That is an introductory explanation of the various kinds of oral contraceptive pills which could allow you to finally select the one that is most beneficial for your body. 50 years on, we have learned that the oral contraceptive pill for girls still prevents pregnancy when it is comprised of reduced 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) utilized in contraceptive pills mimic the natural hormones (oestrogen and progesterone) made by the ovaries, adrenal gland and liver.

Estrogen’s main job in a contraceptive pill is to stop ovulation (release of an egg from a woman’s ovary). Progestin in the pill, while it does involve some intermittent influence on ovulation (about 50% of the time) is relied on mainly to thicken the mucus round the cervix to prevent 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 placebo pills.

PROGESTIN only pills (the ‘mini pill’) don’t contain estrogen and just have a small amount of progestin in them. Breastfeeding women tend to be prescribed these ‘mini pills’ (estrogen could cause a decrease in milk supply) in addition to women who cannot take synthetic estrogen for medical reasons. Unwanted effects are 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 used at the same time frame daily and are affected by vomiting or diarrhoea.This form of contraceptive pill is not affected by antibiotics.

COMBINATION PILLS- contain estrogen and progestin and can be further categorized as being Monophasic, Biphasic or Triphasic- just what exactly do these terms mean? Pills are put in these categories based on if 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 are inactive and don’t contain any hormones)

MONOPHASIC Pill- is one which contains the same quantity of hormones in every ACTIVE pill so you’re less likely to have mood swings as your hormone levels don’t 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 new packaging of a monophasic contraceptive pill called Seasonale. This pill is taken for 91 days, during which no periods occur -so in 12 months, women taking this pill will simply have 4 periods (for the very first year though, expect the same no. of menstrual days as with a conventional contraceptive pill till your system adjusts)

BIPHASIC PIll- is one which contains different amounts of hormones through the entire pack. These pills alter your hormone levels once during your cycle by increasing the dosage of progestin about halfway during 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 hydrocodone online  However, insufficient evidence has been gathered to favour these pills over monophasic ones, where much more reliable data can be obtained so monophasic pills are preferred. Breakthrough bleeding has been reported as a complication 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 resulted in the three-phase pill in the 1980s.

TRIPHASE pill- is one which contains 3 different amounts 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 some pills, the dose of progestin is also increased. Whether three-phase pills result in 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 far better than the low dose ‘mini pill’ ;.Monophasic pills may be the best to start with as they are cheaper and people that have lower amounts of estrogen may have fewer unwanted effects (but more breakthrough bleeding)

Always use back up (a condom or diaphragm) for the remaining portion 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 find a contraceptive pill that suits your body. Pregnancies occur mainly when women forget to take a pill or take them incorrectly, vomit, get diarrhoea or, in the event of the mini pill, don’t take pills at the same time frame each day. It’s super easy to start a pill packet late if you simply forget or in the event that you don’t have another new packet on hand. Probably the most dangerous time for you to miss a pill is by the end or beginning of a supply as it lengthens the pill free gap beyond 7 days meaning that you might not have absorbed sufficient synthetic hormones to stop you from ovulating in the next month.

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