Birth control pill

One of the main ways hormonal birth control prevents pregnancy is by stopping ovulation—meaning that the egg never leaves the ovary. The pill, the patch, the ring, and the shot are the methods that are the most reliable at blocking ovulation, so people using these methods may have fewer ovarian cysts. If you tend to get ovarian cysts, your provider may recommend one of these methods to prevent future cysts. The progestin-only pill, also called the mini-pill, has an unpredictable effect on ovulation and may actually lead to more cysts. These cysts almost always disappear on their own, but if you’ve had problems with cysts in the past, the mini-pill may not be the best birth control for you.

Any form of birth control is better than no birth control when it comes to the environment. But let’s look a little closer at the claim that hormones in birth control are getting into the environment through pee. The simple answer is: yes, it is. But—and this is a big but—it is small compared to other sources of estrogen. Current research finds that the contribution of EE2 (the primary active ingredient in the pill, the ring, and the patch) to the total amount of estrogen in of our waterways is small. Bigger—much bigger—sources of estrogen in the environment come from industrial and manufacturing processes; agricultural fertilizers and pesticides; the drugs we give livestock; and the waste and runoff produced by these sources. Simply removing hormones from contraceptives will not eliminate the environmental impacts of estrogenic compounds. It’s much better to buy organic food if you can and even better to tell Congress to do its job and regulate chemicals, than to forego birth control. From Mother Earth’s standpoint, any form of birth control is better than no birth control.For purists who don’t want to add any hormones to the environment or to their body, no matter how small, there are options for you. Natural latex condoms and the copper IUD are two frequently cited examples of ultra-green contraceptives.

Using a method of birth control with estrogen, like the pill, patch, or ring, increases the risk of forming a blood clot, but the risk is so low that if you don’t have any factors that increase your chances of having a blood clot, you can safely use all types of birth control. If you do have an increased risk of blood clots because you’ve had one before you’ve had a stroke or heart attack, or you have a medical condition that increases your risk of a blood clot, like high blood pressure, then adding birth control with estrogen to the mix increases your risk too much and it’s not recommended that you use birth control with estrogen in it. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a birth control method for you! 


If you can’t take estrogen, you have quite a few options available to you. First you have the non-hormonal methods, like the copper IUD. You can also use any of the hormonal methods that only contain progestin, not estrogen, like the implant, mini-pill, shot, and hormonal IUDs, like Mirena, Skyla, Liletta, and Kyleena. These don’t increase your risk of blood clots and are all really good at preventing pregnancy.

If you’re worried about blood clots or don’t know if you have risk factors, talk to a health care provider about which birth control methods are options for you.

If you have dysmenorrhea (the medical term for extremely painful periods), hormonal birth control can make a big difference. Options like the combination pill or a hormonal IUD can reduce the level of pain and heaviness of your bleeding, basically making it easier for you to live your life when you have your period. There are a bunch of hormonal methods that can help regulate your periods, decrease bleeding, or even make your period go away completely.

There are a lot of great things about being on birth control that go beyond pregnancy prevention. Protection against ovarian cancer, an added boost to your vitamin D levels, lighter and less painful periods, the list goes on.

For most people, the risk of blood clots when using the ring, the patch, or the combined birth control pill (which is the most common type of pill) is low. But smoking increases this risk. If you are over 35 and smoke 15 or more cigarettes a day, the combination pill, patch, and ring are not safe options for you. If you’re over 35 and you smoke less than 15 cigarettes a day, talk to your provider about whether these birth control methods are safe options for you. People who smoke can always use the IUD, the implant, the shot, the mini-pill (progestin-only pill), and any method that is hormone free (like condoms, for example).

If you feel like your birth control is changing your behavior, it’s time to talk to your health care provider. Everybody responds to birth control differently, and your provider can help you decide whether it’s time to try something else. It might be a matter of switching hormonal methods or deciding whether to avoid hormonal birth control altogether, or you may choose to wait it out since some negative side effects go away with time. The bottom line: If your current method is making you feel blah, don’t settle. There are a lot of methods to choose from and sometimes it can take a few tries to get it right.

The relationship between birth control and depression is complicated, especially since different methods can affect people very differently. If you feel your birth control might be contributing to depression, talk with your health care provider. Remember, there are a lot of birth control methods out there—don’t settle until you find the right one for you!

If you have endometriosis (a condition where tissue grows outside of your uterus instead of inside it), hormonal birth control can do wonders to lessen your symptoms. There are a bunch of hormonal methods that can help regulate your periods, decrease bleeding, or even make your period go away completely.

It can be complicated to tell exactly how hormonal birth control affects mood, but you’re the only one who truly knows how you feel. Everyone reacts to birth control differently, so if you feel your birth control might be contributing to depression, talk with your health care provider. Remember, there are a lot of birth control methods out there—you can find the right one for you!

Most pills actually help with acne, so you could talk to provider to see about switching to another kind of pill.

Try this: If you want to stay on your current type of pill, you could try taking it at night. You could also talk to your doctor about getting a pill with less estrogen.