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Actually what you heard is absolutely true.
The morning after pill contains the same hormones that are in
regular birth control bills, estrogen and progestin. The Food
and Drug Administration recently declared that high dosages of
normal birth control pills taken within 72 hours of sexual
intercourse can be used as a form of emergency contraception.
However, you need to know what laboratory produces your pill,
in order to figure out the exact dosage. Like the regular
morning-after pill, you must take the same dosage twice 12
hours apart. Emergency contraception does not prevent the
fertilization of an egg by a sperm, but it creates a hostile
environment in the uterus for the implantation of an egg and
so prevents the beginning of a pregnancy.
The side effects of post-coital
contraception are similar whether you take the morning-after
pill or high dosages of regular birth control pills. Vaginal
bleeding usually occurs within a week after taking the pill,
although this is not a sure sign of effectiveness. Normal
menstruation should return within 4 to 6 weeks. Nausea,
vomiting, headaches and breast tenderness may accompany use of
the morning-after pill. It is important to evaluate what you
would do if a pregnancy did occur despite the post-coital
contraception, since the treatment can damage the fetus. The
range health effects of post-coital contraception have not
been conclusively studied, and it is possible that frequent
use of it could have harmful effects. It should not be used as
a form of birth control but as an emergency option for
preventing a likely pregnancy. The morning after pill is the
only immediate option available for preventing pregnancy in
circumstances of rape, or failure of a barrier method (if a
condom tears, etc.) or when a couple does not want to risk
pregnancy after unprotected intercourse.
While taking your own birth control pills
at home sounds like a convenient idea, there are some
important things to keep in mind. It is a good idea to take a
pregnancy test before self-administering emergency
contraception. There is a chance that you may already
unknowingly be pregnant from another incidence of failed
protection or unprotected intercourse. If you are already more
than three days pregnant, you should not be using post-coital
contraception. In addition, when you go to a clinic or Health
Services to receive the morning-after pill, anti-nausea pills
are also prescribed to prevent you from vomiting. If you vomit
after taking the post-coital contraception pills, you may
throw up the drug, undoing its effectiveness. For these
reasons, it is advisable to go to Health Services or a clinic
to receive the morning-after pill instead of medicating
yourself.
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