Regarding birth control pills

Recently, I’ve been hearing alot about birth control pills being very unhealthy. I was wondering if anyone has any information stating that birth control is harmful to the body? And if you were wondering, no, I am not on birth control pills. :confused:

Unless you’ve heard about a specific health concern, your question is pretty vague.

Birth control pills have always had side effects. This from a website for Alesse, a brand of pills-

"The most common side effects are nausea, vomiting, bleeding between menstrual periods, weight gain, breast tenderness, and difficulty wearing contact lenses… Serious risks of all birth control pills, which can be life-threatening, include blood clots, stroke, and heart attack, and are increased if you smoke cigarettes… Some women should not use the Pill, including women who have had heart attack, stroke, blood clots, certain cancers or liver diseases, unexplained vaginal bleeding, those who are or may be pregnant…"

I myself have been on and off (mostly on) birth control pills for almost 20 years, with no side effects or health problems at all, even when I smoked.

I have had no trouble getting pregnant during my “off-pill” times.

YMMV, of course. Your doctor is always your best source of medical information, please ask him/her! :slight_smile:

PS- there have been some clinical studies that show oral contraceptives helping to control and prevent acne! That’s a good thing!

:slight_smile:

A friend of ours was inquiring about the Pill; apparently he and his then-fiance, now-wife were considering it for a birth control option. My hubby showed him my pill packet, and the information pamphlet within, and our friend freaked when he read it. All that talk about blood clots and such wigged him out and he said there was no way his wife was going on oral contraceptives. They’ve since had 2 unplanned pregnancies–and he’s gone under the knife to solve that problem (although the boys are adorable).

There are some drawbacks, as with any and all drugs. But–there are many positives. For one thing, it keeps endometriosis–as well as many other female reproductive organ woes–in remission, and some studies have suggested in decreases the chances of developing ovarian cancer.

Do people have information about it being harmful to the body? Sure. Do people have information about it being beneficial to the body? Yup. And I would predict there is far more of the latter.

This is true, my sister is on birth control for this very reason (I’m sure her boyfriend of 2 yrs is enjoying the fringe benefits of this as well).

Ruffian is correct - the weight of the evidence shows that women who have taken the pill have better health than women who haven’t. It’s possible that some of the benefits may be from being a woman with regular access to health care, rather than from the pills. And it’s also possible that some of the studies are a bit skewed in favor of women who have not been subjected to the stress of pregnancy. But be that as it may, for most women, most of the time, oral contraceptives are a good idea.

When I turned 35 my ob/gyn recommended I stop taking birth control pills and switch to something else. I trust the guy, he’s delivered 2 of my children, and I took his recommendation. He said it had to do with age - under 35 OK, over 35, not so OK. I never had any problems while taking the pill, or with any pregnancy.

For the past 26 years, I’ve been on the pill more than off. Don’t have any problems with them. I really like the way they regulate my monthly cycle (and allow me to control it, to some extent). I’ve gone off them to have kids, and have had no trouble conceiving.
I don’t know at what point these little things may cause me trouble, but something’s gonna kill me eventually, anyway! :slight_smile:

Wow. Did he give a more specific reason, cuz I trust my doc explicitly, and I’m 41 (in fact I was over 35 when I started seeing him), and he hasn’t said that age contraindicates the Pill in any way. Is it possible that you smoke? Because I can see where a combination of being over 35 and smoking would possibly make the Pill more dangerous than either of those things alone.