Birth Control Pills: What Can Possibly Go Wrong?
Back in the days, a lot of people wrongfully assumed that if a man and a woman wanted to “hook up”, it was the man’s responsibility to ensure protection, usually in the form of a condom. Thankfully, this mentality has slowly shifted, and women fully understand their role in this whole prevention scenario. While condoms are great for preventing STDs, they also keep you safe from an unwanted pregnancy.
However, when you’re in a committed relationship with a single sexual partner and want to make things more intimate, finding an alternative to the condom seems like something you HAVE to try. And so, birth control pills come into play. Then, you can have unprotected sex with a partner who is healthy, and your level of intimacy skyrockets. Nothing can go wrong, can it?
Mood Swings
It’s generally a bad idea to start taking birth control pills without a medical exam. That’s because a gynecologist will understand more about how your body functions when examining you, so they are qualified to tell you if you should be taking these pills in the first place.
One of the possible side effects of these pills is a change in your mood. There are studies suggesting that oral contraceptives may be linked to depression, but also to sudden mood swings.
Headaches
Comically speaking, migraine has always been an excuse for women to sneak out of a potential sex act. But what happens when you’re actually facing a migraine caused by birth control pills? Every oral contraceptive is different from one another, so the level of hormones in a particular pill can trigger different symptoms, and headaches are one of them.
Spotting
No, not trainspotting. Intermenstrual spotting. It is quite common for women who are taking birth control pills for the first time to experience vaginal bleeding between two menstrual cycles. That doesn’t increase a risk for pregnancy if you’ve taken the pill correctly, and never missed a dose.
However, if this spotting continues for more than three to five days, you should consider talking to your doctor. Otherwise, that’s just the body adjusting to the different hormone levels.
Weight Gain
Every woman’s body reacts differently to… basically everything on the planet and birth control is no exception to that rule. While some women take birth control and it helps them regulate their menstrual cycles, others can actually gain weight because of the extra hormones.
Scientific evidence on this matter, while insufficient, does suggest that birth control might somehow be connected to fluid retention. While still up for debate, consider weight gain as a potential side effect to birth control.
A Big “Nope”
Lastly, there are entire categories of women that should avoid taking birth control pills, such as those who are obese, pregnant women, those who take certain types of medication, women with heart problems, breast cancer, or diabetes, women who are smokers, those who’ve experienced strokes, and the list continues.
If this article scared you, don’t worry, you won’t have to give up sex forever. There are still other contraceptive methods for you out there, like a diaphragm or a vaginal ring.
