Table of contents:
- Know first the common morning after pill side effects
- What's the difference in fat women and thin women?
- Why is that?
- Most taking birth control pills run the risk of overdose
Emergency birth control pills, often called morning after pill , is a hormone pill that women can take to prevent pregnancy. These pills work best if they are taken for the first 72 hours after unprotected sex. The side effects of the morning after pill are actually not much different from the usual birth control pill, but it turns out that there are some differences that may appear in obese and thin women.
Know first the common morning after pill side effects
The most common morning after pill side effects can include:
- Nausea or vomiting
- Dizzy
- Headache
- Breast pain
- Stomach ache
- Fatigue
Both those who are fat and thin can experience the side effects of the morning after pill. But indeed, the common side effects like the one above are mostly experienced by women with normal weight or who are underweight.
What's the difference in fat women and thin women?
If we dig deeper, what really distinguishes between obese women and thin women is the potency of the medicine. Emergency birth control pills are reported to be less likely to be effective at preventing pregnancy in obese women, especially those whose BMI scores are around 26 or more (meaning a tendency to obesity).
The report was concluded by a study published in the journal Contraception, as quoted by NHS England.
Why is that?
Morning-after pill contains levonorgestrel, a synthetic form of natural female progesterone. Levonorgestrel is also contained in mini birth control pills or progestin-only pill .
In women who are normal weight or underweight, levonorgestrel works effectively to inhibit the release of the hormone LH to prevent ovulation. However, experts have found that the levonorgestrel content is actually dissolved more quickly in the bloodstream of obese women. This results in levonorgestrel levels remaining only about 50 percent in the blood.
According to Tara Jatlaoui, M.D, who is a specialist in women's reproductive health, this makes the effect of emergency birth control pills less effective, thereby increasing the risk of pregnancy. That's why many obese women choose to drink more than the dose. They will usually take two pills at a time to be effective at preventing pregnancy.
What needs to be understood, the higher the dose received by the body than it should be, the risk of the intensity of the appearance of drug side effects can be stronger. So it is possible that obese women who take more than 1 pill of emergency birth control can experience the effects of nausea and fatigue that are more severe than thin women.
Not only that, you know!
Most taking birth control pills run the risk of overdose
If you take too many doses of medication than you should (of any kind, including birth control pills) at one time, you can experience signs of an overdose that include vomiting, nausea, and abnormal vaginal bleeding.
But indeed, further research is still needed to find side effects morning-after pill more concretely in obese women. If you think that you may have overdosed on a drug, seek medical attention immediately.
We recommend that you consult your obstetrician to find a more appropriate and safe contraception if you tend to be overweight, in order to avoid the risk of overdose. Alternatively, you can insert a copper-coated IUD five days after unprotected sex to prevent pregnancy.
x
