I am taking estrogen/progesterone birth-control pills for idiopathic dysmenorrhea. Without them, I lose about two days out of my month because, unmedicated, I am unable to stand up without fainting or vomiting during my period. With them and a double dose of naproxen, I can sit up, walk around a little, and go to school or work if I take it easy.

It's been about six months now, my school attendance has really improved, and my mother is constantly on my case about stopping the birth control pills. She says that taking hormones long-term is dangerous and can be deadly. I think she's overly fearful. I know birth control pills can cause problems--I've read the medication sheets--but I also know they're a widely used medication with well-known effects, and taken safely by many women for quite a long time.

I am 25 now, and no doctor would agree to a hysterectomy no matter how much I insisted that I am asexual and do not want children; but I am actually considering this. Once I get into my thirties, it wouldn't be so hard to convince somebody to do it, and I wouldn't have to take hormone pills anymore. (Obviously it would be the sort that doesn't take the ovaries. Since my ovaries are physically normal, as is my uterus--which is why they throw up their hands and say "idiopathic"--there's no good reason to trigger menopause.)

Are there risks to long-term use? If so, what are they? And what's the best way to prevent those things, if that is possible?