Contraceptives

It’s a while since I posted information about a couple of myths associated with low dose birth control  so I thought it would be useful to add a couple more posts on the more common ones :

MYTH 3.  The Pill works because it kills sperm

No, a low dose bith control pill causes several changes in the body but the main changes:

a) prevent an egg from being released from an ovary so that it cannot be fertilised

b) thicken the mucus at the neck of the uterus which ’slows down’ the sperm and makes it harder for him to reach the uterus

c) thin the tissue which lines the wall of the uterus to make implantation of a fertilised egg difficult

MYTH 4.  It doesn’t matter if I miss a pill at the end of my pack because I’m going to get my period anyway

Yes it does matter. To prevent ovulation from happening, a pack of low dose birth control pills releases a measured dosage of estrogen/progestin which your body absorbs each month. Pills you may have missed just before the ‘dummy pill’ days or at the beginning of the next pack, will extend the hormone free period so your body may not have absorbed a sufficient monthly dose of hormones to prevent ovulation in the NEXT month.

MYTH 5. The Pill makes you fat

Not necessarily. Some women lose weight. on the pill. 60% of women see little change (+/- 2 kgs.) While estrogen can cause fluid retention which accounts for some increase in weight, there are some women whose unique metabolism reacts to even low dose birth control pills, causing them to gain more than 2 kilos. *A change of pill type may be the answer. Most women increase their weight in the latter half of their cycle due anyway, due to a change in hormone levels.

Check before you blame your low dose birth control pill for your weight gain, unless you feel that your appetite has increased significantly, that other meds are not the culprit and that your anxiety over the issue is causing you to ’snack’ more! *Use the lowest possible estrogen containing birth control pill - this should minimize weight gain and swelling from water retention. Two of the current 20 mcgm pills which are the lowest estrogen doses available are: Alesse and Mircette.

Further information about this popular myth

Tomorrow - a few more myths about low dose birth control - come back and test your contraception knowledge.  Also, I have a new book to show you which may not be to everyone’s taste but is REMARKABLE!

Here are a couple of ‘myths’ about oral contraceptives that are FALSE:

MYTH 1. You get lighter periods when on the pill- NO, you do not get a true menstrual period at all while you are taking oral contraceptives, you get a withdrawal ‘bleed’ caused by the sudden drop off of synthetic hormones while you are taking the inactive or 7 day ‘dummy’ pills. Hormonal contraceptives trick the body into believing it is pregnant so, no egg release means no fertilization, means no preparation of the uterus lining to receive a fertilized egg, means no need for a ‘true menstrual period’, which is normally the shedding of a ‘prepared’ but ‘unused’ uterus lining after ovulation. Did you follow all that?

Seven consecutive active pills need to be taken to stop us females from ovulating.

Ovulation may occur if more than 7 days are missed so if in the heat of a passionate night we forget to use protection, an unwanted little surprise may be in store for us! The big ‘P’! The lengthening of the pill free interval is one of the most common causes of pill failure and is often associated with a woman starting her new pill packet late. If you’re not home for dinner, when you usually take your pill and you don’t carry your new packet in your purse, it’s SO easy to forget completely later.

MYTH 2. The most dangerous time to miss a pill is in the middle of the pack- NO, it is at the beginning or at the end of the pack. If you think ovulation occurs in the middle of your cycle when you are taking oral contraceptives, you are wrong. Women on hormonal contraceptives do not ovulate in most cases if they are taking the contraceptive correctly. Oral contraceptives keep your ovaries in a ‘resting state’ so eggs are not released. In fact, you can miss 7 active pills without the risk of ovulating (this is what happens when you take the ‘dummy pills’ for 7 days)

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