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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, 2 weeks ago
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Adenomyosis survivor here too- plus a couple fibroids and a chocolate tumor wherein my ovary flipped upside down and attached itself to my fundus. I really wish there had been a medication that I could have tried- my only options were deal with it, ablation or hysterectomy.
I saw you were considering an ablation? If you try that, please know it may do the opposite- I had no cycle for one month and then it was so bad I needed blood transfusions. I was literally bleeding out. 2nd obgyn said it effectively removed anything holding back the flow- essentially I was one open wound until I got my hysterectomy at 35. I literally had a tan square on my lap from my constant heating pad wearing from the level of pain!
When I yeeted the ute, it was the size of a pineapple, and had we waited, Doc said my tumor would have burst soon and that woulda just not been good. I kept an ovary, lost my craving for chewing ice, my hgb went back up to 12 (from 6, where I needed transfusions) and earned some stress incontinence from pelvic floor trauma. Oh the joys of menstruation 🙄.
Anyway, just sharing for solidarity and support. ❤️❤️.
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This pill could be so helpful to me as someone with endometriosis. I just had an iud inserted to prevent the buildup of my uterine lining which could develop into cancer. The iud already comes with side effects. This pill sounds like it would cut out at least some of those, even if I still may experience my regular pain from the condition. I also cannot use most hormonal birth control methods as it puts me at risk for stroke. The US needs to care about our lives and our bodies more than this. It’s frustrating to hear there maybe is an option for me but that I may not be able to get a doctor on board with even advising me about getting a hold of it.
I don’t want to go off on my own and just remove my iud and switch over. But I’m struggling over here. I’m not happy with what feels like my only option. This could be a light in the dark for so many women like me.
I’m in the process of finding a new doctor since I’ve just moved. Guess I have a new topic for discussion when I go in.
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Is it available in Mexico, or Canada?
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I had terrible pain from adenomyosis and finally got to have a hysterectomy. Best thing ever! My surgeon was so convinced that adenomyomas don’t cause the level of pain I had that he told me the surgery wouldn’t solve my pain. Guess what – it did!!
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Oh it gets worse. Estrogen birth control increases the risk of breast cancer. Centchroman appears to *reduce* the risk of breast and other cancers and it doesn’t cause blood clots. WTF big pharma? For US women, our options are the health risks of estrogen-based birth control, the potential mental health effects of progesterone-based birth control, or getting an non-anesthetized procedure with an IUD.
We need government funding to push non-profitable meds through FDA approval. The pro-big pharma argument is that if there’s no profit with medication then there’s no incentive to innovate new meds. But putting the burden of FDA approval in the drug companies hands means that non-profitable meds don’t have an advocate to get FDA approval.
Here’s the cancer science: [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4030721/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4030721/)
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Learning this has also pissed me off, and I never owned a uterus or the “monthly subscription to misery”, as one of my coworkers called it.
Capitalism sucks, and so do the corporate scum who “regulate” (proper term should be “monopolize”) how my family here control their own bodies.
Fuck the patriarchy, these old ballsack-necked politicians, and the useless government who has done jack-shit but argue, while getting absolutely nothing done. Useless professional liars, the entire lot of them.
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I argued with doctors for years to let me get a hysterectomy. Finally at 32 I found a doctor who would hear me out. Two painful biopsies and an uncomfortable ultrasound that the insurance demanded and then wouldn’t pay for I finally got my surgery. It was tough the first few months but the best decision I have ever made.
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I thought you were going to mention something awful that shouldn’t exist, not something cool that the US doesn’t have.
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I got 5 sponsored advert results at the top of my Google page when I searched up this drug appended with my country name – all for the combined pill.
…🤔
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I have to tell my sister about this. Thanks.
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Thank you for sharing this, knowledge is power!
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I remember seeing in my news app that the reason it wasn’t approved in America is because it’s causing genetic mutations and cancer along with women’s limbs falling off and deformities just like that one pill I think it was the 50’s or 60’s? They’re covering it up and pushing twice as hard because the other options are permanently getting made infertile and getting the hole sewn shut ( because the men over there believe you either conceive or lose all privileges) or putting the child up for adoption. And the woman don’t care anymore which is why it’s widely received. Losing limbs and growing tumors is a better alternative to them than being forced to conceive. But this is coming from an American news source and America likes making other countries look worse than them. So I’m not sure how true this is. America is trying to put out a law we’re each country can’t have access to each other’s news sources so it’s harder to find the truth right now. I’ll look for an article and see if I can find it.
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How much you wanna bet it’s a fight between pharmaceutical companies that keeps it out of our hands?
The answer is always money
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India is part of the civilized world. The USA is not.
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Adenomyosis is one of those things they never seem to tell women about. I mean, it can’t definitively be diagnosed until the uterus is removed, but I’ve had “suspected adenomyosis” for years and it explains SO MUCH.
