Contraceptive Pill Varieties Spelled out
This really is an introductory explanation of the various kinds of oral contraceptive pills that’ll enable you to finally select the one that is best for your body. 50 years on, we have found that the oral contraceptive pill for women still prevents pregnancy when it is comprised of lower doses of estrogen and progestin than in the early days. ‘The Pill’ used to contain 50-100 micrograms of estrogen and today it contains only 20-35 micrograms, with researchers trying to cut back this amount further to cut back side effects. Synthetic hormones (estrogen/ethinyl estradiol and progestin) found in contraceptive pills mimic the natural hormones (oestrogen and progesterone) created by the ovaries, adrenal gland and liver.
Estrogen’s main job in a contraceptive pill is to avoid ovulation (release of an egg from a woman’s ovary). Progestin in the pill, whilst it does possess some intermittent influence on ovulation (about 50% of the time) is relied on mainly to thicken the mucus across the cervix to avoid sperm from getting right through to an egg.
Contraceptive Pills come in two basic types: single hormone pills (progestin only) and combination hormone pills (estrogen + progestin) Pills are given in two basic packs- 28 day pill packs= 3 weeks of active hormone pills +1 week placebo pills and 21 day pill packs= 3 weeks of active hormone pills without any placebo pills.
PROGESTIN only pills (the ‘mini pill’) do not contain estrogen and only have a small amount of progestin in them. Breastfeeding women are often prescribed these ‘mini pills’ (estrogen may cause a lowering of milk supply) as well as women who cannot take synthetic estrogen for medical reasons. Unwanted effects are significantly less than pills containing estrogen and they’re not connected with heart disease, however, irregular bleeding /spotting/mood swings may occur. Progestin only pills MUST be taken at the same time frame each day and are influenced by vomiting or diarrhoea.This type of contraceptive pill is not affected by antibiotics.
COMBINATION PILLS- contain estrogen and progestin and can be further categorized to be Monophasic, Biphasic or Triphasic- just what exactly do these terms mean? Pills are put into these categories according to whether or not the degrees of hormones they contain stay the same through the entire first three weeks of a woman’s menstrual cycle (in 28 day pill packs, the pills for the fourth week in the pack are placebo or ‘reminder pills’ which can be inactive and do not contain any hormones)
MONOPHASIC Pill- is one that contains the same number of hormones in every ACTIVE pill so you are less likely to have mood swings as your hormone levels do not vary much through the entire month. Popular monophasic pills include:Alesse, Brevicon, Desogen, Levlen, Levlite, Loestrin, Modicon, Nelova, Nordette, Norinyl,Ortho-Cept, Ortho-Cyclen, Ortho-Novum, Ovcon, Yasmin. In 2003 the FDA approved a fresh packaging of a monophasic contraceptive pill called Seasonale. This pill is taken for 91 days, during which no periods occur -so in one year, women taking this pill will only have 4 periods (for the initial year though, expect the same no. of menstrual days as with a traditional contraceptive pill till the human body adjusts)
BIPHASIC PIll- is one that contains different levels of hormones through the entire pack. These pills alter your hormone levels once throughout your cycle by increasing the dosage of progestin about halfway throughout your cycle and are considered to better match your body’s natural production of hormones- they contain smaller doses of hormones altogether than monophasic pills. buy adderall pills However, insufficient evidence has been gathered to favour these pills over monophasic ones, where much more reliable data is available so monophasic pills are preferred. Breakthrough bleeding has been reported as a complication with your pills. Popular biphasic pills include : Jenest, Mircette, Necon 10/11, Nelova 10/11, Ortho-Novum 10/11. Attempts to decrease negative effects resulted in the three-phase pill in the 1980s.
TRIPHASE pill- is one that contains 3 different levels of hormones in the ACTIVE pills over three weeks, i.e. an alteration in hormone levels within the body occurs every 7 days for the initial 3 weeks.. The dose of estrogen is gradually increased and in a few pills, the dose of progestin can be increased. Whether three-phase pills cause fewer pregnancies than two-phase pills is unknown. Nor could it be known if the pills give better cycle control or have fewer side effects. Try to find the ‘TRI’ on the label such as for instance:Ortho Tri-Cyclen, Triphasil, Tri-Levlen, Trivora, Tri-Norinyl, other brands include: Cyclessa, Ortho-Novum 7/7/7.
The Best Pill to Take – All contraceptive pills are effective if taken correctly, with combination pills (containing both estrogen and progestin) being more efficient compared to low dose ‘mini pill’ ;.Monophasic pills could be the best to start with because they are cheaper and people that have lower levels of estrogen could have fewer negative effects (but more breakthrough bleeding)
Always use back up (a condom or diaphragm) for the remaining portion of the month if you miss a pill. Trial and error, negative effects and conversing with your doctor should enable you to look for a contraceptive pill that suits your body. Pregnancies occur mainly when women forget to have a pill or take them incorrectly, vomit, get diarrhoea or, in the event of the mini pill, do not take pills at the same time frame each day. It’s very easy to start a pill packet late if you simply forget or if you don’t have another new packet on hand. The most dangerous time and energy to miss a pill is at the end or beginning of a box because it lengthens the pill free gap beyond seven days which means that you may not have absorbed sufficient synthetic hormones to avoid you from ovulating in the next month.
