Birth Control Pills - good and bad?

Anyone here taking the Pill? What are the bad and good effects you had from taking it? I am going to take it for the first time, and I feel a little hesitant. Maybe some assurance from you girls will help.

I was on it for years. There are so many different pills out there for you to try if one doesnt work for you. Feeling sick/nauseous is one effect to tell you to get on a different pill.

The pill works differently for everyone, and I'm sure it also depends on the brand. I haven't used the pill in years (I switched to Depo after I had Cyera). My side effects were actually the opposite of what the doctor expected. I didn't gain weight, I LOST weight... It did regulate my cycle though, which was something we definitely needed it to do. It also helped to alleviate the painful, horrible cramps I had (I once had a teacher find me almost passed out in a hallway and had to walk me across the school to the nurse's office). As I mentioned, every pill will probably work differently, and everyone's side effects will differ. The best thing to do is to talk to your doctor about any fears, and be sure to find out the pros and cons of the pill. If you begin having negative side effects that are unbearable or other than you should be having, you definitely will want to talk to your doctor to see about switching brands. Best of luck with the pill sweetie!

Every pill I've ever taken gave me problems. Getting sick, mood swings, break out, then the last one i was on i stopped taking it. a month later my legs started getting really sore. like it really hurt to walk and i had all of these big knots that came up. the dr. said it was from the birth control. so no more birth control for me. well at least not the reg. kind. i have the iud mirena. and i still have some problems with it. but it's nothing compared to the pill. i realized that the birth control is not good for anyone's body, whether you have noticeable problems w/ it or not. think about it. you're putting something in your body with a hormone to help keep you from getting pregnant. some people who don't even smoke have died or nearly died from it from it causing blood clots. serious. my husband's cousin almost died from a blood clot on her lungs and she didn't smoke. they were for certain it was from the birth control pill.

Originally Posted by lovelyrose Anyone here taking the Pill? What are the bad and good effects you had from taking it? I am going to take it for the first time, and I feel a little hesitant. Maybe some assurance from you girls will help. Like you I was very hesitant at first. I've never liked taking medicines of any kind which is why all I take is birth control. I also didn't feel like it was natural to add hormones and mess with mother nature. I NEEDED something though because my periods were 8 days long (sometimes longer) and extremely heavy the entire time. I am a very small girl and my periods rendered me anemic and lethargic all the time. I put up with it for a long time and finally gave in about 5 years ago. I had problems with getting nauseated on several pills and have switched around alot but it's been so much better having light to medium, 3 day periods. I still don't like the fact that i'm taking them and wonder of the side effects that I can't see happening but it has had it's benefits for me so I try not to think about the negative ones.

Originally Posted by charish Every pill I've ever taken gave me problems. Getting sick, mood swings, break out, then the last one i was on i stopped taking it. a month later my legs started getting really sore. like it really hurt to walk and i had all of these big knots that came up. the dr. said it was from the birth control. so no more birth control for me. well at least not the reg. kind. i have the iud mirena. and i still have some problems with it. but it's nothing compared to the pill. i realized that the birth control is not good for anyone's body, whether you have noticeable problems w/ it or not. think about it. you're putting something in your body with a hormone to help keep you from getting pregnant. some people who don't even smoke have died or nearly died from it from it causing blood clots. serious. my husband's cousin almost died from a blood clot on her lungs and she didn't smoke. they were for certain it was from the birth control pill. it´s not all black and white, the pill has come a long way, hormone doses are much lower than they used to be. of course you´re at a risk for thrombosis etc but from the statistics the risk of thrombosis is much higher during pregnancy. does that keep women from getting pregant? of course not LOL
also the women who do suffer from thrombosis and other severe side effects while on the pill for the biggest part have other medical conditions (like blood clotting diseases if that´s the correct term in english).

no need to panic from the horror stories we sometimes hear!!!

oh and I have been on 3 different pills and other than alcohol intolerance I had zero side effects. most of my girlfriends are on the pill too and for the most part they all found a pill that works for them

Oh, yeah, and I forgot to mention that my skin cleared up dramatically after getting on birth control. Makes me wish I would have gotten on it much sooner to save my face from some of the scars I now have to live with.

