Birth Control Pills

      Birth control pills were once meant specifically to prevent girls from getting pregnant. Now more and more girls are using them not only to prevent pregnancy but to help control or suppress their menstrual cycle. To a girl it may seem like a creation from the heavens but are birth control pills really all they're cracked up to be?
      Like any other drug, birth control has effects that can change your body. Some of the more common side effects of birth control are nausea, acne, weight gain, spotting and mood changes. Those aren't very severe effects. More effects that should be taken seriously are chest pain, eye problems, headaches or swelling in the legs. These effects are more severe and less common than the first effects I listed. When you take the pill you increase your chance of getting high blood pressure, blood clots, strokes, heart attacks, liver tumors and gallstones. There are some studies that even show its connection to an increased risk of breast and cervical cancer. Of course there are people who never get any severe side effects but those are just the risk.
      There is always the controversy of fertility. Some birth control users say that once you are on birth control for a long time and you stop it takes a while to become fertile again. Others say that immediately after they stop they become fertile. There are also doctors with different beliefs which makes the controversy even more difficult to understand.
      What it all comes down to is whether it works for your body and what your doctor says. Just make sure to be aware of what changes happen to your body and consult with your doctor about them.