Chapter 48: The Period Repair Manual by Lara Briden, ND

Another day, another review on a book about women's health. This book is included in Kindle Unlimited, so if you have that I recommend checking it out. Otherwise, I'm not entirely sure it is worth the full price.

Lara Briden is a naturopath who really really doesn't like hormonal birth control. She only recommends it for severe cases of endometriosis or adenomyosis. That is the first good thing about this book- she realizes and articulates how painful and life consuming endo can be. A lot of doctors don't do that so I'm grateful that she appreciates the severity of the pain endo patients deal with.

Briden's main argument against hormonal birth control is that it masks your body's natural hormones and periods with artificial hormones and withdrawal bleeds (periods on hormonal BC are not traditional periods. They are withdrawal bleeds). Briden makes the argument that a woman's period is an important vital sign and look into her overall health- just like blood pressure, blood work, temperature, and all the other things a doctor checks at appointments. Often times when women complain about period issues, a doctor will give them BC instead of figuring out what the underlying cause of the issue is. This definitely happened to me for most of my life so I can see where she's coming from and I agree with her. However, I do have a few issues with other parts of her book.

I want to make it clear before I move on to my criticisms of this book that my issue isn't with natural or alternative medicine. I know that a lot of endo patients, myself included, turn to alternative medical options when Western Medicine fails them. Acupuncture helped me get through law school, but so did hormonal birth control. So, with that being said, onto the issues I had with this book. A lot of what Briden suggests for patients with conditions such as PCOS, endo, infertility issues, acne, etc. are supplements and drastic diet changes. These do have the potentional to be very helpful, but they aren't widely accessible. Most natural medicine in the US isn't covered by insurance, and herbs and clean eating can get expensive. So what is a woman supposed to do if she can't afford to eat all natural and organic food and $40 a bottle herbal supplement that only lasts for a month? Well, in this case, it's be shamed by Briden for turning to BC to help regulate her periods and stop cramps. If the plans you're suggesting only can help people with money, then maybe go easy on the birth control shaming.

One thing I did like was that Briden took the time to explain different hormones and how they worked in your body. She also explained the natural fluctuations that occur during your cycle and what could be wrong and cause an issue. This information was helpful and interesting. And I do agree with her to a certain extent about doctors overprescribing birth control. However, I do think it serves a function that she seems to ignore. Overall, I'd give this book 3 out 5 stars.