Birth control medicine

Birth control medicine is a way of preventing pregnancy. There are different ways of doing it, including hormonal contraception, like the pill. A few people take it orally to prevent pregnancy; when correctly taken, it is still 99.9% effective. Yet the drug will not protect you from STDs such as HIV.

How does Birth control medicine work?

You get pregnant when an egg released from the ovary is fertilized by sperm. This egg attaches to the uterus, where it develops into a baby. Hormones in the body control the egg release from the ovary. It is called ovulation. It prepares your body for accepting the fertilized egg.

Hormonal contraceptives contain a small amount of human-made estrogen and progestin hormones. Such hormones stop the body’s natural hormones to prevent pregnancy in some ways. Usually, the hormonal contraceptive stops the body from ovulating. They change the cervical mucus, making it challenging for the sperm to go through the cervix and find one egg. They can stop pregnancy by changing the womb’s lining. Thus it is unlikely that the fertilized egg will get implanted.

Various types of birth control drugs are available. If you are considering using them, you must make an intelligent choice.

Main types of drugs

Most people who are on this drug take what is called the combination pill. Progesterone and estrogen help in preventing the ovaries from releasing eggs. They change the cervix and uterus, reducing your chance of becoming pregnant.

The mini pill only makes use of progesterone. Mostly it works by causing changes that keep sperm from reaching eggs. People having unprotected sex or who think their method of birth control is not successful can use levonorgestrel. It is an emergency birth control pill that works with or without hormones to prevent pregnancy.

How to start using Birth control medicine?

Ask your doctor when you must begin this treatment. If you are having your period on the day your doctor told you to begin the pill pack, start it. You will get the next period almost 25 days after beginning the pill pack.

It is best to take them at the same time daily. You can take them at any time during the day. Yet taking it before breakfast or at bedtime will assist you in making it easier not to forget it. Depending on the type of pill you use, you have seven days to use one drug daily.

Things to remember

• Keep another form of birth control if you do not remember to take one pill.
• Carry the pills with you if you do not always sleep in the same place.
• Use your pill at the same time daily.
• Get all refills soon after you begin the last one. Never wait until the last minute.
• These are drugs. So always consult your doctor and tell them you are on birth control drugs if you visit him for any reason.
• With constant birth control drug use, you can take one pill daily and not have a period. 
• You have to get breakthrough bleeding at first.
• You may wish to get fewer periods or nothing at all if you have period problems. Yet you may think about how you will know if you become pregnant by accident. 
• If you think you may be, take a test. They will work even if you take the pill. If the test result is positive, stop taking the pills.