Oral contraceptive pills: what are effects and risks?
In the 1960s, the advent of the oral contraceptive pill was considered a major victory for women's rights. A woman can finally control everything about her body and her fertility. Since that era, oral contraceptives (OCPs) have become ubiquitous in women of childbearing age with nearly 10 million women today using the pill as their primary method of contraception.
Unfortunately, the majority of these women are unaware of how these medications work and are often not informed of any potential negative effects. Birth control pills are often prescribed to women for conditions other than contraception, which are much worse: unstable moods, frequent headaches, irregular menstruation, menstrual cramps, endometriosis, and even acne. OCPs are given to women starting from the young as sweets. Adult women may use these medicines for a long time.
It's simply because they haven't been given enough information about other contraceptives, women can spend a significant amount of time in their younger years on these drugs.
Should we worry about using OCP?
We will first talk about how these drugs work. OCPs are medications made up mostly of synthetic hormones. Instead, synthetic hormones By exposing the ovaries to a hormone-like substance, these drugs trick them into believing there is enough of the real hormone. Ovulation also stops because the ovaries stop producing vital sex steroid hormones. So there is no pregnancy!
The problem is that your body needs sex steroid hormones for a variety of functions. The hormones testosterone, progesterone, and estrogen are essential for a woman's body to function properly.
Testosterone hormones play an important role in maintaining the health of reproductive tissues, as well as the libido, mood, cognitive, bone, and cardiovascular systems. There may also be effects if the body is not exposed to these hormones, such as when you are in OCP.
According to a new study, women who use hormonal birth control have less frequent intercourse, less desire, pleasure, and orgasm, and have more difficulty hydrating their partners (Smith). Young women with OCPs often describe pain during sexual activity (called dyspareunia). Some women may not have dyspareunia but do experience other symptoms including frequent yeast infections, urinary urgency and frequent urinary tract infections. With OCP, all of these possibilities are possible, but they are often overlooked.
Oral contraceptives are the most common method of birth control, and they are synthetic hormones similar to the hormones produced by the body, consisting of estrogen and progesterone. When taken orally, it impairs a woman's fertility. They are divided into:
- The combined oral contraceptive pill.
- Birth control pills that contain progesterone only.
- Emergency contraceptive pill.
Combined oral contraceptives:
Oral contraceptives containing a combination of estrogen and progesterone are the most effective for general use. The estrogen component inhibits ovulation, while the progesterone component prevents the implantation of the egg in the uterine lining, and makes the lining of the cervix impermeable to sperm.
These drugs have many advantages:
- Its effect is reliable and reversible (when used correctly).
- The incidence of dysmenorrhea and menorrhagia is reduced.
- Premenstrual tension decreases.
- It results in fewer incidents of symptomatic fibroids and functional ovarian cysts.
- It results in fewer incidents of benign breast disease.
- There is a lower risk of ovarian and endometrial cancer.
- There is a lower risk of pelvic inflammatory disease, which is a risk for women who use intrauterine contraceptives.
Choosing a contraceptive:
A preparation with a low estrogen and progesterone content, good cycle control and minimal side effects, is usually chosen.
Low-strength formulations (containing 20 micrograms of ethinyl estradiol), suitable for women at risk of cardiovascular disease, provided that the use of combined oral contraceptives is appropriate. It is usually advised not to continue to give combined oral contraceptives after the age of 50 because of the more appropriate alternatives for this age group.
Its side effects:
Although the structure of these inhibitors are synthetic hormones similar to the body’s hormones, they have side effects, some of which can be dangerous…
Simple effects like:
- Headache, nausea, jitters and nervousness, diarrhea.... Here we change the prohibitive love.
- Intermenstrual bleeding... Choosing the appropriate inhibitor for the patient's body.
- Amenorrhea following the use of the contraceptive pill, rarely occurring after six months of administration.
- Increase the size of the breasts.
- Significant weight gain or weight loss, depending on the patient's body.
- Psycho-emotional changes, especially during menstruation.
- Significant decrease in sexual desire.
- Slight increase in blood pressure.
The serious effects include:
1- Breast cancer risk.
2- Increased risk of chronic diseases.
3- Increased risk of heart attacks and strokes.
4- Migraine headache.
5- Infertility (oral contraceptives may not be given before the age of 35 or before the first pregnancy)
The use of combined oral contraceptives or hormone replacement therapy should be discontinued immediately if any of the following symptoms occur:
1- Sudden and severe chest pain (although not radiating to the left arm).
2- A sudden stop in breathing (or a cough accompanied by bloody sputum).
3- Severe pain in the calf (inside the thigh) one of the legs.
4- Severe stomach pain.
5- Serious neurological effects such as an unusual and severe headache, an unexplained seizure, or a sudden partial or complete loss of vision.
6- Hepatitis, larvae.
7- Inability to move for a long time after surgery.
8- Systolic blood pressure greater than 160 and diastolic blood pressure greater than 100.
9- Discovering risk factors for venous thromboembolism, for arterial diseases or for migraines.
Progestogen-only oral contraceptivesز
Because it does not contain estrogen, it is very safe, and can be used if a woman has cardiovascular risk factors, but it is associated with a higher rate of failure compared to common contraindications.
It works by local effect on the cervical mucus, making it unsuitable for ascending sperm, and on the endometrium, making it thin and atrophic, thus preventing nesting and transfer of sperm. Higher doses of progesterone also act centrally and suppress ovulation.
Common side effects:
1- Abnormal or absent menstrual bleeding.
2- Functional ovarian cysts.
3- Breast pain.
4- Counting.
Progesterone-only contraceptives are ideal for women of advanced age, heavy smokers, high blood pressure and heart valve disease, diabetes, migraines, and breastfeeding (in short, those who cannot take the combined oral contraceptive pill).
Emergency contraceptives: (plan B)
It is a term for the morning-after pill or post-coital contraception. It is a method that is used after intercourse and before nesting occurs. There is great interest in increasing its use, especially in young women, if unprotected intercourse occurs or there is a failure of the barrier methods such as the rupture of the condom or if the contraceptive pill has been forgotten.
Hormonal emergency contraception was a combination of estrogen and progesterone in high doses, but nausea and vomiting were common side effects.
Levonorgestrel in a single oral dose of 1.5 micrograms has become the primary hormonal method of emergency contraception, and it must be taken within 72 hours of unprotected intercourse and is most effective the sooner it is taken.
Emergency contraceptives are not 100% effective, but they will prevent about three-quarters of pregnancies, and they can be used more than once in a short period of time. However, women should consider other, more effective methods if they frequently use emergency contraceptives.