Expected side-effects of Oral Contraceptive pills: To worry or not?
3rd Nov 2020
The ultimate bliss of having sex is experiencing orgasm, but what if the after-effects are alarming. Often, the flow of events from foreplay to orgasm is unplanned. Don’t be anxious after a night of passionate love making but rather plan in advance and enjoy every time. If you are prepared, then you don't have to worry whether you are doing it at the heat of the moment or after a date night.
Preparing is easy, talk to your partner about contraception and the different choices available. Choose a method that suits you or him, looking at the advantages and understanding the short-term and temporary side-effects. Discuss it further with your doctor or someone you know is on that particular contraceptive method and adopt one. So, the next time you have sex, spontaneous or planned, you are prepared to enjoy sex without anxiety.
When you are sure about your choice of contraception, your mind is free from any unwanted stress and you could spice up the sex with simple or quirky ideas - scented candles role-plays or with sexy surprises.
Maintaining an active sex life is a lot of effort! It is important to not get into emergencies after unprotected sex, which ruins not just that moment, but also ends up adding unwanted stress for many days. Plan ahead and save yourself from anxiety. After sex, talk about your experiences and tell each other, what was good and what wasn’t. Work together with your partner to lead a healthy and happy sex life.
Medical advancements have led to novel contraceptives which are far more effective and with less scope for human error, than natural methods. But, manageable short term side-effects are shadowed by the long term benefits of contraceptives, leading to low uptake. But low adoption of methods mean many couples continue to experience anxiety about an unplanned pregnancy, stress during use of emergency contraceptives and in many cases, the agony of undergoing an abortion.
These situations affect not only the mental and physical well-being of the women and her partner, but also those around them. While natural methods of contraception can be used, none of them have a high rate of effectiveness. Comparatively, medically accepted contraceptive alternatives like Oral Contraceptive Pills (OCPs) have not just stood the test of time but have provided the assurance of pregnancy being an option in the future. Scientific studies have shown astonishing results and benefits of using oral contraceptive pills.
However, each individual body reacts in a different way to different situations. While many of them get used to OCPs fairly early, others may report temporary side effects. Advanced OCPs or the newer generation of OCPs have lower side-effects and additional health benefits.
Here are the most common side effects that one might experience in the first few months of use - bleeding at unexpected times (irregular bleeding), then lighter, shorter and more regular monthly bleeding, nausea, headaches and breast tenderness. Many of these tend to pass over a short period of time, usually in 3 months and are manageable. To illustrate, here are few recommended tips to manage common side effects - taking each pill at the same time every day to help reduce irregular bleeding and taking the pills with food or at bedtime to help avoid nausea etc.
These expected side-effects may scare you, especially when you hear it from someone who isn’t well informed. In those cases, reach out to someone or a source of credible information to learn more. Then pause and reflect on why you are thinking of using the Advanced OCP in the first place – to be in charge of your sexual life and not have the stress or scare of an unintended pregnancy or worse, having to undergo an abortion.
Remember, side effects are common, are not signs of illness and they become less or stop within the first few months of using advanced OCPs.
Still, got some questions about Advanced OCPs? Feel free to reach out and talk to us here.