The Scary Birth Control News Your Gyno Isn't Telling You
You already know that taking an oral contraceptive can slightly increase your risk of developing a blood clot. But what medical experts just discovered (and in fact, the info is so brand new that your own doc may not know about it yet) is that certain types of the Pill up the chances you suffer from a life-threatening clot more than others.
By Zoë Ruderman
Women who take a pill with drospirenone, a hormone found in newer forms of contraceptives like Yasmin and Yaz, are two or even three times more likely to get a blood clot than those who are on a pill with the hormone levonorgestrel (used in most of the types of birth control that have long been on the market).
Related: A Shocking STD Statistic
Researchers, who published their work in the British Medical Journal, stressed that while yes, there's an increased danger of developing clots (also called venous thromboembolism) the likelihood of it happening is still low.
And as one MD told USNews.com, "I definitely, definitely would not take anybody off Yaz or Yasmin who's been on it six months or a year and is doing well, who has no family history or personal history of venous thromboembolism." But he did add that if he had a new patient come in tomorrow who wanted to start taking birth control, "I might not reach for the Yaz or Yasmin product".
Related: Questions You Forgot to Ask the Gyno
And regardless of what kind of pill you're on, you can cut your risk of clots and health complications relating to birth control by never, ever smoking.
Have you ever had problems with your birth control? Did you solve them by going off the pill or switching to another one?
Read more at Cosmopolitan.com!
Become a fan of Cosmo on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!
Want More Sex & Love Advice? Subscribe to Cosmo & Save Up to 77%!
