6 questions about contraceptives

Some women are suspicious of them for fear that birth control pills may cause weight gain, adversely affect the ability to become pregnant in the future, or sexual desire. Hormonal contraceptives owe their controversial reputation to first-generation pills that contained a very large dose of hormones.

Since then, contraception has come a long way, but hormonal drugs do have a number of drawbacks — both physiological and psycho-emotional properties. By studying them, you can make this method of contraception more effective and safer for yourself … understanding that this is not a panacea.

1. Some women are worried about whether taking pills will affect reproductive abilities, the ability to become pregnant in the future …

There is no reason for such fears: the ability to conceive is fully restored immediately after stopping the course of taking contraceptives. According to medical practitioners, almost 100% of women return to their natural menstrual cycle within one to three months.

The fears are more of a psychological, sometimes irrational nature: it seems to us that modern medicine is playing with sacred things, with the ability to conceive, with female hormones and hormones of youth. From this grow even more ridiculous prejudices: long-term use of contraceptives can make the appearance masculine, cause facial hair to grow, and so on.

In fact, the tablets contain only female hormones and produce a feminizing, antiandrogenic effect on the body. Perhaps sometimes a woman just needs more information: if she understands exactly how the pill affects her body, these fears will stop bothering her.

2. One of the disadvantages of pills is that they have to be taken every day. This causes understandable discomfort …

If sex happens irregularly in life, then the need to take pills every day even causes irritation. In this case, it is worth exploring other possibilities. There are low-dose hormones, intrauterine or subcutaneous implants, which are placed for three to five years, but can be removed at any time.

3. Many women think that hormonal contraceptives lead to weight gain. Is there any basis for this?

Properly selected contraceptives should not cause weight gain. If this happens, there are two possible reasons: fluid accumulation and increased appetite. Hormonal contraceptives are created on the principle of «imitation of the state of pregnancy», therefore, theoretically, such individual side effects are possible. If a tendency to edema or an increase in appetite is found, then the selected remedy is not suitable.

4. It is believed that hormonal contraceptives increase the risk of breast and cervical cancer.

Such data do exist: the risk of these types of cancer becomes slightly higher, but the probability of ovarian and uterine cancer is markedly reduced, so that these risks at least compensate for each other. But in fact, this issue requires further in-depth study — how exactly the latest generation drugs containing minimal doses of hormones act on the body is still at the stage of long-term research. To minimize the risk, it is possible to conduct tests for predisposition to these types of cancer and find out if any of the blood relatives were ill with them.

5. Some women find that pills reduce sexual desire.

According to studies, contraceptives do not have any effect on libido. From the point of view of psychology, the absence of anxiety, the risk of becoming pregnant, confidence in safety, on the contrary, should dispose a woman to sex. Nevertheless, women who feel good about their bodies admit that they know when they ovulate and feel a stronger sexual desire at that moment, while against the background of taking contraceptives, they rate it as more even throughout the cycle.

6. What is the future of contraception? Are there any prospects for getting a «pill for men»?

This problem is very relevant: a woman has the right to expect that a man can finally share the risk to her health. The search for a «pill for men» is periodically renewed, but the studies carried out have led to disappointing results. When taking hormones, along with the ability to fertilize, a man loses sexual desire. And in the worst case, it loses reproductive abilities forever. Apparently, the creation of a “pills for men” will require some kind of fundamentally new approach to the problem.