Birth control pills offer you the upper hand in deciding whether to have a baby or not. You get the freedom to have an active sex life without having to worry about getting pregnant. Most contraceptive pills are effective if taken as per instructions and at the right time. Popping a pill the next morning may seem convenient, but women need to know that using a pill can have effects on the whole body. It may not bother some, while a few would be wondering if something is wrong with their bodies. Here are the most common side-effects of birth control pills that women should lookout for.
1. Mood Swings And Feeling Blues
Pills can cause moodiness. The pill imbalances the levels of the sex hormones estrogen and progesterone, which can affect the brain functioning causing mood swings. The risk of psychological effects like depression, anxiety, fatigue, and anger increase in case of hormonal contraceptives. For those who are on medication for anxiety, stress, or depression, it is advised to consult your doctor before using birth control pills as it can have an unwanted effect on them.
2. Urge To Vomit
In the initial few times of usage, you may feel nausea or may find yourself throwing up. The guidelines slip that comes along with the pills often come with a cautionary note. This is attributed to the altered hormone levels, however, you are nauseating excessively, consult your doctor as soon as possible.
3. Irregular Menstrual Cycle And In-Between Spotting
The pills are going to play with your cycles—your periods may get delayed or start early. Normally, you experience bleeding every month, roughly after a period of 28 days. However, pills can delay it by as much as a week or you may find them occur a week before than expected. Spotting is also one of the side effects—where you experience slight bleeding in between two periods for the first 3-6 months
4. Weight Gain
Oral contraceptives could also cause you to gain weight, revealed a research conducted by the scientists at MetroHealth Medical Center.1 All the exercise and healthy diet routine could go in shedding the extra weight gained when you are on a pill.
5. Breast Tenderness
One among these side-effects is tenderness in the breasts, which is similar to what women experience in the first few months of pregnancy. There may be slight pain and soreness, which goes away in some time. But, if you feel strange lumps under the breast, you must contact your health care provider as soon as possible.
6. Alteration In Vaginal Discharge
According to the type of pill, the vaginal discharge could either increase or decrease. Some birth control pills thicken the cervical mucus to prevent the sperms from reaching the uterus causing excess vaginal discharge. However, if there is too much dryness down there or the area is excessively lubricated, choose to contact your gynecologist.
7. Risk Of Vaginal Yeast Infection
Birth control pills can also contribute to candida vaginal infection in some women. Apart from that you also need to be cautious if you use other hormonal birth control methods like control patch or vaginal ring.2
8. Low Libido
A woman on oral contraceptives could actually feel disinterested in having an intercourse. Pills can negatively affect your sex drive and make you feel sad and low. However, this may not just be due to hormonal imbalance, but the psychological and social effect can also enhance the feeling of low sexual desire. Although many women claim it, low libido out of all these factors is yet to be studied further.3
If these side-effects are severe and persistent, it is recommended to contact your doctor soon.
References