I have had the worst experience on Depo and Ortho Evra, it has really scared me away from using any kind of chemical contraceptive. Two years of hell on those has convinced me that maybe BC is just not for me. The only good that came out of it was that I didn't have the extreme pain and vomiting on my periods now that I had before taking BC. But it still wasn't worth the bloating, weight loss, hair loss, mood swings, chronic constipation, migraines, acid reflux, dry and sensitive PA, lower libido, missed days from school, lower GPA... it very nearly ruined my life, never again.

Andi, if you had "zero side effects", why were you bouncing three different BC pills? Was there a convenience factor involved? That's what got me on the non-pill BC. I am still extremely skeptical, but I should research the different brands of pills out there. What are you all on so I can look them up!

I have been on several kinds of bc pills, since I was 19, I am 28 now and just got on Depo a couple months ago so I dont take them. But I had to switch brands b/c after awhile of being on one kind I would start bleeding all the time, I once bled for 3 months non-stop. But most of those years I didnt have problems. I would take it on a full stomach and with a glass of milk which eliminated upset stomach. I have to take anti-depressants and so I still take those with a glass of milk after dinner or I get really nauseated. But I didnt have weight gain, pain, etc on the pill. I would still take it if I could.

I haven't been on the Pill before, but I was on the Patch for a while and it didn't work well with me. I was depressed and really irritable. There were days when I didn't even want to leave the house... And the mood swings... Bad bad mood swings. I just didn't feel like myself and I didn't like that. One good thing though was that my breasts enlarged like a cup size.

Originally Posted by NoxiousByProxy I have had the worst experience on Depo and Ortho Evra, it has really scared me away from using any kind of chemical contraceptive. Two years of hell on those has convinced me that maybe BC is just not for me. The only good that came out of it was that I didn't have the extreme pain and vomiting on my periods now that I had before taking BC. But it still wasn't worth the bloating, weight loss, hair loss, mood swings, chronic constipation, migraines, acid reflux, dry and sensitive PA, lower libido, missed days from school, lower GPA... it very nearly ruined my life, never again.
Andi, if you had "zero side effects", why were you bouncing three different BC pills? Was there a convenience factor involved? That's what got me on the non-pill BC. I am still extremely skeptical, but I should research the different brands of pills out there. What are you all on so I can look them up!

well I started out with Diane mite, which is for moderate acne and not that low dosed. it´s advised to not be used longer than 18months max so I asked for a different BC after that time was up. then I took Valette, which caused the alcohol intolerance that I mentioned. I´d have like 2 drinks and feel nauseous, but other than that I had no other problems with it. I guess I could have given up drinking when I go out but I´m in college. enough said so now I´m taking Yasmine and everything is fine.

I guess I´m not really prone to side effects in general which I am happy about. I´ve definitely heard about girls who really have troubles finding a pill that works for them.

Originally Posted by fickledpink One good thing though was that my breasts enlarged like a cup size. I wished that would have happened to me too!! I do think mine got like maybe half a cupsize bigger. better than nothing LOL

Uh oh....weight gain and hair loss doesn't sound too good. I am hoping that it can get rid of my acne that never seems to stop no matter what....I have tried and given up on all medications. My face is so scarred that it is bringing my esteem down. I hope I don't get the more serious side effects like blood clotting and all that. My periods are not that long...It only lasts for 3 days. But i get severe headaches during my periods and my doc said that the pills could help that too.

I think it all has to do with the hormones. My body already is very high with estrogen naturally, so having the Patch (Ortho Evra) on top of that did not help things at all. Depo-Provera is synthetic progesterone only, and can cause your body to halt production of natural progesterone, so you become estrogen ridden (not ALL women, just some). It seems like you could benefit by taking Ortho-Tricylcen Lo. I have actually just now had a phone converstion with my ob/gyn practitioner about it.

