does it change how it reacts with your body or become less effective?
2007-03-09 08:40:22 · 11 answers · asked by banana boat 2 in Health ➔ Women's Health
well, i can't swallow pills. i try a lot. i just can't do it and i don't know why.
and i don't understand why men are answering this question. what would he know about birth control..
and, in the packet of information i got it doesn't say DO NOT CRUSH or anything...
2007-03-09 08:53:40 · update #1
i wouldn't recommend crushing it, since your doctor would have told you if you could. they have a new type of birth control pill out now that is chewable called the Ovcon 35. you can chew it or swallow it whole. talk to your doc about getting that or changing to a new method such as the shot, patch, or ring.
2007-03-09 09:41:01 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I'd advise against crushing or trying to dissolve the pill.
For starters, the hormones in the pill do not dissolve readily in water. Secondly, those pills are so small, if you break them, you risk losing too much mass in the process, so you might not take in enough hormones to be effective.
If you REALLY have a problem swallowing pills, I suggest you look into NuvaRing or Ortho-Evra (the birth control patch).
Oh, and btw MEN can know a thing or two about birth control. It's SEXIST to assume they wouldn't. Have you never had a male gynecologist? Or even a male doctor? As I recall, BOTH my endocrinology professors were men, and they taught ME about how birth control works. So, in the true spirit of feminism, let's welcome equality and reject sexism by not being prejudiced against males, even in matters that seem exclusively female to you.
2007-03-09 08:43:09 · answer #2 · answered by Gumdrop Girl 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Some medicines are meant to be slow-release and you can't crush them. When you shouldn't crush pills, it pretty much ALWAYS says so on the package as a warning. You've probably seen that before on medicine, "do not crush or chew." If your pills don't say that anywhere, you can crush them.
They put that warning on pills that can't be crushed because some people can't swallow pills, and always crush their medicine. That's why they sell pill-grinders in pharmacies. They definitely don't just assume the pill will be swallowed whole, because many people, especially really old people, just can't do this. Read the leaflet very carefully... If there's no warning it's probably okay! You can always just ask a pharmacist though to be sure.
2007-03-09 08:51:34 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
No studies have been carried out.
This type of administration is in breach of the product license. I can perceive no way in which this could make the product more effective and could only lead to reduced bioavailabiliy.
Read the leaflet. Generally swallow whole with water if needed.
2007-03-09 08:52:52 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Medicine is made specifically to be taken as directed. Any variations from the directions can have different effects toward the effectiveness. With this type of medication I wouldn't even risk the possibilities of the obvious outcomes.
2007-03-09 08:46:11 · answer #5 · answered by randomfacts22 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
sure, as long as you dump it down the drain when you are through.
go buy the book by Suzanne Somers: Ageless: The Naked Truth About Bioidentical Hormones. buy it at the book store, amazon or ebay. it will tell you that women should never take the pill.
________
Birth Control Pills and Breast Cancer
November 22nd, 2006
As Dorian noted in NewsSquawk a few weeks back, a meta-analysis of breast cancer data recently revealed a statistically significant correlation between use of the contraceptive pill prior to full-term pregnancy and premenopausal breast cancer.
I finally got a moment to hop over to Procedings, the journal of the Mayo Clinic that reported on the study, and while the article itself is limited to subscribers, the editorial that offers analysis on the findings is open to all.
First off, I was amazed to read that the International Agency for Research on Cancer, which is part of the World Health Organization, categorized the contraceptive pill as a carcinogen in 2005. Granted, I’ve been a bit baby absorbed for the last couple of years, but I cannot believe I never read this news anywhere. Did it get any press? If not, why not?
