Four major questions about oral contraceptives answered

Female oral contraceptives are 99.9% effective and are a popular method of contraception. However, many women believe that although oral contraceptives have many benefits, they are "toxic to some extent" and contain many unsafe factors. There are many misunderstandings about oral contraceptives. The following editor will clear up these doubts for you one by one.

Myth 1: Oral contraceptives can make you fat and cause acne

Many young girls infer from their parents' experience that birth control pills will cause weight gain. In fact, those birth control pills that have the side effect of causing weight gain are a thing of the past. Conventional oral contraceptives are composed of estrogen and progesterone. After more than 50 years of development, the estrogen content of the new generation of conventional oral contraceptives has dropped from the original 150 micrograms to 30 micrograms or even 20 micrograms, which has greatly reduced the adverse reactions caused by excessive estrogen. At the same time, the progestins in the new generation of oral contraceptives have no androgenic activity, which avoids the effects of the old generation of oral contraceptives on acne and weight, and can even improve acne.

For women who are taking oral contraceptives for the first time, it is best to choose products with lower hormone content. Some women may experience slight changes in weight in the first few months of taking the medication. A small number of people may also experience early pregnancy reactions such as dizziness, nausea, and breast swelling. This shows that the body is adapting to the exogenous hormone levels. As long as they continue to take the medication, these symptoms will disappear after 3 months for most people.

Myth 2: Oral contraceptives cause sexual indifference

There has been a rumor circulating online that birth control pills affect sexual desire. In this regard, experts emphasize that a large amount of experience has shown that since birth control pills are the most reliable reversible contraceptive method with a failure rate of only 0.2%, while men are "freed" from contraception, they have almost no worries about pregnancy, so they have become a good helper in ensuring the quality of sex life.

Conventional short-acting oral contraceptives need to be taken daily and are prone to missed doses. If the missed dose lasts more than 12 hours, the contraceptive effect may be reduced. Depending on the length of the missed dose and the instructions on the medicine, different degrees of remedial measures should be taken in a timely manner. Long-acting oral contraceptives are taken once a month, which is relatively convenient, but also has a higher risk of causing high blood pressure and latent diabetes. The duration of medication is generally not more than 5 years.

Myth 3: Oral contraceptives reduce fertility

In the West, most women know that oral contraceptives will not affect their weight, endocrine system, or fertility, and their husbands do not need to be "protected". However, according to domestic survey results, 23.84% of women believe that oral contraceptives will affect fertility. But the fact is just the opposite. A large number of clinical studies have proved that conventional oral contraceptives are a reversible contraceptive method. Ovulation can be restored within the first cycle of discontinuation of the drug and will not affect the health of the baby.

Emergency contraceptive pills cannot replace regular contraceptive pills, nor can they be used as a common means of contraception. Taking them more than three times a year is not as reliable as regular contraceptive methods, and will have a certain impact on the next menstruation. Improper use may even affect future fertility.

Myth 4: Oral contraceptives cause cancer

Oral contraceptives contain hormones, and many women have concluded that they cause cancer. In fact, as long as hormones are used properly, they will not only not cause cancer, but can also prevent many cancers. This is because oral contraceptives can effectively inhibit ovulation, causing the ovaries to be in an anovulatory state for a long time, and reducing the repeated follicular rupture of the ovaries; at the same time, oral contraceptives can thin the thickness of the endometrium, reduce hyperplasia, and protect the endometrial wall.

Birth control pills are medications given to young, healthy women for long-term use. Before choosing to take oral contraceptives for a long time, you can do a health check first. Women with thrombosis, cardiovascular disease, and poor liver function should not take it; women who are breastfeeding should not choose combined contraceptives containing estrogen (containing both estrogen and progesterone), but can choose progesterone-only oral contraceptives or have a subcutaneous progesterone implant; women in their thirties and forties who smoke and middle-aged and elderly women have a higher risk of cardiovascular disease and are not suitable for taking oral contraceptives.

I hope the above content will help you use contraception correctly and live a healthy life. For updated content, please follow the contraception special topic on China.com Health Channel.