What You Should Know Before Using Oral Contraceptives ?

Please every woman must read this before taking another form of birth control pills.

Oral contraceptive is the fastest selling medicine in some countries like Nigeria, where a lot of women (especially those between 18-24years old) use them after having unprotected sexual intercourse.

While they are consumed by many women, they are not aware about the potential dangers and risks associated with consuming these.

People use them a lot, without control, and this is really dangerous. They have both mild and real scary side effects.

Here are facts and warnings you must know!

1. The pill contains the hormones estrogen and progestin. It is taken daily to keep the ovaries from releasing an egg.

2. The pill also causes changes in the lining of the uterus and the cervical mucus to keep the sperm from joining the egg.

3. It is not advisable to use oral contraceptives if you are older than 35 and smoke, have a history of blood clots, or have a history of breast, liver, or endometrial cancer

4. Antibiotics may reduce how well the pill works in some women. Talk to your doctor about a backup method of birth control if you need to take antibiotics.

5. Women should wait three weeks after giving birth to begin using birth control that contains both estrogen and progestin. These methods increase the risk of dangerous blood clots that could form after giving birth.

6. Women who delivered by cesarean section or have other risk factors for blood clots, such as obesity, history of blood clots, smoking, or preeclampsia, should wait six weeks.

7. They cause body changes in women including enlarged breasts, weight gain or loss, mood swings, irregular bleeding or spotting, and decreased libido.

8. Oral contraceptives raise your risk of cervical and breast cancers, high blood pressure and heart disease, stroke, infertility as well as yeast overgrowth and infection.

9. The above side effects might be enough to deter some women from taking birth control, but many women are just not aware of them, while others justify the side effects because the pill is so convenient.

Please always speak to your health professional before using oral contraceptive.



Sources:

Womenshealth.gov