Now for the findings…it appears that women who have ever used birth control pills have a ”small but statistically significant increased risk of breast cancer”. Furthermore, use of the Pill before having one’s first full-term pregnancy is more strongly associated with breast cancer than being on the Pill after having delivered a baby. The association is even stronger where these pre-baby Pill users were on birth control pills for four years or more. (The editorial further notes, “A higher risk of breast cancer for OC use before first full-term pregnancy was first described more than 25 years ago by Pike et al…” - again, I’m very surprised that evidence linking the Pill and breast cancer has been uncovered for so long, with so little press.)....
Posted by MommaSteph.
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from Suzanne's book:
Those of us who were on the original birth control pills for any length of time were actually on synthetic hormones- strong synthetic hormones. Any wonder why women of our generation are under siege from an epidemic of breast and ovarian cancers? There is a link, and you'll learn more about it in this book.
Read on and see if you relate to my scenario: As I said, for twenty-two years, I was on synthetic birth control pills, the original ones that were very strong. I even manipulated my periods with them, if I didn't want to have a period on a particular weekend. I just didn't realize what was in those birth control pills, nor did I understand the dangers of messing with nature.
I did not realize that having only a two-day bleed meant that I was not ovulating fully. At the time, I thought it was great to have such a light period. I did not realize that the importance of ovulation in the human female body is to let the brain know that I was well, healthy, and reproductive. As far as my brain was concerned, I was not reproductive because I was not fully ovulating. An ovulating woman is a reproductive woman.
To believe that the body is not fully ovulating is a dangerous assumption for the brain to make. If the brain perceives us as unable to reproduce, its job, biologically speaking, is to try to eliminate us to make room for the reproductive ones. This is the nature in us. This is the template that was programmed in us from ancient times. Thus, this hormonal imbalance that I unknowingly put myself in was creating a backdrop for cancer. Why? Because we all have cancer in us, but as long as we are hormonally balanced, the brain perceives us as young, strong, and healthy. If we become imbalanced, this signals to the brain that the reproductive system is no longer in working order, and it is in this scenario that the cancer has a chance to come into being.
You see, cancer proliferates in an environment of hormonal imbalance. This is why I believe that Western medicine's standard of care, well-meaning as it is, is treating us incorrectly. Western medicine is looking at everything except the obvious. Western medicine is trying to poison the cancer out of us, further wreaking havoc with our hormonal systems.
Then, to prevent recurrence, we are given hormone ablation drugs such as tamoxifen or Femara, which interfere with the body's ability to read the hormones in some parts of the body. Plus, for many women these drugs cause horrible side effects. To me, it doesn't make sense to take any drug that prevents new hormones from being made in our bodies or to kill off any of the little bit of hormones we might have left. Why has Western medicine been trying to outthink nature? We are given fake hormones that don't replicate exactly what our bodies make naturally, and doctors are expecting them to work in the same way or better. It hasn't worked. Look around. Are the women you know doing well from midlife on? Most everyone has complaints, from mild to severe. No wonder women are in such bad shape.
Once you understand the importance of your brain perceiving the body as reproductive--our "brain template"--it will be easier for you to make decisions for yourself. We assume that the professionals who are taking care of us know what they are doing. But they can't know what they haven't been taught, and unless you find yourself a doctor such as the ones....
2007-03-09 10:07:26 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
It shuldn't matter.All that happens when u crush a pill is that it effects yur body quicker.
2007-03-09 08:46:12 · answer #7 · answered by Joyful 3 · 1⤊ 2⤋
id just take it how your suppose its so smalll you shouldnt' have a hard time taking it properly
i'm horrible at taking pills as i'm worried about choking on them
2007-03-09 08:43:58 · answer #8 · answered by steph 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
NO!!! The pill is designed to be taken whole and should never be crushed or dissolved to be taken. It could affect its effectiveness
2007-03-09 08:51:07 · answer #9 · answered by huggz 7 · 1⤊ 3⤋
No, but it may taste AWFULLY. They are very small any way, aren't they?
2007-03-09 08:44:56 · answer #10 · answered by Dust in the wind 2 · 0⤊ 3⤋