Oral Contraceptives (the Pill) and Weight
Kathy felt pretty confident that she was protected by her birth control pills. But she put on a lot of weight over the winter and spring, and by summer, extra weight wasn’t all she was carrying.
As you know many women differ in their response to oral contraceptives depending upon their menstrual type (light flow, moderate flow or heavy flow), their body type (underweight, normal weight, overweight) and their ovarian hormone sensitivity (estrogen-sensitive, androgen-sensitive, progesterone-sensitive).
But know new research shows that overweight women had a 60 percent higher risk of failure with their oral contraceptives than women of normal weight.
Women who weigh 155 pounds or more had a higher risk of pregnancy when on very low dose birth control pills. This is very important as the average woman in the United States over the age of twenty is 152 pounds.
The researchers believe the higher failure rate may have something to do with how the women metabolize the contraceptives, as the hormones that make them effective are fat-soluble and may become too diffuse in a woman with more body fat.
Clinical trials for oral contraceptives typically don’t include overweight women, but that’s not the real world, so it’s important for them to know that they are not protected at the level others may be.
And that’s true even if, like Kathy, the weight gain was recent. It’s just that sort of unexpected change that could leave a woman, well, expecting.
When choosing an oral contraceptive, consult with your doctor to find one that’s tailored to meet your individual needs.
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