WHAT ARE CONTRACEPTIVE MEDICATIONS USED FOR?
Young women are started on contraceptive medications for a variety of reasons. These reasons include: need for reliable birth control, heavy or irregular periods, severe cramping, taking another prescription drug that would make pregnancy dangerous, or evidence of a low estrogen state (such as missed or no periods). In addition, many contraceptive medications have also been shown to help improve acne. HOW DO PILL AND PATCH CONTRACEPTIVES WORK? The pill and the patch work in a very similar way. Combined birth control pills and the birth control patch contain two hormones: estrogen and progestin. Estrogen works to develop the lining of your uterus (womb) and progestin adds thickness and depth to that lining. To use a tree image, the estrogen is like the branches and the progestin is like the leaves. A tree is not the same without both. The presence of estrogen and progestin, in the right amounts at just the right time in your cycle, is necessary for the release of an egg from the ovary.
