Patient's question:
If you take birth control pills for a long time, will it affect your body and future fertility?Doctor's answer:
Hello: It is best not to take it for a long time! Most people rarely change after adopting one method of contraception. For example, with birth control pills, some women continue to use this method for contraception, but long-term use of birth control pills may reduce menstrual flow or cause amenorrhea.Amenorrhea is a common symptom of gynecological diseases, which can be divided into physiological and pathological types. Physiological amenorrhea refers to the absence of menstruation in women before puberty, during pregnancy, during lactation, and after menopause due to normal changes in sex hormones in the body. It is a normal physiological phenomenon. Pathological amenorrhea can be further divided into primary and secondary types. Primary amenorrhea refers to women who are over 16 years old (with regional differences), have developed secondary sexual characteristics, or are over 14 years old but have not developed secondary sexual characteristics and have never had menstruation. Secondary amenorrhea refers to women who previously had normal menstruation but have stopped menstruating for various reasons for 6 months or more, or have missed 3 or more cycles according to their original menstrual cycle.
The female hormones in birth control pills differ greatly from those secreted by the ovaries in terms of quantity, type, and timing. Under the effect of birth control pills, the endometrium cannot grow to normal thickness, and the glandular development of the endometrium is also immature. Usually, menstrual flow is related to the thickness of the endometrium. If the endometrium grows thin, the menstrual flow will naturally be reduced, which is the reason for the gradual decrease in menstruation.
The above changes in the uterus are generally the longer the medication is taken, the greater the changes, the more severe the reduction in menstrual flow, and even amenorrhea may occur. When menstrual flow decreases after taking the medication, stop taking it immediately.