I Was 26 Before I Realised the Pill Was the Reason Sex Had Stopped Feeling Good.

By Anika Mercer 

Women’s Sexual Health 

5 min read

I want to say this up front: I’m not anti-birth control. The Pill gave me control over my body, my cycle, my life. I’m not here to tell anyone to stop taking it.

 

I’m here because I spent three years blaming myself for something that was a side effect. And I don’t want you to spend three years doing the same.

 

I went on hormonal birth control at 19. Combined pill. No issues. Easy. I barely thought about it — just another part of my daily routine, like brushing my teeth.

 

By 22, sex had started to feel… different. Not painful exactly. Just dry. Friction where there used to be none. A rawness afterwards that I’d never experienced before. I assumed it was stress. Then I assumed it was my relationship. Then I assumed it was just me — that my body had changed and this was who I was now.

 

I was wrong about all three. It was the Pill. And not a single person — not my GP, not my gynaecologist, not the prescribing nurse — had ever mentioned that this could happen.

The Side Effect Hidden in Plain Sight

Hormonal birth control works by suppressing your body’s natural hormone cycle. That’s the whole mechanism. It replaces your natural estrogen and progesterone fluctuations with a steady, controlled synthetic dose.

 

Here’s what the information leaflet doesn’t spell out in large print: that suppression can significantly reduce your body’s natural lubrication. Not might. Can. And for many women, it does — within months of starting.

 

Estrogen is directly responsible for vaginal moisture, tissue elasticity, and blood flow to the pelvic area. When synthetic hormones override your natural cycle, estrogen levels at the tissue level can drop. The result: dryness, thinning tissue, reduced sensitivity, and discomfort during sex.

 

This isn’t rare. Studies suggest that hormonal contraceptive users are significantly more likely to report vaginal dryness and sexual discomfort than non-users. And yet when I told my doctor, she offered me lubricant and suggested I “try more foreplay.”

I spent three years buying lubricant and blaming myself for not being aroused enough. It wasn’t arousal. It was a pharmaceutical side effect that nobody thought to mention.
Title

What Lubricant Can’t Fix

I tried everything the internet suggested. Water-based lubricant. Silicone-based lubricant. Coconut oil. Vitamin E suppositories. Probiotic supplements. A hyaluronic acid vaginal moisturiser that cost $45 and did almost nothing.

 

Every single one of these treats the surface. They add moisture temporarily from the outside. But the problem isn’t a lack of external moisture — the problem is that the tissue itself has changed. It’s thinner. Less elastic. Less blood flow. Less natural ability to produce its own lubrication.

 

Lubricant on changed tissue is like moisturiser on sunburn. It helps for a moment. It doesn’t heal the skin underneath.

 

I was 25 and I genuinely thought I’d just have to accept that sex would always feel like this as long as I was on the Pill. And I wasn’t willing to go off the Pill. So I accepted it.

 

For another year. Until a conversation with a friend changed everything.

What My Friend Told Me Over Wine

My friend Priya is a physiotherapy student. She’s the kind of person who reads clinical papers for fun. We were two glasses of wine in when I admitted the sex thing. She didn’t blink.

 

“You know that’s probably the Pill, right?”

 

I didn’t know that. I had literally never made the connection.

 

She explained that lubricant can’t fix a tissue problem, and that what I actually needed was something that could support the tissue itself — increase blood flow, stimulate collagen production, and help the cells regenerate so my body could start maintaining moisture on its own again. Even while on the Pill.

 

Then she told me about a device she’d seen in her pelvic health rotation. A handheld tool that combines three therapies:

Red light therapy 

stimulates cellular repair and collagen production in vaginal tissue. The same photobiomodulation used in dermatology and sports medicine. It works at the cellular level to rebuild tissue that’s been affected by hormonal changes.

Gentle heat 

increases blood flow to the area. This is critical — blood flow delivers the oxygen and nutrients tissue needs to repair and maintain itself. When hormonal contraceptives reduce natural estrogen at the tissue level, blood flow drops. Heat brings it back.

Targeted vibration 

neuromuscular stimulation that improves pelvic floor strength and nerve sensitivity. For women experiencing reduced sensation alongside dryness, this is the piece that addresses what lubricant never could.

No hormones. No prescriptions. No conflict with my birth control. Ten minutes before bed.

 

I ordered it before we finished the bottle.

Learn More About the Device →

The Part Where I Stopped Buying Lubricant

I’m going to be honest with you, because the vague “it changed my life” testimonials never convinced me either. Here’s exactly what happened:

Week 1: 

Used it four times. Each session was 10 minutes, warm, gentle. I did it while watching TV in bed. Felt pleasant but I wasn’t expecting instant results and I didn’t get any.

Week 2: 

Noticed a subtle shift. Less of that constant low-level dry feeling during the day. Nothing dramatic. Just… less.

Week 3: 

Had sex with my boyfriend. Used about half the lubricant I normally would. Didn’t notice until afterwards when I realised the tube was still mostly full. No rawness afterwards. First time in years.

Week 5: 

Didn’t use lubricant at all. Not as a test — I just forgot. Because I didn’t need it. My body was doing what it used to do before the Pill changed things. I texted Priya three exclamation marks and nothing else. She knew what it meant.

I’m still on the Pill. I’m not going off the Pill. But the side effect that I’d accepted as permanent for three years was gone in five weeks. I’m still processing that.

The Device

It’s called Ellorabloom. Three therapies — red light, heat, and vibration — in one handheld device. Designed for vaginal tissue health and pelvic floor support.

 

It doesn’t interfere with hormonal birth control. It’s not hormonal. It works through light, warmth, and mechanical stimulation — a completely different pathway to the one your BC is affecting.

 

$79.99. Free shipping. Discreet packaging that looks like a skincare delivery. 30-day money-back guarantee.

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Three Therapies: Red Light + Heat + Vibration

⏱ 10 Minutes, 3–4x per week

💊 Won’t interfere with BC. Non-hormonal.

💰 $79.99 with free shipping

Regular Price: $224.95

TODAY: $89.95

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✅ 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee. Discreet packaging. Looks like a skincare order.

To the Woman Blaming Herself

If you’re on the Pill and sex doesn’t feel the way it used to — if you’ve been buying lubricant and wondering what’s wrong with you — if you’ve convinced yourself that you’re just not aroused enough, not relaxed enough, not doing enough — please stop.

 

It’s not you. It’s a side effect. A well-documented, under-discussed, ridiculously common side effect of the medication you take every day.

 

You don’t have to go off the Pill to fix it. You don’t have to choose between contraception and comfort. You just need to support the tissue that your BC is inadvertently affecting.

 

You’re not broken. Your body is responding to a medication. And there’s a way to respond back.

 

Don’t spend three years like I did. It took me five weeks to fix what I’d accepted for three years. I’m still a little angry about that.

Try Ellorabloom Risk-Free for 30 Days → 

Discreet packaging. Non-hormonal. Won’t interfere with birth control. 30-day guarantee.

Try Ellorabloom Risk-Free for 30 Days →