Little-Known Risks of Birth Control Pills - Women Campus
We’ve all heard about the Pill, the Patch and the Ring (and likely used one of them) and we’ve all seen the commercials telling us in pleasant voices about the possible risk of heart attack and stroke—though we probably never give those, or other side effects, a second thought. And why should we? The risk of heart attack is 0.06 per 100,000 non-smoking users, and there isn’t even significant risk for stroke. But while these combination forms of birth control (containing estrogen and progestin) are generally considered very safe, this doesn’t mean there aren’t a few things you haven’t heard about that could be good to know. Below, we’ve outlined a few of the lesser-known risks of combination forms of birth control, so you can be sure you’re being as safe and savvy as you thought you were! But before you get freaked out, keep in mind that these risks of birth control are very low. Risks on combination forms of birth control are higher than on progestin-only methods though, so be sure to find out which kind you’re on! Again, though these risks are small, we thought a smart HC girl like you deserved to be as informed as possible.
The Risk: Blood clots
The Info: Blood clots are semisolid masses of red and white blood cells stuck together, in short. If you have a blood clot, you might feel short of breath, have pain, swelling or redness in one leg and have leg cramps at night, have warm skin to the touch or have a bluish tint to your skin. If left untreated, blood clots will lead to hospitalization and could lead to death, says Carole Diamond, a Nurse Practitioner at the Colorado State University Health Network. But still, 30 to 50 percent of women with blood clots never have any symptoms, so make sure you’re making regular visits to your gynecologist if you’re on birth control. Even if you don’t have symptoms, a gyno would be able to detect a blood clot by using a D-dimer test, which would determine whether or not you need further evaluation.
What You Can Do: Don’t get too freaked out ladies! Diamond says she only sees a few women a year with blood clots, and Contraceptive Technology, a comprehensive guide to oral contraception, says the rate of blood clots in low-dose combination birth control users is 12 to 20 per 100,000. Also, make sure you tell your doctor if you have a family history of blood clots, because then she’ll know to be on the lookout for them. And if you start to notice any of above symptoms, go see your doc ASAP!
The Risk: Abnormal PAP Smears
The Info: PAP Smears were developed to test the cells in the vagina and an abnormal PAP Smear means abnormal cells are present. For a lot of women, abnormal PAP Smears might not show up until they’re older. They might have a positive test for cervical cancer and be wondering “What? I haven’t had sex in ten years!” But sometimes something like cervical cancer can manifest over time from an HPV virus contracted on a crazy night in college. Women who use hormonal forms of birth control—whether or not you want to hear it—are more susceptible to STD’s for a few reasons, Diamond says. If you’re using the Pill, the Patch, or the Ring, you probably feel like you’re having safer sex. Most women do. And in one way you are. But, since birth control users feel safer, they are less likely to use condoms. Not only does birth control act as a bit of a security blanket, but it also causes more delicate cells to be exposed, and these cells are more likely to pick up an STD, which would cause an abnormal PAP Smear. Since there are really no indications beforehand of an abnormal PAP Smear, aside from occasional genital warts, it can be tough to know what’s really going on down there.
What You Can Do: Although visiting your lady doctor might not be your favorite way to spend an afternoon, regular check-ups and PAP Smears are still important when you’re using hormonal birth control. The moral of the story: Unless you are positive your guy is STD-free, condoms are still a smart choice, even if you’re on birth control, and routine PAP Smears are a must.
The Risk: Higher chance of birth control side effects for smokers
The Info: Contraceptive Technology will tell you that if you smoke, you should stop or at least try to cut back because it is the single most important thing you can do for your health. For women over 35, smoking greatly increases the risks that come with being on birth control pills because it increases the risk of coronary heart disease. For young women with a low risk of heart problems, it is not a huge concern, but smoking is still not good for overall health (duh!).
