Katie Miller (@KatieMiller) “RILEY GAINES ON BIRTH CONTROL: “So I was on birth control in college, but only b” — TopicDigg

RILEY GAINES ON BIRTH CONTROL: “So I was on birth control in college, but only because — as a swimmer — you can imagine it’s not exactly comfortable to bleed in a sport like that. The bathing suits are pretty revealing, and we’re in the water six hours a day. “I got on it specifically to stop my period entirely. Looking back now at 26, if I could go back and tell 18- or 19-year-old me anything, I would absolutely tell her not to do that. “I just had a pretty comprehensive health screening — blood work, cancer screenings, the works. One of the only things the doctors flagged was that I had super low bone density. I thought that was strange because I lift weights, which should promote bone growth. So I asked the doctor what could cause it. “She asked if I had been on birth control that let me skip my periods. When I said yes, she told me that was likely the cause. She said it’s good that we caught it now — I’m young and healthy, so I can work to build it back up — but if I had stayed on it longer, it could have really hurt me in the long term.”