www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Contraceptives as medical treatment, or, Should I be taking the Pill?

I'm new to this forun, so sorry if this question has been covered recently, but I paged back and didn't find anything that really addressed this topic.

I was recently diagnosed with fibroid tumors in my uterus. I won't go into graphic detail about the, uh, female problems I was having because of this, but I was effectively incapacitated for 2-3 days around certain times of the month.

I saw a gynecologist and she prescribed birth control pills to treat the problem. So far, it seems to be working. My last cycle wasn't nearly as painful as what I had been living with for the past couple of years.

I'm a bit nervous about taking the Pill, however. I believe in the Church's teaching about contraception, but I'm not taking it for that purpose. I am single, so there really isn't any issue of birth control involved. I suppose if I were married, I would have to either ask for alternate treatment or abstain during fertile times to avoid an accidental abortion (since the Pill works by preventing the fertilized egg from implanting in the uterine wall.)

I'm not really sure where the Church, Eastern or Western, would stand on this issue. I'm taking a medication that was originally designed for a sinful purpose, but I'm taking it as a medical treatment.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this issue?

Also, in a hypothetical situation, if a woman was married, and suffered problems similar to mine (fibroids or endometriosis) and her doctor determined that the best treatment for the condition would be birth control pills, would she be committing a sin by taking them?

If you are leading a celibate life, there is no reason why not to take the medicine. God did not design a medicine as "sinful", it was our intent that created the sin. Your intent is not sinful.

As to your question as to if you were married, that is another issue, and one that needs referring to your doctor, and then to your priest. If your doctor tells you you are unable to have children due to your medical condition, then that is something you need to be aware of prior to marriage, and discuss with your spiritual father as to the impact this will have.

If you are able to have children, your doctor must be made aware of your religious concerns, and an alternate treatment proposed at that time, if possible. Depending on his advice, refer back to your spiritual father. in a case such as this it is important that you and your doctor AND your spiritual father thouroughly understand the ramifications for your life, in advance. It is, forgive me, rather beyond the scope of a discussion board, most of whom will not walk in your shoes.

With prayers for your health,

Gaudior.

Thea,

The Church has formally acknowledged, and accepted as lawful, the need to legitimately use medication that has birth control properties for therapeutic medical reasons unrelated to that purpose:

Humanae Vitae [vatican.va]

Many years,

Neil

Thanks for the replies. I really didn't figure the Church would have a problem with someone taking a medication that had contraception as a "side effect", but I hadn't heard or read anything on the subject, so I wasn't sure.

The Church's job is to show the Love of God to the world, and I don't think a loving God would allow a woman to suffer when medicine was easily available simply because that medicine could be used for a sinful purpose by someone with a different intent.

Krona pola

I don't know whether you are aware of the Pope Paul VI Institute in Omaha, NE which is run by Dr. Hilgers. He is a totally prolife, non-contraception prescribing physician who has done many studies on the various treatments prescribed for women's health in recent years. I would call their nurse and ask for literature on this issue. Many women's health issues can be treated alternatively from the mainstream medical view. Also, women who take the pill for medical reasons, often find out in six months or so that after a brief respite, their symptoms return or exascerbate. Please read some books on progesterone treatment with progesterone cream therapy, over the counter. Estrogen imbalance can often be remedied with progesterone creams. One I am familiar with is called What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About PeriMenopause (or Premenopause). Hope you do a bit of research on your own. Sorry to say our medical establishment is not always forthcoming with any alternative ideas. Tammy

Still small voice- I would be seeking alternate therapies if I could afford them. Unfortunately, I'm not working due to some other physical problems, which I hope will be successfully treated by the time I finish school in May, but in the meantime, my health care is through County Social Services, which means I only have access to the county's clinic. Also, I tried progesterone creams for PMS (back before I developed the fibroids and their attendant problems), and they worked well, but at this point they would be prohibitively expensive, at least for the ones that actually work. When your choice is, a month's supply of expensive cream or eat this week, I tend to go with buying groceries.

The worst part is, I'm confined to a treatment protocol which may or may not be appropriate for me (seems to be helping so far, though). The county decrees that the doctor must start by giving the patient the cheapest treatment, which in my case would be the Pill, then the next least expensive... rather than assessing the needs of the individual patient and prescribing the appropriate treatment.

Hopefully once I'm working again, I will be able to afford to explore alternative options, but in the meantime, I have to accept the treatment that is available to me.

May the Lord bless you this lenten season, spiritually, economically, and medically. When our cross is heavy, we learn to rely on Him for our needs. Many faithful years, Tammy

About oral contraceptives:
One issue is the abortifacient potential of hormonal birth control. If a woman is not celibate hormonal birth control preparations can prevent a fertilized egg (early embryo) from implanting in the uterus. This is an early abortion. If a woman is celibate, there is not a moral issue. But there are indeed other therapies for heavy bleeding instead of birth control pills that may be better. The PopePaul VI Institute is a good source of information.
See http://www.orthodoxnfp.org/ - especially the section on Ten Reasons to Avoid Oral Contraceptives.
Another web site that has lots of Q&A on medical problems such as yours is www.canfp.org [canfp.org] especially the "Ask the Expert Section".
If you are interested in finding a doctor who does not prescribe the pill and is familiar with other approaches you can go through www.omsoul.com [omsoul.com] .
I was Orthodox and an ob-gyn doctor, and Catholic theology over reproductive matters brought me into the Byzantine Catholic Church last October.
Good luck to you!
Magdaleni