Contents:
- Medical Video: How to Prevent Weight Gain on Birth Control - Birth Control Side Effects
- Learn about common morning after pill side effects
- What is the difference between fat women and thin women?
- Why is that?
- Most take birth control pills at risk of overdose
Medical Video: How to Prevent Weight Gain on Birth Control - Birth Control Side Effects
Emergency birth control pills, often called morning after pill, is a hormone pill that women can drink to prevent pregnancy. This pill works best if taken at least the first 72 hours after having unprotected sex. The side effects of the morning after pill are actually not much different from the normal birth control pills, but it turns out there are some differences that might appear in fat and thin women.
Learn about common morning after pill side effects
The most common side effects of morning after pill can include:
- Nausea or vomiting
- Dizzy
- Headache
- Breast pain
- Stomach ache
- Fatigue
Both fat and thin people can experience the side effects of the morning after pill. But indeed, common side effects such as the above are more experienced by women with normal weight or thin.
What is the difference between fat women and thin women?
If you dig deeper, what really distinguishes between fat women and thin women is the effect of the efficacy of the drug. Emergency birth control pills are reported to tend to be less effective in preventing pregnancy in obese women, especially those whose BMI scores are around 26 or even more (meaning the tendency of obesity).
The report was concluded by a study published by the journal Contraception, as quoted by the NHS UK.
Why is that?
Morning-after pillcontains levonorgestrel, a synthetic form of women's natural progesterone. Levonorgestrel is also contained in a mini birth control pill orprogestin-only pill.
In women who are of normal weight or thin, levonorgestrel works effectively inhibiting the release of the hormone LH to prevent ovulation. However, experts found that the levonorgestrel content actually dissolves faster in the bloodstream of obese women. This results in only about 50 percent remaining in the blood levonorgestrel.
According to Tara Jatlaoui, M.Dd, who is a female reproductive health specialist, this makes the effect of emergency birth control pills less effective, increasing the risk of pregnancy. That's why many obese women choose to drink more than the dose. They will usually take two pills at once to be able to effectively prevent pregnancy.
What needs to be understood, the higher the dose the body receives than it should, the risk of the intensity of the appearance of drug side effects can be stronger. So maybe, obese women who take emergency contraception more than one pill can experience the effects of nausea and fatigue that are more severe than thin women.
Not only that, you know!
Most take birth control pills at risk of overdose
If you consume too many doses of medicine than you should (whatever type it is, including birth control pills) at one time at a time, you can experience signs of overdose which include vomiting, nausea, and abnormal vaginal bleeding.
But indeed, further research is needed to find side effectsmorning-afterpillmore concrete for obese women. If you think that you might have a drug overdose, seek medical help immediately.
We recommend that you consult your obstetrician to find a more appropriate and safe contraception if you tend to be overweight, to avoid the risk of overdose. Alternatively, you can install a copper-coated IUD five days after having unprotected sex to prevent pregnancy.
