Contraceptives

This IS about birth control even though it may not look like it! Read on.

On Wednesday, NBC will be premiering its new reality TV show, The Baby Borrowers. Will you be watching or will you dismiss it in favour of Big Brother? Grab a friend, preferably your partner and watch. The series is a social experiment showing how teenage couples , ages 18-20 will, over the course of three weeks, experience what it is like to have to cope with all aspects of an instant family, babies and all. The teenagers will have to set up a home, get a job and becoming caring and attentive parents - first to babies, toddlers, pre-teens and their pets, teenagers and, finally, senior citizens. Has this anything to do with contraceptives and birth control? YOU BETCHA! With 3 decades of ‘family planning’ ahead of every fertile female, take note of how reality will bite if you DON’T plan when to have your children ( I am in awe of those wonderfully stoic women/foster parents who adore their 6 kids and are perfect mums!)

Okay, okay , as a mother of two, I admit that in ‘real time’ all of the above does not happen within 3 weeks but the bottom line is - it DOES happen once that little bundle of joy appears on the scene. You DO have to deal with the demanding nitty gritty of child rearing and the relentless ‘daily routine’ once that first flush of partner passion has subsided (note I did not say romance or love here) Unless you are a member of the Royal family or have film star status, once you give birth you jolly well don’t get a ‘life’ rewind button or your own ‘live- in’ little Lem Sip men to take over the baby care or bail you out of ‘debt damage’ when you can’t make ends meet. Don’t get me wrong- in my opinion, having children is one of the best things I ever did and one of the hardest jobs I’ve ever had and though I could NOT have afforded more than 2, I think I could have reared a couple more. Bringing up kids when you are ‘ready’ and when you have the TIME to nurture and teach them properly will make life a whole lot easier for you and everyone else.

SO…. be prepared, be safe, watch the show and let me know what you think!

Are you popping into your local pharmacy every month to fill the prescription for your low dose birth control pill? If you are, it could be costing you big time over the life of your ‘contraception career’. It takes LESS effort, certainly costs LESS, takes LESS time and gives you the added bonus benefit of never running out of ‘pill protection’, if you buy your low dose birth control pills on line. Most importantly, by buying your low dose birth control pills on line, you will be well on your way to painlessly stashing away almost $70,000, according to one physician who worked this out for a disbelieving patient.

Yes, that’s right, almost $70,000 could be yours just by sitting in front of a computer for 3 mins instead of traveling to the pharmacy then waiting another 15 mins. for a prescription to be filled. Plan your Contraception Career from a financial aspect as well as from a ‘birth control type’ aspect and save a considerable amount of money in the process. Buying low dose birth control pills online can stash you away the healthy sum of $67,762 in your Retirement Fund. Buying in bulk , free shipping and special offers could save you even more.

Most of us know the wisdom of saving and making contributions to a superannuation fund, a health fund, life insurance etc. etc.. Most of us know that it’s a good idea to budget if we wish to ‘make ends meet’ and keep our debts to a minimum - but all this sounds a bit ‘too hard’ though doesn’t it and I’ll bet there are more good intentions out there than good actions as so many of us just don’t do it! However, have you ever stopped to work out what you would spend on your low dose birth control pills over the life of your ‘contraception career’?

A physician worked out the savings a patient would make if she were to buy her low dose birth control pills online and deposit the savings into a retirement fund. That does NOT sound too hard to me, after all she did not have to ’salary sacrifice’ or put that ‘must have’ handbag back on the shelf! Here’s what the physician found:

If a young lady of 22 were to use the pill till her late 40’s (say till she was 46), take 5 years off to have kids (generous by today’s standards) and deposit the annual savings (for her, $200) into her retirement account with an annual estimated return of 9%, then at retirement at, say, age 66, she will have (are you ready?)

$68,762!

That’s the magic of compounding interest. So if you are 22 years old now and order your pills online and put $200 per year into a tax free account till you are 30 years old, then pay no contributions for 5 years, then take your low dose birth control pills again for another 11 years, (saving by ordering online of course) at 66 you will have a nice little ‘nest egg’ to reward yourself with whatever you like.

Even if you don’t match these statistics, it makes you think doesn’t it?

