(upbeat electronic music)
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- Hey everyone, it's me Hallease,
endeavoring to persevere as always.
So, as y'all know I'm not on any form
of hormonal birth control any more
but I did used to be on birth control
and getting on birth control for me
was actually a lesson in my own internal self-shame
and I just wanna get on and kind of talk about that
because I feel like that is something
that women go through a lot when seeking out contraception.
So, even though I first started having a period at 13,
I didn't get on birth control until I was almost 19,
if not 19 already.
At that time, my periods would last around seven days
and then for the first three days,
the pain would be so intense,
I was just like on a fixed Ibuprofen regime
for the first 72 hours of my cycle
and I just sort of suffered in silence every month
and so, as Mr. Hallease and I became more serious
in our relationship,
he was just like dude, every month your life is terrible.
You can do something about this,
do something about this for yourself.
You know?
I remember going into the appointment and stuff like that
and being like hi,
I just, um, wanted, I just wanted, um,
I'm just curious about,
you know, the pill or whatever
because not because of what you think,
I mean, kind of 'cause of what you think, sure,
but I'm responsible but you know,
like it's just my period sucks,
also I got acne.
And so, the amount of shame I felt
just even broaching the subject,
I look back now and I'm just like, why.
Why.
(laughs)
Which is part of the reason why I find myself wanting
to talk about women's health topics on this channel more.
Because there really shouldn't be any shame around it,
there's nothing wrong with you
for wanting to take control of you own body
and your own health.
So that being said, it's really cool
that this video is sponsored by Nurx,
which is a company that I can truly get behind
because they're providing access.
Maybe birth control hormonally isn't right for you.
That's fine.
What I always want is for you to make an informed decision
and for you to have the access
to make that informed decision.
And that's what Nurx provides.
It's an app that you can use on your phone
or via a web browser that allows you
to fill out all required information
and get your birth control mailed to you
in unmarked packaging.
They also can work with your insurance
providing you with the copay necessary
or if you don't have insurance,
they have options for you as well.
And Nurx now provides a variety
of different contraceptive methods.
You can get Plan B from them,
you can get birth control from them,
you can also get Truvada for PrEP from them.
I got to talk to their Medical Director
and she's pretty awesome.
- I designed all the policies and protocols
for how our clinical team
would handle patients and prescribe.
I've grown our team from just myself
to now 16 other advanced clinicians,
so physicians, nurse practitioners,
and physician's assistants.
And then we also have a team of ten registered nurses.
To me, there's no way
to say birth control is too accessible.
If people need birth control, it's because they need it
and it's not a matter of whether it's too accessible
or not too accessible.
In fact, right now, it's not accessible enough.
That's why we have pregnancies
in this country being unintended.
The sort of interesting things
about birth control and Truvada for PrEP
is there's no physical exam component required
to safely use either of those medications.
For birth control,
we follow pretty strictly the CDC guidelines
that have very explicitly laid out
what sorts of conditions are safe and not safe
for using birth control.
And all the CDC requires is
that you take blood pressure for a patient,
that's the closest thing to a physical exam component
but the CDC says that a patient can self-report
that blood pressure to us,
so that's what we accept.
On the Truvada side, again,
we are relying on the patient to provide us good information
and there also we do labs.
We have to do safety labs in order to prescribe Truvada
for any patient and we do those every three months.
When it comes down to the health history,
there's really no difference
between what we're asking patients to do
and what a doctor or nurse at a physical clinic
is asking a patient to do.
- So realizing that I had that level of shame
about something that is completely normal,
it made me want to then ask my friends.
Their stories were interesting.
- So, prepare yourselves.
One time, in college, I was in a relationship with someone
and I knew, based off what had occurred,
I didn't need Plan B.
But there's this paranoia
that I don't think enough women talk about
when it's like but maybe it could swim
across the ocean blue?
So I thought, I'm going to go to the pharmacy closest to me
and then I can probably, I didn't know at the time
that I could go through the drive-through,
so I was like, I'll just go in
and don't even worry about it, I'll be fine,
I'll make sure I'll go when no one else is in line,
and that way I can be like,
I'm here for the Plan B.
