Birth Control Pills: Safety, Side Effects & Effectiveness - Expert Advice

Question
QUESTION: Hi...
I am 25yrs and i want to know best possible ways to avoid pregnancy without compromising with sexual pleasures....i have heard that after taking these pills one gains weight,there r hormonal issues...also i am curious that will my periods wud b affected or not...n apart from consuming these pills do i need to take any other protection?? please when to take these pills and after leaving pills within how much time span i can become pregnant?? as earlier i had abortion when i was a month pregnant so don't to take chances so please advise doctor...

Thanks



ANSWER: Hello Aryi,

I'm not a doctor so just want you to know that. There are many methods of birth control. I don't recommend hormonal methods as I feel that these are not healthy to a woman's body. There is controversy about this but this is just my opinion. There are some side effects, such as you mentioned, weight gain, mood swings, etc. I can give you more side effects if you want to email me. I do recommend birth control methods such as Natural Family Planning or condoms. However, these are not 100% effective and no method is, even hormonal. Abstinence is the only 100% effective method of birth control or not getting a sexually transmitted disease. Condoms are rumored to be totally effective against STD's but this is a false statement, as many have found out. If you are on birth control pills and then go off for pregnancy, it is best to give it a few months. If you want to talk further, please email me at DCHERYL51@yahoo.com and hope to hear from you soon. If you would like any information on post abortion counseling, please let me know.

Sincerely,
Diane Cheryl

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: thank you Diane.....i want to know that after my abortion i got periods within 1 and half months...it continued 4days without any problem but soon after my periods got over im doing sex with pull out method so are there chances that i can again become pregnant? if so than when should i check that im pregnant or not?? like my periods were from 6-10 dec so roughly around what date??

thanks
regards,Aryi

Answer
Hi Aryi,

Yes, you can get pregnant from the "pull-out" method. No birth control method is 100% effective in preventing pregnancy. Only complete abstinence is sure not to cause you to get pregnant. Are you saying you just had your period last week? If so, then if your next period does not come at the regular time, then you would take a pregnancy test. Where do you live? If you live in the U.S. then you can go to this website to try to find a pregnancy resource center.
http://www.optionline.org or call 1-800-395-HELP. If you are not in U.S. or can't find any place on that site then try this one
http://www.heartbeatinternational.org/worldwide_directory.asp
Please email me at DCHERYL51@yahoo.com and let me know what happens.

Thanks.
Diane Cheryl