Birth Control Is SOOO COnfusing...Can Somebody Help Me Understand It????

Question

Like a site or something. Or if you want,type it up. I don't get the sugar pills and the hormone pills and they're jobs.=( Help!

Answer 1

I'm putting some good sites in the sources, plus I'm typing up my explanation.

When an egg combines with a sperm and starts growing, it releases hormones that tell the body that you are pregnant. When the hormones reach the ovaries (where your eggs come from), the ovaries say "oh - we're pregnant - no need to send out more eggs" so the ovaries don't release a new egg the way they usually do once a month.

Birth control pills (and patches, and rings, and some IUDs) contain the same hormones the fertilized egg puts out, so they fool your ovaries into thinking there's already a baby growing, and the ovaries don't release a new egg.

You take the hormone pills for 21 days, and then stop taking them for 7 days. During those 7 days you have a period, but you're still protected against getting pregnant. Some pill packs just come with the 21 pills, and then you remember to wait 7 days before starting the next pill pack. Most pill packs have 21 hormone pills and 7 sugar pills, that way you're in the habit of taking a pill each and every day so you don't forget.

The sugar in the no-hormone pills doesn't do anything at all - it is not a medicine - it is just to give you something to swallow.

There are lots of variations now. Some pill brands have different levels of hormone at different times. Some even have a very little bit of hormone during the off days, to keep you more comfortable.

They used to think that your body really needed to have a period each month to stay healthy, but now they don't think so, and there are pills that you take continuously for three months and then a break, so you only have four periods a year, and new kind that will give you no periods at all.

Your doctor can help you decide which kind of pill is best for you. If you have bad effects from one kind of pill, the doctor can switch you to a different kind.

You can also get a ring with hormones that you keep in your vagina for three weeks, or a patch that you wear for three weeks, or shots every month or every three months, or an IUD that is inserted in your uterus and left for years.

Answer 2

The sugar pills are simply to help you maintain the routine of taking a pill at a scheduled time every day. Since they contain no hormones, your body cleanses itself through menses.

Then when you begin taking the hormone pills, the elevated levels fool your body into thinking that you are pregnant, so that you will not ovulate. Maintaining an even hormone level is crucial to preventing your body from releasing an egg, so that is why maintaining the regular scheduled time to take the pill every day is so important.

Answer 3

www.plannedparenthood.com