I believe I have found the best online prices for the following low dose birth control pills:

for ALESSE (generic Loette) and DESOGEN (generic Marvelon) go to DispensaryMeds.com - Cheap meds and type name into search box

LEVLEN< MIRCETTE< OVRAL< ORTHO TRICYCLEN >

ORTHO TRICYCLEN LO (21 day) and ORTHO TRICYCLEN LO (28 day)- type name into search box

YASMIN (generic Janya)

Regardless of where you order online, make sure of these things:

• delivery time of your medication is guaranteed
• 100% Satisfaction Program is in place
• if you are not completely satisfied with your order that the pharmacy will reship your order for free or will issue a full refund back to your credit card
• pharmacy advice is available to answer your questions about a product
• the pharmacy is accredited and offers a secure ordering system for strict medication quality standard products

I LOVE all things grapefruit but after reading the package leaflet of my Lipitor medication I have abstained from enjoying even a glass of the delicious juice. Why? Simply because grapefruit can reduce the effectiveness of Lipitor.  Damn it……grapefruit can also reduce the effectiveness of your combined low dose birth control pill too. You’re OK if you take the progestin only pills - they are not affected by grapefruit as they do not contain estrogen.

Apparently, grapefruit and its juice hinders the absorption of estrogen in the body -  not a good thing if you’re paying out for a reliable birth control method that contains estrogen.  We need maximum estrogen absorption from our oral contraceptive pill to stop us from getting pregnant. In the previous post I listed other ‘compounds’ that can reduce the effectiveness of an oral contraceptive pill. The jury is still out on whether taking antihistamines alongside birth control pills containing estrogen may also affect  the performance of the pill. Anticonvulsants and antifungal medications should also be checked out with your doctor.

What happens in my body when I combine grapefruit and drugs?

There is a certain enzyme in your intestines and liver that help you to absorb  the drugs that you swallow and then excrete them when you’re body’s got what it can from them. Normally your doctor will prescribe a quantity/dose of a drug that is appropriate for
your body mass. This dose, say 40mg, should be absorbed into your body at a certain rate and excreted at a certain rate.  Enzymes in your gastrointestinal tract (gut) break down food and oral medications to enable them to be easily absorbed into your body.

Grapefruit juice seems to affect both the rate of the drug coming into your body and how quickly it is removed. The end result can be an overdose of the drug, even if you’re taking the correct dosage for your size. Where estrogen is the ‘active’ hormone that prevents pregnancy, you would be risking reducing the AMOUNT that your body would absorb and therefore ‘reducing’ your maximum protection.

What Can I Do To Avoid Dangerous Drug Interactions? Eat oranges instead!

If you are on medications that interact with grapefruit, unfortunately, like me, you’ll just have to avoid eating grapefruit or drinking grapefruit juice. If you think you can cheat by having grapefruit for brekky and taking your contraceptive pill at bedtime,  you’re out of luck as this will NOT solve the problem; the grapefruit juice effect remains even after you’ve stopped having it. Oranges are looking pretty good at this point if you like a ‘fresh’ start to your day.  A can of tomato juice has just 41 calories and more than
70% of the vitamin C for the day.

In the same way that your other medication can affect your birth control, remember that your birth control can also affect your other medication. Avoiding negative drug interactions is important whichever way you look at it so always ask your doctor or
pharmacist about drug interactions when you get a new prescription.

NB.These interactions apply to other methods of hormonal birth control including the Patch, the vaginal ring and Depo-Provera.

Alesse is a combined, low dose oral contraceptive pill that is very effective in preventing pregnancy when taken correctly.  However, did you know that certain other drugs, when taken alongside Alesse or other oral contraceptive pills, can reduce this effectiveness and possibly increase your risk of getting pregnant?  Alesse or any other low dose oral contraceptive pill that contains ethinyl estradiol and levonorgestrel may react with any of the drugs listed below so please carefully check the package list of ‘active ingredients’ on ANY medications you are taking alongside Alesse. A quick call to your doctor or pharmacist will put your mind at ease.

