|  | Family Health | Womens Health

Menopause and Prior Birth Control Use Risks

Most forms of birth control that women take today contain two different hormones: estrogen and progestin, a synthetic form of progesterone. During menopause, many women continue to take birth control pills, since it can lessen the symptoms and make the experience more bearable. To date, there have been no negative links between prior birth control use and menopause

  1. Time Frame

    • For the most part, women who take birth control begin doing so in their 20s when they become sexually active. They will often continue use into their 30s and 40s, when the first symptoms of menopause begin. This stage is called perimenopause. Some women even begin taking birth control pills in their 40s and 50s for its positive effects on menopause symptoms.

    Effects

    • Hormonal birth control can lessen the negative effects of menopause such as hot flashes, night sweats and irritability. During menopause, women's ovaries stop producing estrogen, which produces many of the effects associated with menopause. Since birth control pills supply that estrogen, they will lessen the symptoms, and a woman may not even notice them until she stops taking the pill. In essence, continuing birth control through menopause has the same effects as hormone replacement therapy.

    Warnings

    • If you decide to continue taking birth control pills during menopause and perimenopause, talk to your doctor about your options. Many women choose to move to lower-dose options since they still provide relief with fewer side effects. You may also want to begin taking a medical-grade multivitamin since birth control use can affect vitamin absorption.

Womens Health - Related Articles