Oral contraceptives. Tested for yourself

2024 Author: James Gerald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 14:00

Two months ago, the inevitable happened: a gynecologist prescribed me combined oral contraceptives (COCs) as a means of contraception, normalizing hormonal levels and preventing diseases of the "female sphere". As soon as I informed my friends about my intention to drink hormonal pills prescribed by a doctor, let's call them simply "X", in response I instantly heard a friendly exclamation: "Don't drink!" (“I’ll become a kid or something?” - I thought). "Do you remember our thin Olga, who used to eat bacon for the night, and at least what? So, she began to drink these pills and became so round!" or "Switch to something less hormonal! I took them myself and gained 3.5 kg in the first month!"

I felt somehow uneasy. After all, weight is the main catalyst for my mood and vitality. It is so difficult to keep it normal, and now, it turns out, I will start to get fat against my will? Although when did I get fat of my own free will? But before I had someone to blame, but now?..

And yet I took a chance. I decided to take COCs and at the same time closely monitor all the changes taking place outside and inside my body. Weigh yourself every day and keep an observation diary. Now, two months later, the diary is ready.

The first pill

Oral contraceptives should be taken at the same time every day. When the first pill was washed down with morning coffee, I began to pester my husband with questions: "And if I get fat, you will love me? No, well, really, if I become in-oh-from such a thick barrel? And suddenly" one tablet is enough ", Imagine, I'll start transforming now, like in cartoons: chpok! - and my hands puffed out like rubber gloves from the air, and the wedding ring sank among the folds of fat, chpok! - and my cheeks bulged forward like two balls, chpok! - and eyes burned down, became tiny little cracks, chpok! - and the clothes cracked at the seams! etc., etc. ". The husband laughed.

The second pill

I look for information in medical books and pamphlets. The "X" prescribed for me turns out to be a "new generation drug". It contains a reduced amount of estrogen (0.03 mg), which has almost no effect on weight jumping. In the same company with him are such COCs as "Rigevidon", "Diane-35", "Yarina", "Femoden", "Janine", "Marvelon" and others. Although there are COCs with even less estrogen content: "Logest", "Novinet" and others - 0.02 mg.

So-so. Maybe it would be better to start with these last ones? But the doctor knows better.

Further. Weight cannot be added just like that, "out of thin air." Where does it come from then? I went online to a website about contraception, asked the doctor about it. Answer: "Dear Irina, weight gain while taking oral contraceptives can be noted only due to the retention of excess fluid in the body or increased appetite. Modern oral contraceptive drugs do not directly affect fat metabolism. to fluid retention (engorgement and soreness of the mammary glands, headaches on the eve of menstruation), then the optimal choice for you will be in favor of the drug "Yarina", which prevents excess fluid retention. " I wonder if "Yarina" is really the newest contraceptive or the doctor is simply involved in his advertising campaign? In any case, I was assigned a different COC, and it is impossible to switch abruptly to something new. Especially without the knowledge of the doctor.

The third pill

The weight is in place. But I try not to overeat, otherwise you never know. I learned that some new generation COCs have a positive effect on the appearance, for example, they get rid of acne ("Diane-35"), reduce the oily skin ("Janine"). My "X" was not among them.

The fourth tablet

I went to one of the forums on the web. The girls share their opinions about oral contraceptives. I was horrified! For example, one of them writes: "On tablets you can turn into a shapeless slurry." Another frightens the people with rumors: "Some cannot drink hormones, as blood clots can form and a person will die. And they often feel sick from the pills. And there are complications. You get fat, your hair will grow where it is needed and where it is not necessary!" And the third, in general, is all in scrap: "Here's what I will say: why do you need to take a steam bath !? These pills, forgive me, must be taken at a certain time in a certain amount!" Are these girls the majority? In the best case, they offer to use condoms to protect themselves, but since they themselves admit that they hate these "rubber things", it turns out that they do not use protection at all. Why "take a steam bath", really? Flew in - and order, it's good, if not infected with anything.

Pill six

Menstruation this time, for the first time in a long time, ended in 5 days, was painless and not abundant. That would always be so!

Eighth tablet

I want to eat terribly. No, it's even more correct to say - you want to eat. I don’t know if it’s a pill, or the fact that I ate almost nothing at work and came home hungry as a dog. Probably it's not about the pills. You need to eat, but not overeat.

In the evening I ate too much. Now I sit and think: should I blame it on "KOKi" or on my own wrong, unbalanced diet?

Tenth pill

I added almost a kilogram. Horror! Is it all pills? Is it really they, the disgusting ones, "incite" me to eat in excess of the norm? Need to do something. Today I eat little. 1500-1700 calories a day is enough. In the evening she pecked like a bird. Not full. But after half an hour, the slight feeling of hunger was completely gone.

