This really is an introductory explanation of the different types of oral contraceptive pills that’ll allow you to finally select the one that is better for your body. 50 years on, we have discovered that the oral contraceptive pill for women still prevents pregnancy if it is composed of much lower doses of estrogen and progestin than in the early days. ‘The Pill’ used to contain 50-100 micrograms of estrogen and today it has 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) produced 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, while it does have some intermittent impact on ovulation (about 50% of the time) is relied on mainly to thicken the mucus across the cervix to prevent sperm from getting to an egg.
Contraceptive Pills can be found 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 placebo pills.
PROGESTIN only pills (the ‘mini pill’) don’t contain estrogen and just have a tiny amount of progestin in them. Breastfeeding women in many cases are prescribed these ‘mini pills’ (estrogen could cause a reduction in milk supply) as well as women who cannot take synthetic estrogen for medical reasons. Side effects are less than pills containing estrogen and they are not related to cardiovascular disease, however, irregular bleeding /spotting/mood swings may occur. Progestin only pills MUST be studied at the same time daily and are influenced by vomiting or diarrhoea.This kind of contraceptive pill isn’t suffering from antibiotics.
COMBINATION PILLS- contain estrogen and progestin and could be further categorized to be Monophasic, Biphasic or Triphasic- just what exactly do these terms mean? Pills are put in these categories in accordance with whether or not the quantities of hormones they contain stay exactly the same through the 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 are inactive and don’t contain any hormones)
MONOPHASIC Pill- is one which contains exactly the same number of hormones in every ACTIVE pill so you are less inclined to have mood swings as your hormone levels don’t vary much through the 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 new 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 is only going to have 4 periods (for the very first year though, expect exactly the same no. of menstrual days as with a normal contraceptive pill till the body adjusts)
BIPHASIC PIll- is one which contains different levels of hormones through the pack. These pills alter your hormone levels once through your cycle by increasing the buy xanax online dosage of progestin about halfway throughout your cycle and are thought to better match your body’s natural production of hormones- they contain smaller doses of hormones as a whole than monophasic pills. However, insufficient evidence has been gathered to favour these pills over monophasic ones, where far more reliable data can be obtained so monophasic pills are preferred. Breakthrough bleeding has been reported as a side effect with one of these pills. Popular biphasic pills include : Jenest, Mircette, Necon 10/11, Nelova 10/11, Ortho-Novum 10/11. Attempts to decrease unwanted effects led to the three-phase pill in the 1980s.
TRIPHASE pill- is one which contains 3 different levels of hormones in the ACTIVE pills over three weeks, i.e. a change in hormone levels within the body occurs every 7 days for the very first 3 weeks.. The dose of estrogen is gradually increased and in certain pills, the dose of progestin is also increased. Whether three-phase pills cause fewer pregnancies than two-phase pills is unknown. Nor can it be known if the pills give better cycle control or have fewer side effects. Look for 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 than the low dose ‘mini pill’ ;.Monophasic pills could be the best to start with since they are cheaper and individuals with lower levels of estrogen might have fewer unwanted effects (but more breakthrough bleeding)
Always use back up (a condom or diaphragm) for the rest of the month in the event that you miss a pill. Trial and error, unwanted effects and talking to your doctor should allow 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 case of the mini pill, don’t take pills at the same time each day. It’s super easy to take up a pill packet late if you just forget or in the event that you don’t have the following new packet on hand. The absolute most dangerous time for you to miss a pill is at the end or beginning of a packet since it lengthens the pill free gap beyond seven days which means that you might not have absorbed sufficient synthetic hormones to avoid you from ovulating in the next month.
