1. What is the emergency contraceptive pill?
The emergency contraceptive pill is a hormonal birth control pill that is used to reduce the risk of an unwanted pregnancy after unprotected sex. There are many types of emergency contraceptive pills, in Vietnam the two most popular are the following:
Progestin-containing drugs: Levonorgestrel content of 0.75mg/tablet or 1.5mg/tablet; Medicines containing active anti-progestin: Mifepristone 10mg strength.
2. Effects of emergency contraceptive pills
- Ovarian suppression: Contraceptives containing external sex hormones are introduced into the body, inhibit the body's secretion of ovestin, thereby inhibiting the secretion of FSH and metakentrin, inhibiting the ovaries to ovulate, helps prevent pregnancy effectively;
- Changes the cervical mucus: The drug contains progestin, making the cervical glands become sticky, preventing sperm from passing to meet the egg, thereby preventing pregnancy;
- Changes in the morphology of the endometrium: Drugs containing progestin and estrogen are introduced from the outside (not the same as the progestin and estrogen produced by the body during a normal menstrual period), causing the endometrium to grow. Sex is not good, does not allow eggs to implant in the uterus, thereby helping to prevent pregnancy.
3. Manifestations after taking emergency contraceptive pills
Because it is a hormonal contraceptive, the use of emergency contraception can cause some unwanted side effects.
Specifically:
- On the digestive system: 50% of women after taking emergency contraception have nausea and vomiting. Others have abdominal pain, flatulence,... If you vomit right after taking the medicine, you need to take another dose instead. If vomiting occurs 2 hours after taking the medicine, no need to take another dose. The solution to overcome the symptoms of nausea is to take the drug with food or before going to bed; On the nervous system: Headache, dizziness, astigmatism...;
- Mammary glands: Chest tightness, chest pain. This is because the drug retains water under the influence of female hormones. When the drug wears off, the pain and tightness of the chest will automatically disappear; Vaginal bleeding: About 50% of women taking emergency contraceptive pills experience vaginal bleeding outside of their period. In most cases, women do not need to worry too much about abnormal bleeding after taking emergency contraception because these pills contain progestin or estrogen - the hormone that causes vaginal bleeding. Once your period returns, you will no longer experience irregular bleeding. However, there are cases where vaginal bleeding after taking emergency contraceptive pills is a sign of many unusual conditions such as miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy;
- Other unwanted side effects: Some cases of taking emergency contraceptive pills have menorrhagia, menstrual disorders, changes in the amount of vaginal discharge, mood swings or lead to frigidity, no desire for sex. If you want to get pregnant, you need to stop using emergency contraception until the next menstrual period, so the development of the fetus will be safe and healthy:
4. Notes when using emergency contraceptive pills
Emergency contraception is indicated for use when having sex without using contraception or using a condom but the condom is torn or punctured. In other cases, emergency contraception should be used when you are using a daily oral contraceptive but forget to take it for more than 2 days or are using injectable contraceptives but the time of injection is delayed as prescribed.
According to doctors, emergency contraceptive pills should be taken as soon as possible, preferably within 72 hours of having unprotected sex. Up to the 5th day after sex, you can still use emergency contraception, but according to the principle, the sooner you take it, the more effective the pill will be.
Emergency contraception is more than 75% effective in preventing pregnancy, but it is not recommended to use it regularly because the more you use it continuously, the less effective it will be. The dose of the drug is 4 times higher than the daily contraceptive pill, so it should only be used by healthy people and not used more than 2 times/month. The abuse of emergency contraceptive pills can cause many dangerous side effects and complications such as atrophy of the uterine lining, long-term effects on a woman's fertility. In addition, women who have the habit of taking emergency contraceptive pills are also prone to liver, kidney, cardiovascular, breast cancer or reproductive organ cancer,...
Especially, if they are dizzy, Abdominal pain, vaginal bleeding that is heavier or does not go away after a few days of taking emergency contraceptive pills, you should see your doctor. At the same time, after taking the drug, the next period will appear in the next month. Usually, your period will come on the right day, it can also be 1 week before or after. If your next period is too late, you should check to see if you are pregnant because there are still cases of pregnancy despite taking the pill.
Emergency contraception is a double-edged sword because it can affect the fertility of the user. Therefore, women should avoid abusing this method of contraception but should apply safer methods such as using condoms, placing an IUD, taking oral contraceptives every day,... If taking oral contraceptives In case of emergency due to force majeure, women should carefully read the instructions for use of the drug, take it as soon as possible after sex, take the full dose and at the prescribed time.