A Period of Change

by Gwen Cooper — October 5, 2007

Like many women, I experience slight personality changes about three days out of every month. I’m actually better off than some of the women I know, who deal with everything from crushing depression to blinding rage to agonizing physical pain when their time of the month comes around. It’s enough to make them give serious consideration to that new version of the Pill that can practically eliminate periods—and it’s something I’ve found myself thinking about more and more often lately.

I did go on the Pill once, about a decade ago. I was living with a long-term boyfriend back then, and we decided the time had come to dispense with condoms. Unfortunately, the Pill turned out to be more effective than either of us had anticipated—in that, once I was on it, I proceeded to gain 20 pounds and almost completely lose my sex drive (although I’ll admit my skin never looked better). I wondered at the time if this, perhaps was the secret of the Pill’s efficacy. After all, if you’re unattractive and never feel like having sex anyway, your chances of getting pregnant must be dramatically reduced.

"This is great," my then-boyfriend said after about six months. "Let’s go back to using condoms."

Robert and I have lapsed into the tried-and-true "interruptus" (otherwise known as "pulling out") method of birth control these days, but I can’t help but feel we’re tempting fate this way. As my high school health teacher used to say: "Where I come from, we have a name for women who rely on this method of birth control: mothers." Not an ideal scenario, I know. But we both hate condoms, I personally hate diaphragms and sponges, and IUDs seem a little...extreme...for this point in my life.

So I’ve been giving the Pill some serious re-consideration. My doctor has told me that great strides have been made over the past 10 years in minimizing the Pill’s hormone levels, which means that I wouldn’t necessarily experience the weight gain lack-of-sex-drive I did before. And the prospect of doing away with monthly periods is a pretty tempting one.

On the other hand, if I give up my period, when would I get to sit listlessly in front of the TV eating an entire pint of Ben & Jerry’s and feel good about it? Ah, life truly is full of tough decisions...

Gwen Cooper is the author of Diary of a South Beach Party Girl, recently published by Simon & Schuster. To read all of Gwen Cooper's posts in "The Dating Life," click here.