What You Can Do: So, you might not have to worry about your nicotine fix interfering with your birth control now, but down the road it could become a serious problem. If you smoke, it’s extra important that you watch for the warning signals of the pill, which are:
- Abdominal Pain
- Chest Pain
- Headaches
- Eye Problems
- Severe Leg Pain
The Risk: Inconsistency, which leads to ineffectiveness
The Info: Let’s face it ladies. We’re all a little spacey sometimes! With school and friends and boyfriends (if we’re lucky) to worry about, we might not notice the time…or even what day of the week it is! But missing pills, and even taking them at different times from one day to the next, makes them less effective. And isn’t the point of taking them for them to be effective? That’s what we thought.
What You Can Do: Pills are supposed to be taken within two hours of the same time every day, Diamond says. So, set your phone alarm and keep your pills in your purse. It might interrupt a text every now and then, but you’ll be safer down the road.
The Risk: Interference with other meds
The Info: Some pills that women need to take for medical conditions can decrease the effectiveness of our birth control. If you take one of these meds, you might need to use a stronger pill or use a back-up method of birth control. Some of these meds include:
- Anticonvulsants (Tegretol, Trileptal, Dilantin, Mysoline, Topamax, Felbatol)
- Some over-the-counter meds (St. John’s Wort)
- Anti-tuberculosis (Rifampin, rifabutin)
- Antifungal
- Anti-HIV protease inhibitors
What You Can Do: Don’t keep secrets from your gyno! If you’re on any other medications, let your doc know, and if you start taking any new ones, give her a call so she can help you find the best birth control for your body! If you’re feeling uneasy about any of the risks we’ve mentioned, it’s always a good idea to pay your doc a visit. Meanwhile, remember that most doctors would assure you the benefits of birth control outweigh the risks as long as you’re not frequently missing pills or only taking them sporadically. And we don’t disagree. We just want to give you all the info you need so you can do what’s best for you and your body!
Sources: Carole Diamond, N.P. at Colorado State University Health Network www.webmd.com Hatcher R, Trussell J, Stewart F, Nelson A, Cates W, Guest F, Kowal D (2004). Contraceptive Technology. 425, 443 www.dictionary.com
Sometimes natural remedies aren’t only good for overblown illnesses but are also just nice to add to a meal, especially if you haven’t been eating as well as you might like. If those late college nights filled with pizza, coffee and sweets are starting to make you feel sluggish and preventing you from concentrating, try to add more fruits and vegetables to your diet. “Something I like to keep in mind when I’m not feeling so great is my diet,” says Melanie Yates, an HC Digital Media Associate from Hofstra. “As much as I might want comfort food, I try going for meals with simple, fresher ingredients. I avoid anything deep fried and/or covered in cheese because I usually feel even worse after I eat it.” Melanie also squeezes lemon and lime into her beverages, which she claims is a simple trick with “wonderful health benefits, such as keeping skin clear and aiding digestion.”
Her Campus has sorted through many of the rumors out there concerning the best ways to get better fast, and we’ve picked out some of the best at-home remedies that you can pick up in your local area or at school before you spend hours sitting around in campus health services. We’ve also enlisted the help of nutrition expert, Connie Diekman, Director of Nutrition at Washington University in St. Louis and past President of the American Dietetic Association, to sort what’s fact from what’s fiction.
“Try to figure out when the ‘blah’ mood began and see if you can remember what was going on, or what you were thinking about, when your mood dipped,” Leibow said. “Very often it will be something you've recognized to be a trigger in the past.”
1. Do 20 Jumping Jacks
But what are the health concerns for vegans and vegetarians? Nutritionist Michele Sandone takes us through five components of a healthy diet that are often missed by vegans and vegetarians, and tells us how to make sure to fit them in—even in the campus dining hall.
Fast-forward to week one of winter vacation, and you’ll find me parked on the couch, bag of gingerbread cookies in hand and Netflix rolling. What ever happened to my newfound enthusiasm?
