Are birth control pills as useful and dangerous as is commonly believed?

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Many people use pills to protect themselves, but they still do not know enough about drugs.

What are birth control pills?

Contraceptive pills are one of the most effective contraceptives, really reliable and affordable, known for many decades. These are hormonal drugs that contain progestins or progestins along with estrogens. All these are analogs of female hormones. Progestins suppress ovulation, which is essential for pregnancy.

How do they work?

For a woman to become pregnant, she needs a mature egg. In the first half of the menstrual cycle, under the influence of hormones, the egg matures and enters the fallopian tube from the ovaries. After that - in theory - the female reproductive cell should meet with the sperm and go to the uterus to attach to the organ wall there. This requires progesterone, a hormone that prepares the uterus. If conception does not happen, the level of progesterone drops and bleeding begins, from which a new cycle starts.

All this time, the level of estrogen and progesterone fluctuates as needed to conceive a child.

Birth control pills create their own hormonal balance in the body.

At the same time, they suppress ovulation, that is, there is simply nothing to fertilize.

Pills have other properties that resist conception. For example, they make the mucus in the cervix thick so that sperm cannot reach the egg, and the inner layer of the uterus thin so that the egg cannot attach to it.

What are birth control pills?

There are two types of pills:

1. Progestin-only with estrogens, or combined. If estrogen is plentiful, it can suppress ovulation. But in such doses, they have a lot of side effects, so they are not used by themselves for contraception, but are added to pills to simulate a full cycle.
2. Progestin-only drugs called mini-pills. They are prescribed when ordinary pills cannot be used: if a woman is breastfeeding, has migraines, or she has blood clots in the vessels.

They say that such contraceptives have many side effects. This is true?

Indeed, birth control pills have an impressive list of contraindications and side effects. It is enough to open the instructions for any such drug and see for yourself.

There are four generations of oral contraceptives. The newer the drug, the less hormones there are, and hence the side effects.

Unfortunately, many gynecologists like to prescribe old drugs: such pills are cheaper and "time-tested". Therefore, just in case, ask your doctor what generation the medicine he is prescribing belongs to, and if you can find a milder remedy.

Do not hesitate to ask why the gynecologist thinks that these pills are right for you, why they are better than analogues.

And what is the threat of taking contraceptives?

The worst side effects of oral contraceptives are:

1. Thrombosis. There are many studies that show that the risk of thrombosis increases while taking the pill.
2. Cardiovascular diseases.
3. Glaucoma.

These are rare occurrences that occurred when oral contraceptives were just introduced and they had a lot of hormones. More often there is nausea, dizziness, mood changes, breakthrough bleeding. Usually the symptoms go away after a couple of months, but you need to tell the doctor about them and, if there is no dynamics, change the drug.

Is weight gain due to birth control pills?

No one will say exactly what will happen with your weight. Different studies provide different information, but show that, in general, women who take hormonal contraceptives get a little fat.

The average weight gain when taking mini-drank is no more than 2 kg per year. However, these data are not based on the most accurate studies.

Different types of hormonal contraceptives have about the same effect on weight.

Do they lead to cancer?

Some studies show that oral contraceptives, especially when used for a long time, on the contrary, reduce the risk of developing ovarian cancer. Women who have been using birth control pills for more than five years have a 50% lower risk of contracting this type of cancer than women who have never taken the pill.

But the risk of finding breast or cervical cancer, as well as neoplasms in the liver, increases, albeit slightly. In some cases (if you take pills for a long time), such dynamics is not at all traceable.

Birth control pills are so scary. Can they be used at all?

Can. They were invented just to use them. Of course, if there are no contraindications.

As already mentioned, modern drugs are becoming safer, they are being tested more and more thoroughly.

And what about the contraindications?

Each drug has its own list, but there are general contraindications:

1. Smoking and age over 35 (if you do not smoke, age does not count).
2. The tendency to form blood clots.
3. Estrogen-dependent tumors.
4. Bleeding from the uterus, the causes of which are not clear.
5. Migraine.
6. Diabetes with complications from the heart and blood vessels.

The main thing is not to smoke if you decide to take oral contraceptives. Smoking by itself does not lead to good, and in combination with hormonal contraceptives increases the risk of side effects.

What tests do I need to take to get a prescription?

As a rule, none. Hormonal contraceptives were invented to be available, and tons of tests reduce this very availability.

At the consultation, the doctor is mainly guided by what the woman herself tells about her lifestyle, health problems, about the drugs that she constantly takes. Based on this, he decides which progestin component is more suitable, and prescribes it.

To check whether pills are contraindicated for a woman or not, you really need to pass a number of tests.

My friend was taking pills. Can I have them too?

In no case.

Only a doctor can prescribe pills after consultation. What if you have contraindications that your friend does not have, and you are at risk? Suddenly, a friend's doctor prescribed her a drug of the old generation, or did a friend buy medicine on the advice of a neighbor?

You will risk your health, not your friend. Do not do like this.

Do oral contraceptives allow your ovaries to rest?

The ovaries do not know how to rest and go on vacation, they work most of a woman's life until menopause occurs.

Hormonal contraceptives do not arrange a vacation for the organs, but create an artificial hormonal background and suppress ovulation.

This has nothing to do with rejuvenation, longevity and other miraculous properties that hormones like to attribute.

Are they needed to align the cycle?

Hormonal contraceptives create their own special cycle. The main thing does not happen in it - the ovulation of a mature egg. Menstruation in this case does not come because the egg has not fertilized, but because there is a break in taking the pills.

Such an artificial cycle is really even, it is easier to tolerate, therefore, oral contraceptives are prescribed to cope with painful periods.

After stopping the drugs, your normal cycle will return. What it will be depends on many factors.

Do birth control pills help prepare for pregnancy?

These are contraceptives. They are needed so as not to get pregnant. They are not preparing for pregnancy.

Although folic acid is added to some drugs in case you decide to cancel the pills, get pregnant immediately and provide the unborn child with this vitamin.

Will it help against acne?

They can help. Hormonal agents have such an effect, they help to cope with acne. But you should always remember that this effect is an additional, side effect, not the main one. In addition, sometimes something goes wrong and acne, on the contrary, appears or becomes more noticeable.

How to take so as not to harm yourself?

It's simple: take only as directed by your doctor and strictly according to the instructions.