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.

Athletic woman resting after race

Ways to Change Your Monthly Period Without Birth Control Pills

The average length of your menstrual cycle, defined as the first day of menstrual bleeding to the first day of the next menstrual period, is 28 days. But the University of Michigan Health System says that the length of a cycle can vary from 21 to 35 or even 45 days.

Read more →
Newborn is crying

Bilateral Tubal Ligation Side Effects

Tubal ligation is preferred by women because of its effectiveness and convenience. It lacks the side effects associated with temporary birth control methods. This procedure is considered a permanent, although sometimes reversible, highly effective method of contraception.

Read more →
Elevated view of pills in a blister pack

Caffeine & Birth Control Pills

The combination of caffeine and birth control pills may generate a few mild side effects, including headaches, jitteriness and insomnia. Caffeine and birth control pills may also interact with other prescribed medications.

Read more →

What Happens When You Stop Taking Birth Control Mid Pack?

Most birth control pills contain estrogen, which disrupts the female body's hormonal cycle. When present in low levels, estrogen prevents the body from making two different hormones, called follicle-stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone.

Read more →
Hormonal pills in female  hands isolated on white

How to Know If You Need to Switch Birth Control Pills

Knowing when to switch birth control pills can be fairly obvious for some women. Other women may not realize the effect her pills are having on her and continue taking them. Annual appointments with a health-care professional are important in helping a woman identify potential reasons to change birth control pills.

Read more →
woman with back pain in the office

Mirena Side Effects & Sciatica

Mirena is a soft, flexible plastic intrauterine device, or IUD, placed into the uterine cavity by a physician. It is used to prevent pregnancy or in women who have heavy periods. The device must be placed within seven days of onset of the menstrual period and may be left in place up to, but no longer than, five years.

Read more →
Panel drug capsule

Why Don't Water Pills Work Anymore?

Water pills or diuretics are used to treat a number of conditions that affect your bodyโ€™s ability to properly regulate fluid intake. This includes congestive heart failure, high blood pressure and body swelling known as edema.

Read more →
Woman hand pulling a contraceptive pills blister from a handbag

Is Progesterone Supplementation With Birth Control Pills Safe?

Progesterone, one of the most important hormones for pregnancy and for regulating menstrual periods, is normally found in synthetic form in birth control pills. Some alternative practitioners advocate taking natural progesterone in addition to birth control pills to counteract some of the common side effects.

Read more →

How to Stop Your Period for a Few Days

Sometimes your period falls at an inconvenient time in your life, and it may become necessary to stop your period for a few days. According to Dr. Rosalinda Abboud, a gynecologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, no side effects come with stopping or delaying your period.

Read more →
Close-up of woman's hands holding blister packet of contraceptive pills

Which Form of Birth Control Is Right for You?

Birth control is anything but one size fits all. โ€œEvery women is unique and her birth controls needs are different,โ€ says OB/GYN Michael Krychman, M.D., executive director of the Southern California Sexual Health Center.

Read more →