Birth Control Options: Side Effects, Effectiveness & Safety

For individuals selecting a contraceptive method, understanding the balance between effectiveness, hormonal impacts, and potential side effects is critical for long-term health.

Antibabypille

Birth Control Pill Ingredients

There are numerous birth control pill choices. According to RxList.com, oral contraceptives contain some form of synthetic female hormones estrogen and progesterone. Synthetic progesterone is called progestin. Each manufacturer may have a different blend. The pill can be progestin or estrogen only, or a combination.

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Colorful oral contraceptive pill strips on pine wood table.

Reasons for a Missed Period While on Birth Control Pills

Birth control pills, commonly called "the pill" are used to prevent pregnancy and regulate a woman's menstrual cycle. Typically, a woman will take one active (hormone-containing) pill per day for three weeks, then will take either no pills or sugar pills for one week.

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How to Stop Spotting Between Periods

Spotting between periods is a common ---and often annoying -- part of being female. As many as 9 to 14 percent of menstruating women deal with spotting, according to a January 2012 "American Family Physician" article.

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List of Food & Fruits to Be Avoided in Pregnancy

Following a nutritious diet is an important part of maintaining a healthy pregnancy and giving birth to a healthy baby. However, because you’re immune system is weakened during pregnancy, you’re more susceptible to the harmful effects of bacteria and other food-borne illnesses.

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The Pill and Cervical Cancer: What You Need to Know

When Amanda Saxon found out her pap came back abnormal, her doctor told her not to worry. A woman her age would have no trouble clearing the human papillomavirus, the likely culprit. So the then-21-year-old college student from Tampa, Florida, went back to her normal routine.

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Side Effects of Diane Birth Control Pill

Diane-35 is a medicine, manufactured by Schering that, according to BirthControl.com, contains a combination of cyproterone and ethinyl estradiol. Cyproterone is a type of antiandrogen, which means it prevents the effect of many sex hormones.

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List of Hormone Pills

Hormones act on the body organs, affecting an array of functions. Water balance, metabolic rate, bone strength, growth and reproduction are but a few of the many functions influenced by the hormones of the human body.

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How to Get Pregnant After the Depo Shot

Depo-Provera is the only injectable contraceptive approved for use in the United States, according to the Mayo Clinic. It contains a high dose of progestin, a synthetic form of progesterone. After receiving the shot, a woman should not become pregnant for up to three months.

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Supplements That May Interfere With Birth Control

Hormonal control of ovulation has been available to women since the early 1960s with the introduction of “the pill.” Initially, dosages of estrogen and progesterone were available only in pill form, but in 2011 they are offered as injections, patches and implants.

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Close-up of birth control pills in plastic packet

Types of Birth Control Pills for a Period Every 3 Months

From a medical standpoint, it is not necessary for women using birth control pills to have a monthly period. The pills keep the lining of the uterus from cycling as it normally would. The lining stays thin, which prevents pregnancy and eliminates the need for monthly shedding of the this tissue.

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What Happens When You Go Off Birth Control?

Hormonal birth control suppress other hormones that are needed for female fertility. Both oral contraceptives and other forms of hormonal birth control use either a combination of synthetic estrogen and progesterone or progesterone alone.

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How Do Progesterone Pills Work?

Women have three main sex hormones--progesterone, estrogen and testosterone. Each of these hormones plays numerous roles in the body, and a healthy balance of the three is important for the body systems to function properly.

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Can I Do Heavy Workouts If I Have a Paragard?

The Guttmacher Institute estimates that 5.5 percent of American women choose the IUD as their method of birth control. When choosing an IUD, you have the choice between the Mirena, a hormonal IUD, and the Paragard, a copper, non-hormonal IUD.

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Artificial Methods of Family Planning

Many couples choose to delay or forgo having children. Some couples choose to use natural methods of family planning, such as the fertility awareness method or abstinence. Many others choose to use artificial methods of family planning.

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Contraceptive Pills.

How to Lose the Weight I Gained on Birth Control

While weight gain is listed as one of the common side effects on most types of birth control, this may be misleading. Birth control itself doesn't cause weight gain. It can, however, cause you to retain water, which can create the appearance of weight gain. The hormonal changes may also increase your appetite.

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How to Stop Your Period for One Month

As most women can attest, getting a period during certain situations is very inconvenient. Whether it be due to a tropical vacation, special date or athletic event, many women wish they could skip getting their period for a month.

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Birth control pills in dispenser

Side Effects of Nortrel Birth Control

The Nortrel birth control pill is a combination of ethinyl estradiol and norethindrone, two hormones that prevent the ovaries from releasing eggs and changes the environment of the uterus to make it more difficult for sperm to reach the uterus.

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Birth control pill pack

Does Fish Oil Interact With Birth Control?

Taking fish oil supplements may prove beneficial for many people. It effectively lowers high triglyceride levels and seems to help people maintain good heart health.

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