The eleventh tablet

A kilogram in place. I read that the majority of women who quit taking COCs cited weight gain as the reason. Will I quit too? But what about contraception, and the treatment of hormonal disorders? I talked to my aunt. She said that several years ago she herself was treated with hormones: "Only these were completely different drugs, not like your pills with 0.03 mg of estrogen! There were horse doses. I drank handfuls of pills every day and gave me injections. It was great. But it was a matter of life and death. Don't be afraid. Fear has big eyes."

I decided not to panic yet. I'll see what happens to the weight next.

Tablet fifteen

I try to eat less. How did the doctor answer me there? "Weight gain due to the retention of excess fluid in the body or increased appetite." I should feel fluid retention as swelling and painful sensations in the chest, bloating. There is nothing like that. My appetite breaks loose, but I'm holding it back. In principle, this is not difficult. I do not gorge myself at night, I try not to have enough extra pieces between meals. Normal weight control. Let's see who wins.

Seventeenth tablet

Hooray! Minus a pound! Small victory. Only over who or what? Over the side effects of hormonal pills or over your natural tendency to be overweight and poorly fed? I decided to read what side effects hormonal pills can cause in general. Compare with my feelings. So, headache, stomach discomfort (after Lenka's birthday, the next morning it was not comfortable somehow inside, but that was completely different!); nausea, vomiting (mind me, mind you!); dyskinesia of the bile ducts, exacerbation of cholelithiasis (no cholelithiasis, exacerbations, respectively, too); tension in the mammary glands (there is a little, but this happens to me every time closer to menstruation); nervousness, irritability (also not more than normal, but only if someone gets it or on the eve of critical days); change in libido (yes, but for the better - want-want-want!); depression (no way, it can be sad, but not for no reason); dizziness (absent); weight gain (and half a kilo is considered?). And, finally, menstrual irregularities: intermenstrual spotting spotting (there are not many, but the doctor said that this is only at first); breakthrough bleeding; amenorrhea during or after taking COCs - there is nothing like that and, I hope, will not happen.

Tablet twenty-first

I drank the last pill from the pack. I draw the conclusion: no radical changes in the external appearance and internal state have occurred. As for love and sex, recently everything has become even brighter, more emotional, more pleasant, freer. The inner tension has subsided, there is no worry about whether you will fly in or not. Just me, him and our love.

Break for 7 days

It is good, after all, when menstruation begins "on schedule", and not as before: then after twenty days, then after thirty. The mood is cheerful. Nothing hurts. The weight is in place. For complete happiness, you would still lose a pound!..

New pack. The first day

I asked the doctor if taking hormonal drugs would affect the possibility of getting pregnant later? What if these pills "stop" my ovulation so that it won't start at all? The doctor assured me that the final restoration of fertile (reproductive) function will occur no more than a year after taking COCs. Girlfriends, in turn, share everyday stories. A certain Marina could not get pregnant for a year and a half. Health was in order for both her and her husband, but the child could not be conceived. Then someone advised her to take the oral contraceptives recommended by the doctor for two or three months, then abruptly quit and resume attempts to get pregnant. Which she did. She took the pills for two months and then stopped. She got pregnant almost immediately. Her son is already one and a half years old.

Day eight

It turns out that new generation COCs reduce a bunch of all kinds of risks, for example, the risk of developing ovarian cysts, the risk of developing endometrial and ovarian cancer, the risk of developing colorectal cancer, the occurrence of benign breast masses, and the development of iron deficiency anemia. And I just have anemia. Let's see how she will "get along" with my drug "X".

Day ten

A friend, who is also going to take oral contraceptives, was interested in what kind of COC I had. I, of course, told her about my Mr. "X", but did not advise anything. Let him go to the doctor and pick everything up with him. Suddenly she has some contraindications.

Day twelve

I sit here and think: how true are the assurances of women that they have grown fat precisely from the pills? Yes, oral contraceptives can increase appetite and water retention. But, firstly, due to the low content of hormones, weight gain cannot be significant. Secondly, after a while the pills "rub in" to the body and the side effects come to naught. And, thirdly, and most importantly! None of the statistics give an answer as to how many women taking COCs gain weight for completely different reasons (unhealthy diet, "seizing" problems, ardent love for festive feasts, etc.), and blame everything on pills. Of course, it is much easier to say in a painful tone: "Because of these damned hormones, I added five kilos!", Waving at the same time a bun with raisins, instead of replacing this bun with yogurt and take up your figure seriously.

Day twentieth

I remember about pills only in the morning. I drink them for the company with vitamins. While walking with a pad for safety net. My beard and mustache as "side effects" did not grow, I didn’t get covered with acne, and I didn’t look like an air balloon either. With an unkind squint I look at the extra 0.5 kg on the scales. Should I sign up for the gym?

Day twenty one

The second pack is coming to an end. What are the conclusions? Everything is not as scary as it seemed. Maybe I was just lucky, or maybe the manufacturers of COCs really learned how to make drugs that bring maximum benefit and minimum harm to the female body. So now I feel like a modern young woman planning pregnancy and taking care of her health. Hurray for me!