Contraceptive medication is a gift from science used by the majority of American women to prevent pregnancy. It’s obvious to all that the countless benefits of birth control far outweigh the disadvantages that can be brought on by its use. Indeed, the first few months of dizziness, breast tenderness and headaches are well worthwhile so we can rejoice in sexual activity without fear of having a baby 9 months later.
Furthermore, birth control pills also regulate menstrual cycles and can even reduce acne, which are other reasons why girls use contraceptive medication.
I personally started using the birth control pill Alesse due to my irregular menstrual cycle. Luckily, I barely experienced any side effects. However, two years later, I started getting my period half way through my pill packet. Since I had started being sexually active at that point, it was only safe to change my pill to make sure I was properly protected against pregnancy.
This is when my journey to finding the right contraceptive pill started. It seemed impossible to find a pill that didn’t make me physically sick. Before getting into more details, let me explain how birth control medications work.
Whether you are using the patch, the ring or taking oral medication, they all work similarly. They prevent you from ovulating so there are no eggs for the sperm to fertilize. In fact, they make it so that your body thinks it’s pregnant, which is why the possible side effects are very similar to symptoms pregnant woman get. Estrogen and progestin are the hormones that make this possible.
Some pills have both hormones; others only have progestin. This is because some women are too sensitive to estrogen so only taking progestin is their best option.
It is important to know that there are different types of hormone doses that are given depending on the method the brand uses. If you have been extremely sensitive to birth control medication, you might realize it is because of the type of combination you were taking.
Monophasic birth control pills deliver the same amount of estrogen and progestin every day. Ex: Alesse, Yaz, Yasmin
Biphasic birth control pills will deliver lower doses of estrogen and progestin the first half of the cycle, and higher doses of each hormones the second half. Ex: Ortho-Novum 10/11, Mircette
Triphasic birth control pills will deliver different doses of estrogen and progestin that will vary throughout the cycle. Ex: Tri-cyclen lo, Triquilar
No method is better than the other; it is simply a matter of finding which combination works best for you.
When I had to change birth control pills, it was a disaster. Finding the right pill was a mission. I first switched to Triquilar, but I experienced every side effect possible such as headaches, mood swings, weight gain and even nausea. I actually felt pregnant!
When they started being too severe, I stopped and switched to Tri-cyclen. Unfortunately, all the same side effects came back so I switched to the patch. 24 hours later, I had tremendous nausea all night.
I was frustrated and decided to take a break to do proper research on birth control methods to find which one would be best for me. What I noticed was that my doctor kept prescribing me birth control pills that had the same type of hormone combination that I reacted badly too – Triphasic! Though the patch doesn’t have a triphasic combination, it gives a very high dose of estrogen.
I realized I was too sensitive to high doses of hormones, especially if the levels weren’t constant. This made sense because the one pill I had been comfortable with, Alesse, had a monophasic combination, making it pretty obvious that I should have stayed with the same combination type.
The reason there are so many options on the market for birth control methods is exactly because everyone reacts differently to drugs and diversity is necessary to meet everybody’s particular needs.
Therefore, if you’ve reacted badly to some contraception medication, don’t give up! Be aware that they are not all the same and that there’s most likely one combination out there that will work for you!
Stay protected and practice safe sex, collegiettes™!
Sources: