Birth control pill

Most methods will not cause weight gain. Most people gain weight over time (whether they are using birth control or not), so if you use birth control for a few years, weight gain may not be related to your birth control specifically. The exception to this is the shot. Some people who use the shot will gain some weight. However, the majority of people who use the shot don’t gain much.

Spotting refers to a small amount vaginal bleeding that is unpredictable or irregular and not related to your period. Spotting can be a normal side effect of some birth control methods, especially progestin-only ones like the shot, implant, mini-pill, and hormonal IUDs as well as with low-dose combination birth control pills. When birth control causes spotting, it isn’t dangerous and generally doesn’t make you lose that much blood, even though it might seem like it.

The main ways hormonal birth control prevents pregnancy is by stopping ovulation (when the ovary releases an egg). The pill, patch, ring, and shot are most reliable at blocking ovulation, so people using these methods may have fewer ovarian cysts. If you tend to get ovarian cysts, using these methods helps to prevent future cysts. The progestin-only, a.k.a., mini-pill, has an unpredictable effect on ovulation and may lead to more cysts. These almost always disappear on their own, but if you’ve had problems with cysts in the past, the mini-pill may not be the best option for you.

There are positive and negative things to say about every method. And everyone’s different—so what you experience may not be the same as what someone else experiences. And what side effects are “worth it” to you might be different than for someone else.

You can start by thinking about what’s most important to you about your method. Is your top priority using the method that will be the most effective at preventing pregnancy? Something easy to use? Something that makes your period lighter? Something that you can stop and start without seeing a provider? There are birth control options for all of these. It’s also common to try more than one birth control option before finding one that works for you, so don’t settle if your current option isn’t working.

There are a lot of great things about being on birth control that go beyond pregnancy prevention. Protection against ovarian cancer, an added boost to your vitamin D levels, lighter and less painful periods, the list goes on.

Most people who use hormonal birth control—combination pill, patch, ring, implant, shot, and hormonal IUDs—will have less painful periods than those who don’t. This is because these methods of birth control make the lining of the uterus thinner. There’s less tissue in the uterus to shed (that’s what happens when you have your period), so periods are lighter. One special note on the implant and the shot: for some people, these methods cause more days of spotting or bleeding in between periods, but periods become lighter and less painful overall.

Using a method of birth control with estrogen, like the combination pill, patch, and ring, increases your risk of forming a blood clot, but if you have no history of stroke, blood clots, or heart attack, and your family members have never experienced a blood clot, the risk is still quite low. If you have a history of these medical conditions, you have a higher risk of forming a new blood clot already so adding birth control with estrogen to the mix increases that risk and isn’t recommended.

Progestin-only methods like the implant, mini-pill, shot, and IUDs don’t increase your risk. If you’re worried about blood clots, we recommend talking to a health care provider about which birth control options are the safest for you.

Try this: If you just started the pill in the last few months, it’s possible bleeding between periods will most likely fix itself.

Also, taking your pills at the same time each day and not skipping pills and then doubling up can decrease chances of spotting or bleeding between periods. STIs and pregnancy can also cause you to have bleeding between periods, so you might want to check with a health care provider to be sure those aren’t the reason for the bleeding.

It can be complicated to tell exactly how hormonal birth control affects mood, but you’re the only one who truly knows how you feel. Everyone reacts to birth control differently, so if you feel your birth control might be contributing to depression, talk with your health care provider. It might be a matter of switching methods or deciding whether to avoid hormonal birth control altogether, or you may choose to wait it out since some negative side effects go away with time.

Some birth control pills can lighten blood flow during periods and reduce PMS symptoms and acne. They can also offer protection against health problems like endometrial and ovarian cancer, iron deficiency anemia, ovarian cysts, and pelvic inflammatory disease.

The relationship between birth control and depression is complicated, especially since different methods can affect people very differently. If you feel your birth control might be contributing to depression, talk with your health care provider. It might be a matter of switching methods or deciding whether to avoid hormonal birth control altogether, or you may choose to wait it out since some negative side effects go away with time.

For most people, the risk of blood clots is low when they use the combination pill, the ring, and the patch. But smoking increases this risk. If you are over 35 and smoke 15 or more cigarettes a day, the combination pill, patch, and ring are not safe options for you. If you’re over 35 and you smoke less than 15 cigarettes a day, talk to your provider about whether these birth control methods are safe options for you.