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What side effects of modern contraceptives are almost never talked about
Perhaps everyone who has at least once faced the need to take birth control pills knows that for their high effectiveness you will have to pay with some side effects. Healthy Food Near Me tried to figure out what exactly they would have to put up with if they wanted to protect themselves in this way and whether it really “hits” the body hard.
8 759 11623 September 2020
Today, the choice of contraceptives is so wide that many do not even realize that some of them exist. But, perhaps, one of the most convenient and affordable methods is still contraceptive pills – of course, if we talk only about protection against unwanted pregnancy.
According to the WHO, oral contraceptives (OK) accepts more than one hundred million women around the world, and over many years and even decades.
Some of them exclude even the idea of changing the method of protection, since they are absolutely satisfied with it. But others are sure: most of the problems with their well-being are associated with pills.
We will not talk in detail about how contraceptives affect appearance. Many of those who have taken pills for at least a short time know that some changes take place. And if you are fortunate enough not to experience side effects while taking OK, then the chances that you will be overtaken by “withdrawal syndrome” do not diminish.
The body will take time to reorganize to the previous format of work without a regular dose of hormones. You may have to put up with menstrual irregularities, increased hair loss and inflammation on the skin during or after the end of taking OK, or much more serious problems with the endocrine system.
And yet this is not a reason to say an unequivocal “no” to this method of protection. You just need to understand all aspects of such hormone therapy and keep in mind the rare, but possible situations that may arise when taking OK.
Is it better?
“The contraceptives that are prescribed today are much safer than those that were taken many years ago. They do not even require frequent breaks in admission: now “hormonal breaks” can be done once every five years, and not every year or two, as was advised before. The reason is that the amount of hormones in the composition of the products has significantly decreased – after all, a very small concentration of substances is required for protection, ”says Anna Dobychina, a surgeon, obstetrician-gynecologist of the REMEDI Clinic reproductive clinic, in defense of OK.
In general, due to a decrease in the dosage of artificial hormones in the composition, modern drugs are designed not only to protect against unwanted pregnancy, but also to improve the well-being of patients. Therefore, doctors prescribe them in case of various kinds of problems.
Although birth control can help relieve pain and even some degrees of infertility, one of the most common reasons for prescribing them outside of the prevention aspect is to treat dermatological problems. OK really improve the quality of the skin, reduce its oiliness, eliminate acne.
However, instantly becoming beautiful skin is just a beneficial side effect that can disappear immediately after the OK is canceled. And few people know that, along with smoothness and cleanliness, contraceptives can, on the contrary, throw problems on the face.
It is about hyperpigmentation. No less often, spots on the skin appear not due to neglect of sunscreens and long sunburns, but also due to changes in hormonal levels in the body – both as a result of pregnancy and active protection from it with the help of contraceptives.
Getting rid of hyperpigmentation is difficult and quite costly, because it will simply not be possible to do without the help of a cosmetologist and hardware procedures.
Sex barrier
It often happens that a woman does not seem to have complaints about contraceptives: her skin is clean, her hair is shiny, the weight does not go beyond the norm, and menstruation is almost painless. It would seem that life with OK becomes ideal: only now a very important feeling disappears from it – the former desire for intimacy.
Quite a large number of women note that contraceptives noticeably affect their libido. (sex drive)… In addition, the drugs reduce the release of vaginal secretions during sexual intercourse, making sex more uncomfortable.
In principle, the reason for this lies on the surface and also lies in the change in hormonal levels. However, doctors still pay little attention to this important symptom, preferring to talk only about more weighty, in the general sense, complaints.
Agree, pains or rashes are much more understandable and more familiar than an abstract decrease in sexuality.
At the moment, there is no general information about whether OCs really affect libido so much and which of the age groups is more susceptible to this risk. Numerous studies carried out at different times on different continents have yielded conflicting results on this score.
So, in 2018, only 5% of American adults taking birth control complained of a decrease in libido, and in the 2010s – as many as 37% of German students surveyed. But in the Czech Republic, where studies of libido were conducted from the late 1970s until 2011, they came to the conclusion that contraceptives, on the contrary, helped most women reveal their sexuality – and only 15% complained about a decrease in attraction.
According to experts, you can try to restore libido by changing the drug used under the supervision of a doctor – or rather, the dosage of the hormone used.
Most birth control pills contain two hormones – a progestogen that blocks unwanted pregnancies and estrogen that regulates the menstrual cycle. At the same time, the “male” hormone testosterone is responsible for sexual attraction in the female body. It is produced in our country and so it is several times less than in the opposite sex, therefore, when using OK, the amount of this substance is suppressed even more.
In some cases, lowering the estrogen dosage will save the day. However, this will take time – after all, the hormonal background is restored for a long time and painfully.
Another “but”
Those who have not been affected by libido problems may still experience problems with their sex life – or rather, with its safety.
The main rule of receiving OK is strict discipline. The tablets should be drunk daily, at the same time, so that the effectiveness of protection does not decrease. If a woman ignores this rule, she may face intermenstrual bleeding and other less pleasant problems, the main of which is the onset of an unwanted pregnancy.
According to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), taking birth control early in pregnancy does not harm the development of the fetus. However, in this case, the risk of developing an ectopic pregnancy increases.
Manufacturers go to many tricks to help women take their pills properly. And it’s not only about inserts with days of weeks in a pack and the numbering of each tablet on a blister.
“Many drugs need to be drunk within 21 days and take exactly one week off. There is another category of OC with a reduced dose of the active substance, which must be drunk daily. And there are pills that also involve a break in taking the active ingredient, but for convenience, there are several pills in the package – ” pacifiers ” so as not to pause between courses and not to be mistaken in the date of admission, ”explains Anna Dobychina.
Degree increased
Studying the annotation to any oral contraceptive, you can be surprised at the impressive size of the “Side effects” section – and the fact that symptoms such as “mood swings”, “drowsiness” and even “depression” are listed in the first rows.
In general, this point can be justified by the influence of hormones – or the personal characteristics of each of us. And this is really one of the most individual ailments when taking OK. Few people talk about him, since they do not even know about the connection of small pills that prevent pregnancy with many events in their lives, colored with a wide variety of emotions.
However, if you travel around the forums, entering into the search the name of any contraceptive drug and the word “depression”, you can learn a lot – and, perhaps, even justify yourself in some way.
“I didn’t suspect that the matter was seriously in the pills, and I dug into myself. For half a year I experienced anxiety, fatigue and drowsiness. “
“I thought that a lot of things just fell on me, that’s why it was so hard for me, and it turned out to be in the contraceptive.”
“Because of problems in my personal life, I even had to take an academic leave at the institute! But it turned out that I was not myself to blame for everything that was happening. “
This is just a small part of the multitude of reports from those who have experienced the negative effects of contraceptives, and (what’s important) guessing about it. How many more women around the world can unjustifiably blame themselves for laziness and hard temper, we can only guess.
“There is indeed a beneficial effect of taking birth control for mood swings. But, it is true, if we are talking about a strongly manifested premenstrual symptom. In this case, OKs work great, helping to mildly reduce anxiety and other unpleasant emotions. There are much fewer negative cases than positive dynamics! ” – our expert gynecologist confirms.
It turns out that contraceptives cannot claim to be the most ideal contraceptive, as they try to present to the fair sex.
However, all the situations and symptoms described above are not found in every patient. And attempts to bypass nature and make intimacy more secure, you must admit, a priori cannot be easy.
Have you ever taken birth control pills? How do you assess their effect on your body?
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