KissMeGoodnight
Article Series: Birth Control
What Are My Birth Control Options?
40
Different Types Of Birth Control Pills
Birth
control pills have been in use since 1960 when the US Food
and Drug Administration approved it.
Today, there are more than 40 different types to choose from
which you can get from your local health rep.
Another name for the pill is called oral contraception. There
are two types namely combination and progestin pills. Both
are made of hormones and before you can buy it, you need to
get prescription from your doctor.
Progestin
pills were first introduced in the 1970's. This pill does
not contain estrogen so it does not always prevent
ovulation. For this to work, the female must take it at a
certain time during the day and it must be taken regularly
because one missed pill could greatly reduce its effectiveness.
There
are advantages to using progestin pills. Since it does not
contain estrogen, it can be used by nursing mothers as
well as those who are suffering from certain health conditions
such as migraine headaches, cardiovascular disease or thromboembolism.
The combination
pill contains estrogen and progestin and there
three types available.
The
first is called monophasic
pills and this contains the
same amount of estrogen and progestin because the hormone levels
are the same. So, users are less likely to experience mood
changes that are a direct result from fluctuating hormone levels
in the body.
Some examples of these are Alesse, Brevicon, Desogen, Levlite,
Loestrin, Modicon, Nelova and Yasmin. The newest among them
is Seasonale that was introduced into the market in 2003. Each
pack contains 91 tablets and is designed to prevent menstruation
for the entire time period. Tests have shown those who take
it will experience only 4 periods in one year.
You
also have multiphasic
pills that were introduced 10 years
after progestin was made available to the public. Just like
the others, you have to take them at a specific time.
Some say this is an improvement over those which came out in
the past because of a reduced number of incidents of side effects
associated with birth control pills such as amenorrhea, breakthrough
bleeding and spotting.
Biphasic
pills can change the level of hormones once during
the menstrual cycle. Some examples of these include Jenest,
Mircette, Necon 10/11, Nelova 10/11 and Ortho-Novum 10/11.
The third type is called triphasic since it contains three
different doses of hormones. Taking them will gradually increase
the dose of estrogen and progesterone into your body. Examples
of these includes Cyclessa, Ortho-Novum 7/7/7, Ortho Tri-Cyclen,
Triphasil, Tri-Levlen, Trivora, and Tri-Norinyl.
There are emergency contraceptive pills or ECP but these are
not supposed to be used as a contraceptive. It is designed
to protect the woman after unprotected sex and so far, only
one pill has been approved by the FDA and this is called plan
B that contains the progestin called levonorgestrel. The difference
between the other birth controls pills to this is one is that
you can purchase this over the counter.
What type of birth control pill should you use will depend
on what your doctor will recommend after you have undergone
your medical evaluation. One thing that you may have to deal
with regardless of what you take is the side effects. Until
such time that doctors have developed a better pill, this is
something you will have to deal with to prevent getting pregnant.
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KissMeGoodnight.com
: 2008
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