It has been 62 days that I've been off the pill, and I suppose its officialy day 24 in my current cycle....as this cycle magically started September 1...easy to keep up with ;-)
This evening I was reading the October 2009 Women's Health issue, and this is what I saw in an article on The Pill:
(from an article titled, The Pill's Secret Powers, by Beth Howard)
The Pill And...
YOUR RELATIONSHIPS
Verdict: It Hurts
For some women, the Pill can put a damper on sex drive. The synthetic estrogen increases levels of a protein called sex-hormone-binding globulin (SHBG), which adheres to testosterone and makes it less available to the body. The result can be a crash in desire, muted orgasms, or pain during sex, according to Irwin Goldstein, M.D., director of sexual medicine at Alvarado Hospital in San Diego. In fact, some companies even list a decrease in desire as a side effect on the Pill's packaging. And Goldstein's research shows that levels of SHBG can stay elevated for at least several months after going off the Pill.
Yup. If that's not enough reason right there to drop the pill, I dont know what is. You're on the pill but have no drive?! Doesn't that sort of defeat the purpose?! I hope for most women, this SHBG is not the case...but I 100% believe that for me, this was a big factor in my lack of drive and feeling so emotionally down. I can tell you that I've actually been wet (for lack of better words), interested in sex, and I've been feeling clarity in my thoughts.
It's like I have my balls back! Ha! It's like I have this nice fire coming slowly back to me....Oooh, that sounds kind of weird. Whatever you either know what I mean or you don't..
Onto other things, I have some product suggestions for you....
If you've decided to let go of the pill and are using condoms, may I suggest the following brand: Beyond Seven. It's AMAZING! It's so thin, we can hardly feel it. E says its the super sensitive, and is the closest to the "real thing" hehe. I cant feel it at all, and it has 0 scent. Its lightly lubricated, so you should buy a nice quality lubricant to use. For that, may I suggest
"liquid silk" lubricant. It feels super close to the real thing, and you only need a small amount.
For things like manual stimulation, Astroglide is tops....but, for sex itself, or just giving the condom a little extra magic, the Liquid Silk is really nice. No scent. No irritation (I have pretty sensitive skin)....
Now, I've had some surprising nights lately where I didnt even need any lube - it was so awesome. I havent experienced that in what seems like years.
The next product we'd like to try are Kimono brand condoms. I've heard that these are right up there with Beyond 7's...
I am having some interesting mood swings here and there, but they seem to be occurring less often - and seem to be stress driven/related, not simply out of the blue like they felt before. I guess this is sort of a random thought that I've been pondering...this past Tuesday while at acupuncture, exclaiming over some recent family drama, I related my stress to feeling like the world was in my womb -almost like I felt like I am trying to be mother to everyone and the world around me. Interesting how I've been thinking about babies lately. I dont know if it's because everyone around me seems to be having them, or that I'm keenly aware that we're trying not to have one at this point so the what if's are on my mind, or if its my natural baby making instinct crawling out thanks to the pill not shushing it....whatever it is...its something I'm thinking about.
I didnt even mean to make that analogy until I was talking with her (my acupuncturist), she took my pulses, and said we'd be working on my "womb" that day because between it and my liver pulse- the energy felt weak, tired, and like it just wanted to throw the towel in- and then the analogy just fell right out of my mouth.
Eh, I didnt mean to ramble so much on here, I guess it's good for a catch-up...more to come soon, I'm sure....