NB. This includes herbal products, vitamins and minerals, over the counter medications such as pain killers, sleeping pills and other prescriptions you have filled. Check with your doctor if you use illegal drugs alongside Alesse and if you are a heavy drinker of alcohol or smoke to excess.

acetaminophen (Tylenol) or ascorbic acid (vitamin C)
•anastrozole
•antibiotics or medicines for infections, especially rifampin
•aprepitant
•barbiturate medicines for producing sleep or treating seizures (convulsions)secobarbital (Seconal), or phenobarbital (Luminal, Solfoton)
•bosentan
•carbamazepine (Tegretol)
•caffeine
•clofibrate
•cyclosporine (Neoral, Sandimmune, Gengraf)
•dantrolene
•doxercalciferol
•exemestane
•grapefruit juice- stay tuned for more information on this in another post
•hydrocortisone
•letrozole
•medicines for anxiety or sleeping problems, such as diazepam or temazepam
•medicines for mental depression
•medicines for diabetes, including troglitazone and pioglitazone
•mineral oil
•modafinil
•mycophenolate
•nefazodone
•oxcarbazepine
phenylbutazone (Azolid, Butazolidin)
•phenytoin (Dilantin)
•prednisolone (Orapred)
primidone (Mysoline)
rifampin
•ritonavir (Norvir)or other medicines for the treatment of the HIV virus or AIDS such as modafinil (Provigil)
•selegiline
•soy isoflavones supplements
•St. John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum)
•tamoxifen or raloxifene
•testolactone
•theophylline (Respbid, Theo-Dur)
•topiramate (Topamax)
•warfarin

………..and possibly certain antibiotics (such as ampicillin and other penicillins and tetracyclines)

WARNING: Do not share Alesse or any other oral contraceptive pill with anyone else and keep the pack of oral contraceptive pills out of the reach of children. Do not use Alesse or any other medication after the expiry date on the pack.
Sources: Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Inc.Philadelphia, DrugDigest, Drugs.com

The above information is intended as a guide only and should not be substituted for the professional expertise and advice from your doctor or pharmacist.

Are oral contraceptives ‘good’ for reducing the risk of developing some cancers but ‘bad’ for increasing the risk of others developing? What is rumour, what is fact,  which ‘latest’ study can be relied upon to help us to make the decision about whether a cancer risk is worth taking when it comes to using oral contraceptives for birth control?  For the average female who just wants an effective and safe, long term solution for her birth control method, to treat acne or reduce severe menstrual symptoms, study results can be unsettling to say the least and they often leave her anxious and unsure about her own personal level of risk.  This latest study, though, on the relationship between oral contraceptives and cancers, is worth a look.

Who Did The Study?

The British Royal College of General Practitioners (yep, these guys have ‘cred’) studied 46,000 women from 1968 to 1996 (in my opinion, an absolute minimum no. to study) divided into two groups, 23,000 users of oral contraception and 23,000 who had ‘never used’ oral contraceptives. 1,400 family physicians collected all sorts of relevant data including, type of oral contraceptive used, pregnancies, new illnesses, surgeries and cancers.

This study was also thorough in gathering other information about these women such as their age, their smoking status and social class and their medical records were examined to enable any new cancer cases and deaths from any cause to be reported to the study from national registries and databases.  Incidences of cancer in women who took oral contraceptives was compared with incidences in ‘never-users’ of oral contraceptives Individual cancers, leading gynecologic neoplasms and ‘all cancers’ were categorized.  Neoplasm is an abnormal mass of tissue that results when cells divide more than they should or do not die when they should. Neoplasms may be benign (not cancerous) or malignant (cancerous). Also called a  tumor.

What Were The Findings?

In a nutshell, the study confirms what we have been told by other evidence to date, that is, in large population-based studies, no increased risk of cancers has been detected in oral contraceptive users overall and there was no difference between the two groups for cases of breast cancer.

Using oral contraceptives seems to protect against ovarian cancer for at least 15 years after discontinuation of use

• significantly lower numbers of cases of colorectal, ovarian, uterine body, “unknown” and “other” cancers were found
• there was a 29% combined risk reduction for the main gynecologic cancers in oral contraceptive users
• increases in cases of lung, cervix and central nervous system cancer were found in a few oral contraceptive users BUT these were too small and statistically in significant enough to count
• a significant increase in cancer risk was associated with the use of oral contraceptives for more than 8 years, mainly due to an increase of cervical, pituitary and central nervous system cancers

We owe it to ourselves to keep up to date with any findings and developments regarding birth control and sexual health but when readings results of surveys please use your common sense in assessing the source, scope and size of the study to avoid a ‘knee jerk’ reaction based on minimal information that could unnecessarily cause you distress and have a negative impact on your ‘contraception career’.

Sources:  Nat. Cancer Institute and full report by Ann D Walling HERE but I recommend that you at least read the editor’s note at the end of the article as it has relevance for all females who are worried about cancer and currently use or are considering using, oral contraceptives.