Birth Control Pills and There Side Effects
Birth control has become an essential part of reproductive life. This is used by almost every women in the reproductive age group be it to space the pregnancies or to avoid unwanted pregnancies. Indian is presently in a stage where there are low death rate due to better healthcare services and low birth rate too due to better usage of birth control. This way the population is well under a check which is essential for a nation to flourish.
Types of Birth Control
Birth control can be achieved by many modalities, the commonly used ones are as below:
- Oral contraceptive pills: There are high doses of synthetic versions of female hormones which meddle with natural process of ovulation and prevent pregnancies. The mechanism by which they achieve birth control is by prevent ovulation and also prevent implantation if the ovulation has occurred somehow. There are different varieties in this class based on the dosage of the hormones and combination of the same. Combined pill which contains higher dosages of both estrogens and progesterone, Progesterone only pill, emergency contraceptive pill etc.
- Injectable depots: Injections of higher doses of the female hormones deep intramuscularly is another way to achieve birth control. Taken as depot injection once in three months this provides protection from unwanted pregnancies for a minimum of two to three months.
- Barrier methods like male or female condom, intrauterine devices , Cervical cups Loops, etc.: These are ones which act as a physical barrier to prevent implantation of the fertilized egg. Some even come impregnated with hormones which prevent ovulation.
Side Effects of Birth Control Pills
The hormonal pills or injections use heavy doses of hormones like estrogen and progesterone analogues. Since the natural hormones in the body have various other functions part from reproductive health, we can expect unwanted effects from the birth control pills like
- Intermenstrual bleeding
- Nausea
- Breast tenderness
- Headaches and migraine
- Weight gain
- Mood changes
- Vaginal dryness
- Increase risk of deep vein thrombosis
- Changes in the eye sight
Fatal Side Effects
Increased risk of deep vein thrombosis can be considered an important side effect as it could get fatal sometimes. The estrogen component of combined oral pill is known to increase the plasma concentration of clotting factors which are involved in blood clotting. There is alteration in the gene expression which are responsible for production of the clotting factors in the body. This is unwanted effect and can endup a woman into risk of developing blood clot. The common site where the blood clot develops is in the deep veins of lower limb. This happens due to relatively slow flow of blood and dependent position. The development of clot leads to blockade of blood circulation leading to leg swelling and pain in the legs. The clots formed here can sometimes get dislodged and land up in vital organs such as lungs, heart, and brain. The clots can block the blood circulation to the organ and lead to damage and malfunction. This sometimes leads to death due to severe malfunction of the effected organ.
The clots in lungs can result in sudden onset breathlessness, chest pain and fatigue, clot in heart can give symptoms of classic heart attack like chest pain, sweating, breathlessness, brain clots lead to stroke presented by weakness in certain part of the body with associated headache or weakness in face.
Management
There is no running away from this risk, it is always better to choose the birth control which suits you. One should always Ask A Doctor for better suiting birth control than one of our own choice. In case of blood disorders or in case of preexisting diseases, the choice of birth control pills can be risky and hence avoided.
Due to the risk of side effects due to hormonal pills, it is advisable to always ask the expert opinion in choosing one.
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