Vomiting and Birth Control Pills

Will the effectiveness of my birth control pill be affected if I vomit?

It depends. If you took your pill two hours or more before you vomited, then it is unlikely that you will need a replacement pill. If you vomit within two hours of taking your pill, you should consider that pill 'missed' and take another from a separate pack as soon as you can keep things down. The risk of pregnancy increases if vomiting prevents your body from absorbing a high enough 'quota' of estrogen that month to prevent pregnancy. You may want to contact your health care provider anyway in case there are special instructions you need to follow.

If you vomit or have diarrhea due to illness or consumption of too much alcohol while you are taking an oral contraceptive, play it safe and use a back up method of birth control. Use this method of birth control for 7 days after vomiting or diarrhea, even if you have not missed any pills.

If pills are missed due to vomiting bouts and a backup method is not used, emergency contraception can be used to prevent pregnancy, although if you've used this method before, guess what, be prepared for nausea and vomiting as side effects of this too-we just can't win can we, except maybe avoid the one type of nausea we don't want- 'morning sickness'.

If, like most women, you forget to take one of your contraceptive pills, then take it later in the day and then take another at bedtime, when you normally would take one, thus causing you to take two pills in one day (which is fine) this also can make you feel a bit queasy.

Low dose pills like Alesse, Yaz and Mircette are just as effective as high dose pills for preventing pregnancy but missing a low dose pill puts you at greater risk of getting pregnant than missing a high dose pill.

Crazy isn't it, that one of the side effects experienced by some women who take birth control pills is nausea and vomiting, (this side effect usually goes away after the first few months of use) and if you DO suffer severe vomiting when on the 'pill' you've defeated the whole purpose for taking them in the first place! Taking your pill with food or taking it before bedtime may help to alleviate nausea.

Severe vomiting should be reported to a physician IMMEDIATELY (and a condom used if you still feel like sex under these circumstances!) as this is not a normal side effect. The contraceptive pill continues to be a popular choice because it is easy to use, convenient and is a reversible method of birth control.

Carole Pemberton is committed to researching and presenting the latest information on contraceptives, including Alesse and Mircette to empower women to fully experience their sexuality and knowledgeably manage their birth control.

For a FREE E-BOOK that answers all your common birth control questions please drop by HERE

Will Your Extra Kilos Reduce the Effectiveness of Your Contraceptive Pill?

The effectiveness of your contraceptive pill will be reduced if you are overweight- TRUE or FALSE?

Can you still rely on today's 'low dose' contraceptive pills or should you be swapping to a contraceptive pill that contains a higher dose of estrogen to give you adequate protection against getting pregnant? In one of the previous posts on my website about the contraceptive pill and weight gain I wrote, "Today’s oral contraceptive pills contain much lower doses of hormones than they used to so if you are overweight they could quickly become ‘burned’ up hence their effect in your body could be of a shorter duration and thereby increase your risk of becoming pregnant".In keeping you up to date on this issue, it seems that the latest studies are stating that overweight women are at a higher risk of getting pregnancy no matter which dosage of pill they take. Not very heartening if you're over 155lbs eh?

It is likely that you are using one of the new generation, 'low dose' contraceptive pills that are now regularly prescribed by most doctors because of the benefits of reduced side effects. I found this useful table on Dr. Rick Jelovski's site from a study which shows weight in relation to pregnancy rates for the different estrogen doses in the contraceptive pill. It may be handy to take it to the docs with you and see what comment he/she has about it all.

Pregnancy rate/100 women yrs

Nos. show pregnancy rate with (estrogen dose in brackets)

Weight in lbs

less than 125lbs --1.8 (20-25mcg )--3.2 (30-35mcg)--1.6 (50mcg =+)
125-137lbs-----------3.4 (20-25mcg )--2.7 (30-35mcg)--3.3 (50mcg =+)
138-155lbs-----------2.3 (20-25mcg )--2.0 (30-35mcg)--8.2 (50mcg =+)
155lbs and plus----6.8 (20-25mcg )--5.2 (30-35mcg)--5.4 (50mcg =+)


If you are over 155 lbs you are in the group with a higher tendency to get pregnant than women who weigh less than 125 lbs and you can see from the above table that if you stay at 155lbs lbs swapping to a higher estrogen dose contraceptive pill does not necessarily reduce your chance of getting pregnant so increasing your estrogen dose (and possibly accompanying side effects) is a step you might want to think a bit more about..

Yep, I know you won't want to hear it but the best way to reduce your risk of getting pregnant is to reduce a few kilos AND remember to take your pills consistently and correctly (the stats. in this table would have included women who were 'not perfect' at pill taking)

As Dr. Rick reminds us, the greatest risk from contraceptive pill failure is when you're LATE starting your pills again after the 7 day 'break', so if this has happened to you in the past, consider swapping to a continuous daily pill routine that will lower your risk and lower your stress.

Risk of Heart Attack

You have probably been told that you are at the biggest risk of having a heart attack if you are
overweight and you smoke, this is true but if you are also using hormonal contraceptives, you are
increasing your risk even more so while you're at the docs why not chat about some other safer options for birth control? It's a good idea to regularly check in with your doctor that the contraceptive pill you are using is the best one for your current circumstances- inspite of any extra pounds you may have gained.

Ultra Low Dose Contraceptive Pills (Alesse, Mircette) and other brands of oral contraceptives can found HERE

Oral Contraceptives For Treating Medical Conditions

Oral contraceptives (the “birth control pill”) and their synthetic hormone cocktail of estrogen and progestin have many health 'benefits' beyond just preventing pregnancy. Whether to use them for this purpose or not though, can be a dilemma, especially for some teenagers who are not sexually active. To be able to function 'comfortably' without taking days off work or school due to severe period pain is often the clincher for any women when her physician suggests a course of oral contraceptives for treating
medical conditions such as:

• Painful periods/cramps
• Heavy or irregular periods
• Acne (“zits” or “breaking out”) - more likely to occur in teenagers
• Too much hair growth- caused by producing too many male hormones. Oral contraceptives may prevent new hair growth but will not get rid of existing hair growth.
• Ovarian cysts
• PMS, mood changes or migraine headaches

What do I need to know if I’m taking the pill for something other than birth control?

The active ingredients, estrogen and progestin come in different types, with different side effects, depending on which oral contraceptive is prescribed. Some pills contain lower doses of these hormones than others and some medical conditions require a pill containing higher doses to be effective.You may be told to take the pills in a different way from 'normal' (as they were initially designed to be used only for birth control and taken one pill each day) which may mean taking more than one pill each day -so
depending on the medical condition being treated, you should always follow your doctor's instructions regarding the dose and not those printed on the package leaflet. For treating the medical conditions listed above with oral contraceptives, see more detailed information HERE.

For a FREE E-BOOK that answers lots of common questions about birth control, some lighthearted videos and a 'no nonsense' website that tells it like it is, visit:www.contraceptivereviewer.com