I took Mircette for 3 months before we decided to use non-hormonal bc. While I've heard stories of tons of different side effects, the only one I experienced was tender, sore breasts, for practically all month long. (But I don't think my boobs got any bigger -- at least, not noticeably bigger since my bras still fit the same!) However, I've heard that many side effects will last up to 3 months before they go away (which is why most doctors will make you take a pill for 3 months before trying a new one) so I don't know if that would have improved with time.

Just FYI, we decided not use hormonal bc for moral reasons ... we all know that the pill (or any hormonal bc) prevents pregnancy by preventing ovulation. However, since only abstinance is 100% effective, sometimes women still ovulate on the pill. So as "back up methods", the pill also acts as a spermicide, and thins the lining of the uterus to prevent implantation of a fertilized egg. However, we didn't really like the thought of aborting the fertilized egg, so we switched to barrier methods. But I know most women don't really care about that, since women naturally abort fertilized eggs all the time, and since a lot of people don't believe life starts at conception anyway. But we definitely felt the relief of a clear conscience after we switched

I've taken tri-cyclen lo and estrostep and never had problems with either one because both have low hormoness.

I have used Orthro Tri-Cyclen ever since the age of 17, and I am now 22; It has worked for me, I had zero side-effects. The good thing that works from using birth control pills is that it does help to clear up ance, and you don't have to worry about becoming pregnant b/c I see too many girls out there who wished they had taken some method of b.c. and they wouldn't be in the perdicament that they are in now. But, I do agree that you just need to do your research of what pill you would like to try, b/c everyone has different experiences for everything, everyone's body is different, but I do suggest that you should get on some form of birth control, you might just be happy that you did.

well i know everybody's body is different. like myself i never had any problems with breakout until i used the pill that they put me on when i was breast feeding, low estrogen. plus a lot of other problems. once i got off of it, i was back to normal. the kind i was on before that made me so sick to my stomach. and some can cause weight gain too. i still have some break out on my arms from the iud, it has very little of the hormone but still i guess just enough to bother my skin. but with it my periods are hardly anything and my cramps. only problem is i'm having my period all of the time.

I take Seasonal (sp) & I love it Ive had no problems with it.

Originally Posted by Aquilah The pill works differently for everyone, and I'm sure it also depends on the brand. I haven't used the pill in years (I switched to Depo after I had Cyera). My side effects were actually the opposite of what the doctor expected. I didn't gain weight, I LOST weight... It did regulate my cycle though, which was something we definitely needed it to do. It also helped to alleviate the painful, horrible cramps I had (I once had a teacher find me almost passed out in a hallway and had to walk me across the school to the nurse's office). As I mentioned, every pill will probably work differently, and everyone's side effects will differ. The best thing to do is to talk to your doctor about any fears, and be sure to find out the pros and cons of the pill. If you begin having negative side effects that are unbearable or other than you should be having, you definitely will want to talk to your doctor to see about switching brands. Best of luck with the pill sweetie! Funny because i went on depo too and i had all of the opposite side effects that you had. I gained 45 pounds (still trying to get it off), I was having BAD mood swings, I never had my period after that for almost 2 years, and i had heavy hairloss... dont know why this happened, but it was a bad experience for me. Im using Ortho-Evra now and im not gaining weight, my hair is growing back, my periods are consistant, and no mood swings. Ive never been on the pill though, been to afriad to try it because my doctor told me its 87% effective

Originally Posted by dioraddict_xo Funny because i went on depo too and i had all of the opposite side effects that you had. I gained 45 pounds (still trying to get it off), I was having BAD mood swings, I never had my period after that for almost 2 years, and i had heavy hairloss... dont know why this happened, but it was a bad experience for me. Im using Ortho-Evra now and im not gaining weight, my hair is growing back, my periods are consistant, and no mood swings. Ive never been on the pill though, been to afriad to try it because my doctor told me its 87% effective I've heard that the pill is 99% effective if you follow the directions perfectly. However, most people don't follow all the directions every day so it's something like 90% or 95% effective with "typical" useage. That's probably what your doctor was talking about.