How soon do you start getting pregnancy signs?
April 5, 2010 by admin
Filed under Pregnancy Questions
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When do you start getting pregnancy signs?
Well I been off birth control pills since December 28th. Now we are wanting to start trying for another boy but as long as its healthy don’t matter.So my last period was April 10th-16th. So today is 2 weeks left until am suppose to start my period. When would i start getting the signs? I know every pregnancy is different. But just wanting to know when is the earliest I could be getting signs & what could they be? Could I have been signs now?
Male Birth Control And The Controlversial Issue
December 24, 2009 by pregnancy
Filed under birth control
Male birth control is considered a controversial issue for lots of reasons. A few years ago large pharmaceutical companies like Schering, Organon or Wyeth announced the production of hormonal birth control designed especially for men, but the results of their research hasn’t been finalized yet. Why? Because the investments are huge and the market is not that receptive to male birth control pills. So far, many drug manufacturers have abandoned their projects, stopping research programs in progress.
Statistics show a certain willingness on the part of men to use alternative forms of birth control. Normally, male birth control is administered as an injection with testosterone that would prevent the production of sperm. Women, however, have shown reluctance towards entrusting men with birth control treatments. For the moment, vasectomy is the only viable male birth control option, yet, few people are willing to try it. How is hormonal birth control supposed to work for men?
The male birth control solution has to combine testosterone with progestin so as to suppress the production of sperm but with process reversibility. This is not possible with a pill because the testosterone would be too quickly broken down by the liver. Hormonal male birth control may be produced either as a monthly shot or as a topical product. Biannual implants could also be a solution, but the procedure required is considered too invasive.
Between 10% and 15% of men have a low reaction to hormonal male birth control, which is quite a high rate of non-response. The issue is in the number of cells that need to be blocked. While with female hormonal treatments, there is just one egg to prevent from fertilizing, with male birth control, there are millions of spermatozoon that have to be inactivated. The efficiency of this birth control method also seems to depend on race factors.
Condoms definitely make the most viable form of male birth control. Couples successfully use condoms, and so do people who have occasional sex. It is the only birth control method that is non-invasive and protects against pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.
Problems of the Antibiotics and Birth Control Association in all Usage
Many unplanned pregnancies occur because women lack information on the possible consequences of combining antibiotics and birth control pills. Myths have been created over the years and lots of stories now dominate the Internet with serious warnings about the inefficiency of birth control pills when administered in parallel with antibiotics. Reality is nevertheless different from the scientific point of view, and the following lines should help you understand that.
The action of hormonal pills is usually impaired by one antibiotic in particular: rifampin. There is a small percentage of female patients that experience a decreased effect for the pill when antibiotics and birth control are administrated simultaneously. Even if the incidence of such occurrences is reduced doctors advise for the use of a supplementary birth control method such as condoms. No one can really tell who is more exposed to this reduced efficiency until actually facing the situation.
Modern hormonal products seem to be more affected by the interactions between antibiotics and birth control. The problem is that modern birth control products have very low hormonal combinations for a reduction of the side effects. Besides rifamin, you should also be cautious when using amoxacillin, penicillin, sulfonamide, ampicillin, minocycline, tetracycline and barbiturates.
Antibiotics and birth control pills do not make a good association because of the chemical reactions that take place in the liver. The antibiotics stimulate a more rapid breaking down of estrogens, and without a proper level of these chemicals in the blood, the efficiency of the birth control pills drops considerably. Caution is the best course of action under the circumstances, even if the incidence of unplanned pregnancies is not too high.
So as to avoid future complications, drug manufacturers have developed the practice of specifying the potential problems of the antibiotics and birth control association in all usage instructions. Check with your physician about the importance of continuing the supplementary birth control use after the end of the treatment with antibiotics.
Some women choose to stop taking their birth control pills while following a treatment with antibiotics, but this is hardly a solution given how difficult it is for the body to adapt to these sudden hormonal changes. Talk to the doctor before taking any drug specifying the fact that you are on birth control pills. Besides antibiotics, other medications could also reduce the efficiency of the hormonal barrier.
Another Type of Birth Control Pill is The Mini-Pill
The birth control pill represents one of the most efficient contraceptive methods available. Women take it daily, and thanks to the combination of hormones, it prevents ovulation and the release of eggs. And it works as follows:
-It contains a combination of estrogen and progesterone, both inhibitors of the ovulation. Pregnancy cannot appear without ovulation.
-It thickens the cervical mucus preventing the sperm from entering the uterus.
-It changes the lining of the uterus, thus preventing the nesting of the egg.
You need to administrate the birth control pill daily, at the same hour, twenty-one days per month. During the seven days when there is no hormonal administration, the period appears. Depending on the manufacturer, the pills are available in 21 or 28 pill packages. For the 28-pill package, the last seven pills are inactive, meaning that they contain no hormones at all.
As for the advantages of the birth control pill, they are pretty numerous.
-The monthly bleeding is less intense.
-The pre-menstrual discomfort disappears.
-There are no consequences on fertility following the use of the birth control pill.
-Hormonal imbalances may be treated.
-It prevents some forms of cancer.
There is one special kind of birth control pill that contains active hormones for 12 weeks and then inactive pills for a week. This means that the frequency of the period will be reduced to one in three months.
The mini-pill is another type of hormonal contraceptive we should mention in the category of the birth control pill. It contains progesterone only, and it requires continuous administration daily, on the same hour, without the monthly break. The efficiency of the mini-pill is considered inferior to the combined birth control pill.
The normal efficiency of the birth control pill is very high, with only 8 couples out of 100 reporting a pregnancy during the treatment. The chances of getting pregnant increase if you fail to take the pill daily, or you take it at random hours. Plus, there are some individual factors at work here, and they also influence the efficiency of the medication.
For example, the birth control pill may not work properly when drugs or herbal supplements are administered in parallel. Moreover, the incidence of adverse reactions should not be overlooked. It is important to read all the warnings on side effects and the possible consequences on the health condition before using this contraceptive method. Only start a hormonal birth control treatment following doctor’s orders!