A lot of women are complaining over at medications.com over the birth
control pill, Yasmin. These women are complaining of depression, anxiety, loss of sex drive,
headaches, and dizziness, and most of them didn't feel like they were
adequately informed about these potential side effects. In fact, Yasmin is the most
bitched about drug on medications.com, with over 4,000 women logging in to report
problems with it. It looks like Yasmin needs to join the blogroll of medications
that if they don't kill you they will drive you crazy.
How can this be? Birth control pills (or oral contraceptive pills, or OCPs) are
combinations of sex hormones related to estrogen and progesterone. Normally these sex
hormones cycle throughout the month. In addition to controlling reproduction they also
have effects on the brain, which is why they can cause anxiety and depression.
Taking the pill effectively blunts the normal variation in hormones; it also eliminates
ovulation, which also affects sexuality. In fact,
one study showed that
strippers who were ovulating made $15 more per hour than strippers who were not ovulating,
and that strippers on the pill made significantly less than other strippers.
OK, you say, I can live with a little moodiness. But is my pill going to kill me?
OCPs can increase blood clotting, which can lead to heart attacks or strokes. But
for non-smoking women age 15-30, there is no increase in death rate for a comparable
form of contraception, the IUD. Because of the health risks of pregnancy, the
death rate amongst women from age 15-34 who are on the pill is actually lower than
for women who do not use any form of birth control.
For smokers there is an increased risk with OCPs that gets worse with age. For
instance, the risk of death is 1 in 200,000 per year in non-smoking women under the age
of 35. However risk increases with age and smoking to 1 in 700 per year for smokers over age 35.
The risk of cancer with OCPs overall isn't great. Some cancers, like cervical cancer,
increase after ten years of use, the overall risk from breast cancer is not
increased. OCPs reduce the risks of ovarian and uterine (endometrial) cancers. OCPs
reduce the risk of anemia, pelvic inflammatory disease, and osteoporosis.
Women who take the pill have identical fertility rates after going off the pill compared
to women who never took the pill.
Use an OCP with low doses of estradiol (<50 µg). Taking an OCP is safe for women who
don't smoke. For women who are smokers over age 35, or have other reasons not to
take the regular pill (e.g. history of blood clots), consider the Minipill or another
all progesterone pill, or one of the alternatives to the pill, like an IUD.
To subscribe to this blog email
info@beforeyoutakethatpill.com with subject line "subscribe"
and add this email address to your
address book (otherwise it will get spammed).
to unsubscribe do the same with subject line "unsubscribe".
