Frequently Asked Questions

What are the first signs of pregnancy?

Pregnancy symptoms include:-

no period or light period ,breast tenderness, swollen breasts ,nausea ,constipation ,frequent urination ,sensitivity to certain tastes or odors ,appetite changes, such as cravings for certain foods, inability to eat others ,tiredness, fatigue, sleepiness ,weight gain, feeling bloated/bigger ,feeling "different" ,if you are using fertility awareness method of monitoring fertility and your temperature remains higher rather than dropping after a missed period ,if you have a speculum and have been practicing self cervical exam, your cervix may appear blue or bluish Of course, these symptoms could also apply to other conditions, some even occur with PMS (pre-menstrual syndrome).

"No period" is the biggest indication. By the time your period is a few days late, a pregnancy test can be done. Pregnancy tests are not 100%, but the are reasonably accurate. Read the package inserts for details on specific tests. It IS possible to be pregnant and continue to have menstrual periods; the bleeding may be less than usual or a light period. IF it has been 72 hours or less since you had unprotected intercourse, you can try Emergency Contraception to try to prevent pregnancy after sex.

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Do drug companies conduct their clinic trial tests more frequently upon men or women?

Yes - in the past, drug trials were done almost exclusively on males, and yes, one main reason they did not use women for testing was changing hormone levels. Another reason was the potential impact or risk on future babies born to the women.

Unfortunately, as a result, women were/are prescribed medications based upon how they affected men without regard to whether the drugs act differently in women's bodies. Some heart medications, in particular, affect women differently than men.

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Why do women who are on the pill have a period if they do not ovulate?

The pill alters a woman's hormone levels during the three weeks you take the hormone pills. The fourth week of spacer pills is when you get your period. It is not, however, a true period. It is actually "break-through" bleeding caused by the DROP in hormones in your body.

When a woman is taking The Pill then the natural cycle is not happening. Birth control pills work by preventing ovulation, and without ovulation, there is no pregnancy.

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If I continuously take active birth control pills, will I not have my period?

You are right. By continuously taking birth control pills containing hormones (not the spacer pills) you will not ovulate and you will not have periods. Some women experience irregular bleeding with this continuous regime.

This regime was tested with women back before oral contraceptives got FDA approval. There is no medical problem but women were uncomfortable with it. For one thing, not having periods is associated with being pregnant. So, if you are taking pills to prevent pregnancy, it's nice to have some reassurance that you are not pregnant. Also women felt it was unnatural not to have periods. So the spacer pills, containing no hormones, cause a woman to have "break-through" bleeding. Resuming the hormone pills a week later prevents ovulation.

Because pills are packaged with 3 weeks of hormone pills and one week of spacer pills, you need to carefully monitor which pills you are taking if you want to take hormone pills continuously. And one pill package or cycle will last only 3 weeks rather than 4, and you will need to buy pills more frequently.

The risks with taking continuous hormones are not different than with taking them in the prescribed manner. Today's birth control pills contain much lower doses of hormones than when Oral Contraceptives were first introduced and are not associated with the risks earlier versions of the pill carried.

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