Billionaire Elon Musk triggered a whirlwind of responses Friday when he tweeted that hormonal birth control is basically bad.
“Hormonal birth control makes you fat, doubles risk of depression & triples risk of suicide. This is the clear scientific consensus, but very few people seem to know it,” Musk tweeted.
In additional tweets, he linked to sources confirming this.
Look:
Hormonal birth control makes you fat, doubles risk of depression & triples risk of suicide.
This is the clear scientific consensus, but very few people seem to know it.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 16, 2024
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 16, 2024
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 16, 2024
Musk had a point.
Although “the pill” is widely prescribed, even for children with acne, folks rarely talk about the side effects linked to it.
Responding to Musk’s tweet, many women confirmed this with stories about their own experiences with birth control’s side effects.
“Hormonal birth control gave me pseudotumor cerebri, which causes debilitating headaches and if untreated, blindness. I will have to be on medication for my entire life or otherwise lose my sight,” former Planned Parenthood director turned pro-life activist Abby Johnson tweeted.
“Fertility is a sign of HEALTH!!! Don’t take a pill to break something that is working! I’m so thankful to have gotten off that crap and now have 8 beautiful children,” she added.
Conservative activist Ashley St. Clair meanwhile noted that, after being placed on birth control for acne at the age of 14, she suddenly found herself in the need of a therapist — and, soon after, depression meds.
“Each time I would talk to my doctors about my deteriorating mental health, not a single one in nearly a decade of being on the pill suggested that it may in fact be the hormones I was taking every single day. Not one,” she tweeted.
“In retrospect, after being on birth control for nearly a decade, being placed on the pill for ‘acne’ was akin to killing a mouse with a rocket launcher,” she added.
St. Clair concluded her tweet by noting that “thousands of women across the United States and the world have had a similar experience to mine– feeling completely out of their mind on a pill their doctor told them was relatively ‘harmless.'”
See more responses below:
Yes. My friend had a stroke at 18 after being on BC for one week. She luckily survived but it raises your blood pressure and can cause infertility.
— Jessica Rojas (@catsscareme2021) February 16, 2024
My daughter’s first screaming mental breakdown came two or three weeks after the school nurse put her on birth control without telling me. Apparently it was none of my business.
— The Sarcasticat (@TheSarcasticist) February 16, 2024
I had the same migraine experience with a birth control pill. I talked to my doctor and I started using a nuvaring instead. No adverse side effects at all, it’s been almost 10 years since then. I love it!
— Mollie G. (@verysmallracoon) February 17, 2024
It can also permanently mark your skin with dark patches. Like what happened to me after being prescribed high dose hormone pills at 17. I’m 58 and I still have dark patches on my face, neck, armpits and groin. Thanks Planned Parenthood.
— StumptownGrrl – rewind to Portland OR 1989 (@StumptownGrrl) February 18, 2024
They give these out like candy and don’t tell women (and children) about the consequences.
I had no idea it carried those risks when I went on the pill. It can also lead to infertility.
— Liberty Lyss (@liberty_lyss) February 16, 2024
I had gained weight from the hormone pills, and they did just that. I’ve lost the weight, but it took a while.
Long ago, when I did try bc pills, it wrecked my emotional stability, and you see how toxic that can be!
Now, I just have my heart and passion. It’s a new way to…
— Alpha Bootis (@2000StepsCloser) February 18, 2024
I was put on a VERY serious birth control at 17, called Zoladex for endometriosis, it’s an implant the size of a rice grain. It sent me into full blown menopause, I was having hot flashes every half hr, it got so bad I’d pass out, literally hit the floor. My mind was cloudy and I…
— SylLeigh Girl (@SylleighGirl) February 18, 2024
But for every woman with a story confirming the legitimacy of Musk’s tweet, there was a leftist gal or guy talking trash by claiming he was full of it, mocking him for his appearance, or portraying him as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s puppet.
Why Putin? Because Musk believes in free speech, and that evidently makes him an ally of the Kremlin …
— Darth Powell (@GRomePow) February 17, 2024
Then stop taking it, Tubby. pic.twitter.com/DjvFdEgEXG
— JustGus (@AFellaNamedGus) February 16, 2024
Ironically enough, many of his critics were men — whereas many of his supporters were women. Go figure!
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.
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