Over the years, there have been many unproven opinions and unfair misconceptions about hormonal contraception, including oral contraception. Although it is highly effective, it is blamed for causing thromboembolism or for getting fat from the contraceptive pill. The time has come to break them down. Modern hormonal contraception is there to help women, not harm them.
Hormonal contraception is 100% effective - FALSE
Even if you strictly follow the rules of using hormonal contraception, you may become pregnant. The measures considered to be the most effective carry minimal risk. It is lowest for the hormone-releasing IUD (Mirena). Its effectiveness is 99.8 percent. Oral contraception (pills) has an efficacy of 0.2-0.5 on the Pearl Index.
The contraceptive patch is less effective than the pill - FALSE
This opinion comes from the misconception that the contraceptive patch may come off or become damaged during washing. The patch adheres perfectly to the body and will not come off even during bathing. You can use soap (without scrubbing with a brush), moisturizing lotions. Even detachment of the patch or getting under the air bubble does not reduce its effectiveness.
You may gain some weight by using hormonal contraception - TRUE
Although scientists say that for most women, oral contraception and the contraceptive patch do not increase appetite or build up fat, you may actually feel like you are gaining weight in the first few months of taking some pills. Why? In particularly sensitive people, the two-component contraceptive pill promotes water retention in the cells. If this is your case, ask your doctor to replace the pill with a one-component pill (it should contain drospirenone, which blocks the water retention mechanism). Women taking the new drospirenone pills lose around 2 kg of weight.
Take breaks from time to time when using the pill or contraceptive patch - FALSE
It doesn't matter for your he alth. Hormonal agents can be used even for many years. However, you should see a gynecologist every few months. Once ayear it is also worth having a blood test and measuring the pressure. Hormonal contraception is not recommended if you have high blood pressure, clotting disorders or too high blood sugar. In some cases, the doctor may prescribe a pill, but it must be carefully selected (in this case, single-ingredient agents without estrogens, but only with progesterone are used).
If you are planning a pregnancy, you should definitely wait a few months after you stop taking the pill - FALSE
You can get pregnant right after stopping oral contraception and it won't harm your baby. According to specialists, the amount of hormones in the pill is so small that the body does not need to cleanse itself before pregnancy. And when you stop taking the pill, it's easier to get into it.
What should you know about contraception?
Certain medications reduce the effectiveness of hormonal contraceptive methods - TRUE
This is especially true of antibiotics. Until recently, it was believed that everyone, but the latest research shows that the effectiveness of hormonal agents may decrease only when we take rifampicin (it is used, among others, in the treatment of tuberculosis) and ampicillin. Gynecologists recommend that you protect yourself with a condom or chemical agents while taking the antibiotic and for 7 days after the end of the treatment. Certain sedatives, sleeping pills, and the herbal remedies of St. John's wort may reduce the effectiveness of the pill among other medications.
Women who have not yet given birth cannot use an IUD - FALSE
Some doctors advise them not to use this type of contraception, but there is no scientific justification. What is important, however, is the structure of the reproductive organ and the he alth of a woman. Spirals should not be decided in the case of a defect of the uterus, as well as frequent infections of the genital tract. The mental barrier is also a contraindication. A woman who is not convinced about this type of contraception may not tolerate a foreign body in the uterus.
Hormonal contraceptive methods increase the likelihood of multiple pregnancies - FALSE
Studies have shown that when using low doses of hormones (now the pill contains 250 times less hormones than 50 years ago!), The probability of having a multiple pregnancy is 1:80, with an average of 1:83. The difference is basically imperceptible.
Smoking precludes the use of hormonal contraception - FALSE
This opinion was justified in the past, when the pill included two hormones - estrogen and progesterone. Estrogen may significantly affect the circulatory system, mainly the coagulation system, in smokers. Therefore, the risk of cardiovascular problems increases, including thrombosis, diseaseischemic heart, stroke. Today there are products containing only one hormone - progesterone (single-ingredient pills, e.g. Cerazette), which no longer cause such a risk.
IUD increases the risk of ectopic pregnancy
There is no unambiguous confirmation. In the past, it was believed that the spiral could contribute to the formation of such a pregnancy, but today the opinion on this subject is ambiguous. Many gynecologists are of the opinion that the helix does not increase the risk of an ectopic pregnancy. The greater frequency of these pregnancies in mature women is rather related to age (the risk of disorders increases with it).
Hormonal contraceptive methods are not used when the liver is damaged - FALSE
In most cases there are no such contraindications. Before issuing a prescription, your gynecologist should do a blood test to check that your liver enzymes are normal. Modern remedies contain such small amounts of hormones that they do not burden the liver. The safest patches are those which release the hormone directly into the blood, bypassing the digestive system.
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