regulatory body.
Might this drug be useful to someone? Sure. But realize that it is putting a lot of trust in an agency in a country where corruption is notorious. It would be different if it were approved in the EU or by some other more trusted regulatory authority.
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when i got my first period my mother instantly put me on hormonal birth control and eventually a hormonal IUD which ended up giving me major depression as my developing brain really didnt like the hormones….
this is infuriating. i still struggle with major depression in my adult life. I have a copper IUD which is incredibly painful during my period and not to mention doubles my flow.
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We live in a country that does ablation and cervical biopsies without pain meds. For that matter, baby boys are still circumcised without pain meds.
I used foreskin in research in grad school. I can attest from their screaming, newborns do feel pain.
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Really interesting, I’d never heard of it. There’s a scoping review on PubMed, and it seems that availability of information on it is really sparse. Worth a read though.
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Omg. Thank you for sharing this.
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Sounds like a similar story to trans care and cyproterone acetate.
This is notably worse though, but,god.
I’m sorry and understand 😞
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I had an ablation many years ago. It was initially wonderful. It was a very new procedure at that time so when I ended up in the ER with severe abdominal pain no one thought twice about my uterus, not even me. It wasn’t until my 3rd visit that I started bleeding and I told the ER doctor that I shouldn’t be. My uterus had developed scar tissue and when it was hormonally time for me to have my period my uterus would try to shed that lining. OMG the cramping was insane! I ended up having a hysterectomy which was totally fine. I’m very curious about the once a week bc pill as I have plenty of granddaughters.
There’s also a cool website called
http://www.sisterzeus.com it’s all about women’s Healthcare. -
I used it forever and LOVED IT. You can purchase it without a prescription from AllDayChemist online. I just got rid of a bunch too!
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I had a total hysterectomy, ovaries too, about 30 years ago due to adenomyosis, endometriosis, and fibroids. The only problem i have encountered is that initially they put me on estrogen replacement therapy. Over the next couple of years, i began to have depression, weight gain and loss of libido as well as losing the ability to experience an orgasm. I talked to my doctor at the time and he stated me on a combination estrogen/methyltestosterone pill daily and the problem resolved within 2 weeks. I haven’t had any problems since. For me, it was one of the best decisions i ever made.