For those of you who have access to a gym, one way to motivate yourself to get your rear into gear is by breaking the monotonous gym routine. Used to running on the treadmill for thirty minutes and then calling it a day? How about trying a fun aerobics class like Zumba or the infomercial-famous 
Set realistic goals There is nothing more discouraging then seeing little to no results when you set a goal to lose weight. Losing weight in a healthy way takes time and persistence. Don’t tell yourself you’re going to lose five pounds a week or lose all the weight by the end of January. Focusing on how many pounds you’re losing is not the best way to go about getting fit. Set week-by-week realistic goals of what you are going to do instead of how much you are going to lose, such as going to the gym 3 or 4 times a week and only having one small dessert per day. The more realistic your goals are, the less likely you are to get discouraged. These goals, in turn, will lead to the weight loss you want to see. Aside from weight loss goals, it is important to set goals for an attitude change as well. Horacek says that rather than focusing on the number on the scale, make some changes to your lifestyle that will be noticeably different. Try adding a few of these new behaviors into your new year: 
Remind yourself that slipping up is no reason to quit You’re not going to be perfect, no matter how motivated you are. You cannot expect yourself to hit the ground running and never slow down. Whether it be at a dinner party with irresistible deserts, your roommates bringing unhealthy and delicious snacks back from home, or having a sudden craving for fast food, you will most like mess up at least once. It’s going to happen, and when it does, start the next day—or ideally the next meal—just as motivated as you were before. When these slip-ups happen, it does not mean that you undid everything you had worked for. Dinner at Taco Bell and a large frozen yogurt for dessert does not cancel out two weeks of working out and should not prevent you from going to the gym in the morning. Expect to mess up every now and then, but don’t let it put an end to your motivation and goals. Branning also suggests that if you know there is a food you just can’t live without, work it into your food plan, just don’t get greedy! Write your goal down somewhere visible Lipstick and whiteboard markers come off mirrors easily, so write down your goal on your bathroom mirror so you see it every day, as you get ready. A daily reminder that you’re working for something will make it easier to be conscious of what you are eating and doing throughout the day. You can even add results that you are seeing as time progresses if you need a little extra encouragement! Try writing a countdown such as the amount of days until spring break or sayings to boost your determination like these: “Today is a new day!”, “Sticking to it!” or “This is the year!” 
Stay healthy—deprivation can lead to destruction If you start the New Year with losing a lot of weight quickly as your goal, chances are you won’t stick with it very long. Branning suggests that you spend some time educating yourself on the nutritional value of the foods you are eating. Be wise with how you spend your calories and figure out how you can get the most “bang for your buck (or in this case, calorie).” Branning recommends spending some time on websites such as
At 19, Joslyn learned that she did in fact have a strain of HPV that could develop into cervical cancer, and underwent her first LEEP procedure to remove the part of her cervix containing the infected cells. For the next couple of years, she continued the frequent doctor’s visits and regular pap smears, which, as a young adult, made dating especially difficult. “I felt ashamed of my diagnosis,” explains Joslyn. Though to this day she still doesn’t know how or who she contracted the disease from, she always remained honest about her condition. Most boys would get scared, never call again, and leave, but her husband, who she met at the end of her sophomore year of college, was different. “I decided to tell him on our second date. He was the first guy that said it didn’t matter because he wasn’t dating me because of my condition, but because he liked me.” At 21, Joslyn became engaged.
We’ve all gotten to that point at least once, and throwing up because you’ve had too much to drink is never a good feeling. There are people, however, that purposely make themselves throw up because either they want to sober up or because they think it will make them feel better. Either way, throwing up on a regular basis–especially from drinking–is an unhealthy party habit to kick. “Alcohol is a toxin, and if your body receives more than it can process, its natural protective reflex is to expel as much as possible, thus vomiting,” says Dr. Starcher. “If you are engaging in this practice once a week, you may increase your risk of liver and heart disease and studies have shown that heavy consumption of alcohol is positively correlated with breast cancer, as well.”
