Loss of libido or loss of interest in sex.

Feeling detached from life, described as feeling like you’re living life behind a veil.Throughout the book many women describe their experiences while on the pill and below is a list of the some of the side effects they experienced: This means that only when women go off the pill do they realize that the pill was at the root of their emotional and physical symptoms. This means that women can be suffering from these symptoms for years and the whole time be attributing it to their own inability to cope with life’s challenges instead of even considering that the pill may be at the root of their troubles. The side effects are so readily downplayed by medical professionals that women are virtually never properly advised about the very possible side effects of the pill. Holly highlights that the very nature of the pill is basically the “set it and forget it” approach, and as a result women who take the pill aren’t thinking about it.

The scariest thing is that for the most part, unless the woman has an obviously extreme and jarringly negative experience soon after she starts taking it, she is likely to continue on the pill for several months or years before realizing that the pill is what is actually causing the problem. The most alarming aspect of this book is the devastating impact that the pill has on these women and the pervasive nature of those effects. The book is a well researched report about the birth control pill complete with numerous stories from women who have used the pill and had extremely negative side effects. How many of us know how this drug works – how many are told about the potential side effects – and how many of us know that it depletes vital nutrients that can cause depression, anxiety, and panic attacks? Over half of the 80% of women who pop the pill in their life time experience these adverse effects.After reading Holly Grigg-Spall’s most recent book Sweetening the Pill : or How We Got Hooked on Hormonal Birth Control I was left feeling like I had just read a cautionary tale. By 2015 over 200 million women will be on birth control. Holly Grigg-Spall, author of Sweetening the Pill Or How We Got Hooked on Hormonal Birth Control will be sharing research and concerns about synthetic hormones. The pill has been promoted as a safe, easy to take daily medication – but is now known to cause severe side effects and death. Somewhere along the way our right to birth control is now being used to control our bodies. When the birth control pill came on the market in the 60’s it bolstered a feminist revolution giving women new freedoms and the right to control their reproductive health.

Holly grigg spall