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Pill, patch, vaginal ring, implant, intramuscular injection… The means of contraception are numerous and varied. Just as mistakes are common! Find out which ones to avoid at the risk of reducing the effectiveness of your contraception or even affecting your health.
Hiding personal history
“You should never hide your personal or family history from a healthcare professional. Before opting for a hormonal contraceptive, the patient’s risk factors must be reviewed“, assures Dr Odile Bagot, gynecologist.
Using a combined pill (a tablet which contains two hormones, editor’s note) is therefore to be avoided in certain women, due to “a greater risk of venous (phlebitis or pulmonary embolism) and arterial (stroke, myocardial infarction) thrombosis“, warns the Ministry of Health.
THE government website also reveals that the pill is contraindicated in “women suffering from stroke, angina pectoris or myocardial infarction, phlebitis or pulmonary embolism, women suffering from severe diabetes with vascular complications, women whose blood pressure is greater than 160/95, women with very high levels of lipids in the blood (cholesterol or triglycerides), women with or having had inflammation of the pancreas, women suffering from severe or acute renal failure, women having or having had breast or uterine cancer…“, to name just a few.
Before choosing your contraceptive, transparency is therefore essential.
Do not protect yourself after vomiting or diarrhea
Severe diarrhea or vomiting occurring within 3 hours of taking the pill may cause the pill to be ineffective.
“The hormones in the pills may not be absorbed sufficiently and the contraceptive effect may wear off“, specifies the Vidal website.
The right reaction? “You have to protect yourself and take a pill right away.“, advises Dr. Bagot.
Self-medicate
Certain medications, such as antibiotics (rifampicin and rifabutin), antifungals, and some anticonvulsants (primarily phenytoin, carbamazepine, primidone, topiramate, and oxcarbazepine), may reduce the effectiveness of hormonal contraceptives.
This is also the case for antiepileptic, antituberculosis, antimigraine and antiviral medications (used in particular to treat AIDS).
“Once again, you should never hide the medications you take“, warns Dr. Bagot.
Use herbal medicine
St. John’s wort and the pill don’t mix well. The plant, present in certain herbal medicine products, can reduce the effectiveness of progesterone-based hormonal contraceptives (oral and implanted), according to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
Dr. Bagot, for his part, wishes to qualify the effects of St. John’s wort: “It all depends on the dose consumed“, she recalls.
To smoke
Combining cigarettes and contraceptive hormones is not a very good idea.
“Estrogen-progestin methods of contraception (combined oral contraception, patch, intravaginal ring) should not be used because they expose you to serious health problems (risk of a blood clot)“, warns the Améli site.
In reality, everything depends on the contraception adopted, emphasizes Dr Bagot.
“Purely progestogen pills and the implant have no contraindication with tobacco. If we can only take the pill, then we integrate the cigarette risk into the overall vascular risk. A young smoker who is not overweight and without cardiovascular risk can take the pill. Women must have a choice! But for that, you must first discuss it with the health professional… and don’t forget to say everything, even if you are dizzy or smoking.“.
Interrupt then resume the pill
Taking the pill intermittently is dangerous. This bad reflex increases cardiovascular risks and in particular the appearance of phlebitis.
“The vascular risk is at its maximum during the first six months. It is therefore important not to stop then take the pill again, because you must be subject to this risk again, not to mention the other effects due to the body’s adaptation, such as bleeding.“, concludes Dr. Bagot.