You know?
And not have to be ashamed.
And I have this ring and I decided for a very silly reason,
and I was so mad at myself as soon as I did it,
was to put that ring on my ring finger,
so it looked like I was married.
Yeah.
And I'm just like (coughing) with the ring.
Oh, ho ho ho.
I'm here for, um, the Plan B
and you know, talking to this pharmacy tech,
who clearly didn't care.
They were just like, okay.
And I'm kind of whispering it
so no one else around me hears
that a woman of childbearing age had sex
and possible needs some type of contraceptive
because of it.
- For me, it was other people telling me,
okay well I just use it to regulate my period
and I just use it for this reason.
I was like, well if I'm actually using it for birth control
how can I afford it?
Because it's expensive.
$40 wasn't a lot but I was always forgetting to take 'em,
so then I knew that the next option was something
that I didn't have to take all the time
but that was way out of cost.
It wasn't until I graduated actually,
so four years of figuring that out.
And then I graduated and my job,
my first salaried job, paid for it.
And so my district was 100% covered
because it was preventative.
So I was like, oh gimme the good stuff then!
Okay!
So that's when I got onto NuvaRing
and I was able to use that.
- I have so many stories!
Oh my gosh, I have so many stories.
My first birth control experience was when I was 17
and I had my first boyfriend.
And I was like, Mom.
I wanna get birth control
because my period cramps are hurting me.
I went to a SARA program in New York City
and I thought my period was late
because I didn't know what it was like
to be on birth control so then naturally,
I assumed I was pregnant.
And instead of waiting it out,
I called my mom immediately.
Who also freaked out.
So basically, the first time I went on birth control
I had a pregnancy scare for no good reason.
- I found, someone spoke of a nearby clinic
that did $20 fixed pricing.
They do make you fill out a lot of paperwork
and the paperwork includes who are your partners,
how many partners have you had in the last month.
And then you're answering all those questions
and I almost feel like, as I'm answering them,
I wonder if they're asking should they even bother
with talking to me or treating me or any of those things.
- So once I got on NuvaRing,
I discovered a service called Nurx.
Their customer support is awesome.
So I'm a little shy when it comes to talking
about that stuff at the pharmacy
just because I'm very aware, not that,
I don't care about the pharmacists
because it's their job not to judge me,
it's their job to provide me with information,
but I don't know who's standing around listening to me.
I don't know who's watching me pick up my birth control.
So it's really nice not to have to do that.
And being able to ask them questions within the app
and they have professional answers
instead of Google answers.
- Really, I had made it so much bigger of a process
than it really needed to be.
And I had allowed myself to really feel a sense of shame
for needing it when there wasn't really any
that I needed to have.
We are definitely raised and conditioned to think,
oh gosh if you need that, you're bad.
So by having it, you're bad.
You're not.
You're just, you just need it.
- I need to take full responsibility
for the choices I'm making
and if I'm choosing to have sex,
if birth isn't something I want out of it,
then I need to prevent that.
If confusing emotions isn't something I want out of it,
I need to prevent that.
If an STD isn't something I want out of it,
I need to prevent that.
So I researched almost on my own
because I didn't want to leave it to,
oh I wonder if someone has a condom
or I wonder if they're open to have a conversation.
So it was always me just trying
to make sure it was preventative or back-up.
- So hearing them tell their stories makes me really happy
that a company like Nurx exists.
Maybe you don't wanna be on hormonal birth control
right now.
That's fine, I'm not.
But I appreciate that now there is another tool.
There's an option for you available.
If it is something that you decide later on down the road,
you do want to entertain.
And if you live in a location
where seeking out contraception is a little difficult
for you for a variety of reasons,
consider checking out Nurx for your contraceptive needs.
That you again for Nurx for sponsoring this video.
If you're interested in downloading the app,
check the description box below for details.
Again, you can also use them via your web browser.
In the comments below, everybody be respectful.
But if you have a story around your birth control experience
please let us know in the comments below
so that way we can see that, truly,
many of us have gone through this.
(laughs)
And we're still figuring it out.
We're still learning.
I'm Hallease and I'll see you when I see you.
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