Hey friends,

So, I have been dealing with irregular and painful periods since I was a teenager. It doesn’t help that painkillers do little to suppress the pain most times.

At some point in my life I began making use of agbo and action bitters (yuck!) in a bid to cope with the pain.

A friend and I had discovered the agbo in Yaba market after speaking to a herbal vendor who recommended the mix.

The action bitters gin had been advertised on radio by a popular broadcaster, so I had thought to give it a try. But deep down, I knew I could not keep up with either of them.

Eager to discover more about my situation, I ran some tests in May that confirmed I had hormonal imbalance.

Hormones are chemicals that coordinate different functions in your body by carrying messages through your blood to your organs, skin, muscles, and other tissues. These signals tell your body what to do and when to do it.

Hormones control many different bodily processes, including:

• Metabolism.

• Homeostasis (constant internal balance).

• Growth and development.

• Sexual function.

• Reproduction.

• Sleep-wake cycle.

• Mood.

Hormonal imbalance is an incorrect quantity of one or more hormones in the bloodstream. The timing of the hormone(s) release, interactions with other hormones and ability to respond through cell receptors are also important for hormonal balance.

Hormone imbalances are a common cause of irregular periods. Because birth control pills contain progestin and estrogen, they’re able to help balance our hormones and regulate our menstrual cycle.

Sometime in May and for the first in my life ever, I went on birth control pills called microgynon 30 in a bid to regulate my menstrual cycle.

Microgynon 30 is a combined contraceptive pill, usually just called ‘the pill’. It contains two hormones – an oestrogen and a progestogen.

Most women take Microgynon to prevent an unwanted pregnancy, but it’s also prescribed for women who have problems with particularly heavy, painful or irregular periods.

For the following four weeks of medication, I documented my symptoms:

Week 1:

Week 2:

Week 3:

At this stage, my symptoms had intensified

Week 4:

At this point most of the intensity with mood had lowered, but there was a spike in my sex drive.

On my last day on the pill, my menstrual flow began and it was heavier than it has been in the past few years. I was using up four pads in one day. Thankfully it only lasted for the expected duration of six days.

After my menstrual flow ended for the month, there was an overall increase in my libido post pill, compared to the previous months. I found myself craving touch and kisses, and sex.

I had thoughts that were too wild to be put into words, though I had the awareness that they were an aftermath of being on the pill.

Getting on birth control pills definitely helped with balancing my cycle a little bit, but I am not sure it is worth recommending for this purpose considering all the other symptoms I had to deal with while on it, and still dealing with.

Thought to share my experience and I hope someone finds this helpful.