6 Common Side Effects of Birth Control

Birth control can be done in various methods. But the hormone based birth control that comes in the form of pills is the one that comes with a lot of side effects.

Not all the side effects are bearable and you might have to visit a doctor to prescribe another form or birth control or even switch the meds.

Here are the most common side effects of birth control meds:

• Spotting

This is the most annoying side effect of taking birth control meds as this can happen at any time without any advance notification. If you would like to avoid this spotting, you can start taking your pills at the same time every day and even ask the doctor for an anti-inflammatory to reduce the chances of this occurring.

• Tenderness of the breasts

This is something that you can’t do much about. Unless the pain or tenderness becomes unbearable you need not do anything about it. If the pain is unbearable then you can ask your doctor for an alternate birth control.

• Headache

When you initially start the pill, you can experience these symptoms. So wait a bit and see if they disappear on their own. If they don’t then you can consider switching.

• Nausea

As with headaches, this symptom will usually go away in a couple of weeks. If you are on the pill then you should try taking it with food. But if you are on the ring or loop, then you might have to switch methods of birth control.

• Mood swings

A lot of us experience mood swings just before we get our monthly period. To add to this mood swings, if you are on the pill, you might experience extra outbursts of depression or anger.

So if your mood swings are going out of control then you might have to switch to non-hormonal methods as no hormonal method will suit you with hormonal mood swings.

• Decreased libido

If you have a reduced interest towards your partner after starting the pill then you might need to switch to a pill with a different formulation altogether or even switch the method of birth control all together if it doesn’t help.

So find out what suits you best and don’t hesitate to switch if you feel the side effects are not tolerable.

Written by: Rasha Ashraf