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Side Effects of Morning after Pills for Contraception

Updated on July 22, 2010
Morning after pills can also cause breast discomfort
Morning after pills can also cause breast discomfort

Emergency contraception or birth control must be done under the supervision of a fertility and reproductive health specialist because if it is done improperly, it could have long term side effects and can be harmful for health of a woman. In some cases, contraceptive pills can also cause difficulty in getting pregnant for a few months after stopping the pills. Emergency contraception should be used sparingly. Frequent use of morning after pills such as an i-pill or Yazmin in India or Seasonale, Jolessa, Quasense, Seasonique, Lybrel, Yak, Kariva, or Mircette in USA can not only decrease their effectiveness but long term use of these pills for contraception can alter the patterns of inhibiting or delaying ovulation, making it difficult to calculate your menstruation cycles. Contraceptive pills must be prescribed by a physician since the objective is to know why it is used. Though it is recommend to use morning after pills for emergent contraception once is a while but do not make it a habit because there are many women around the world who use these pills just because they know it will help them in avoiding pregnancy, so most of the sites with information on, How to not be pregnant?” recommend their use and this is not good for women’s health.

Mild-to-moderate headaches - a common side effect of morning after pill.
Mild-to-moderate headaches - a common side effect of morning after pill.

It is ideal to use morning after pills only once and the next month to begin planning. According to some recent research done by many senior gynecologists if contraceptive pills are used with intervals of less than two months, the effects will not wait in the woman and a women can form cysts in the ovaries (for eggs that were arrested). Also, frequent use of morning after pills includes other side effects like fluid retention, headache, breast discomfort, altered menstrual period (stop coming or come very often), bleeding, and absence of menstruation in some.

You can buy a morning after pill online here but remember to use it only for emergency, no frequent use

It is not logical to take morning after pill frequently since it must be understood that it is a a method of emergency contraception only and you should better check this word again, “EMERGENCY”. Even single use of morning after pill disrupts the natural behavior of the ovaries for a temporary time period and the next cycle is readjusted. But in using morning after pills continuously, it is possible that other hormones alter different from ovulation and women can have absence of menstrual periods, inadequate growth of the endometrium.

How a morning after pill works?

Morning after pills or contraceptive pills work as follows: Morning after pills alter the processes of ovulation that causes changes in the cervical mucus to prevent the rise of the sperm and prevents the implantation of fertilized egg, therefore, causing contraception.

Frequent use of morning after pills or contraceptive pills also cause nausea and vomiting in some females.
Frequent use of morning after pills or contraceptive pills also cause nausea and vomiting in some females.

Other side effects of morning after pills may include vomiting, headache, or sinus congestion that can last for more than 24 hours after consuming the pill. Sometimes, also causes abnormalities in the menstrual cycle. If morning after pills are taken when the endometrium is grown, it is possible for the women to experience abundant bleeding sometimes once or sometimes twice. Menstrual changes vary with the time of the cycle when the pills are consumed.

Emergency contraception over the counter
Emergency contraception over the counter

Watch this video in a new window Birth Control Pills Cause Embryonic Abortions Pro-Life Video

Effectiveness of morning after pill

Though emergency contraception with the use of morning after pill reduces the chance of pregnancy by about 85% but believing that if you will take it, then there will be no pregnancy and there is no need to use other protective measures like condoms, etc. is a big mistake because the effectiveness of morning after pill is for 24 hours. It is recommended to take morning after pills within 72 hours of sexual intercourse. In a recent study by WHO (World Health Organization), it has been shown that a morning after pill remains effective up to 120 hours, but between 73 and 120 hours, there were some duplication of pregnancies approximately 2.6% compared to the first 72 hours where there were a small percentage of pregnancies and that was 1.64%.

So last but not least, frequent use of morning after pills for contraception can cause many types of short term and long term side effects in women and can be detrimental for women's reproductive health so it is highly recommended to limit its use and use it on an emergency basis only.

Fluid retention and weight gain - Other side effects of frequent use of birth control pills
Fluid retention and weight gain - Other side effects of frequent use of birth control pills
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