Diarrhea can makebirth control pillsless effective.
If you use oral birth control, even one episode ofdiarrheacan slightly increase your risk of becoming pregnant.
This article explains how diarrhea can negatively affect birth control.
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It discusses when you should use backup contraception and what birth control options are available.
How Diarrhea Interferes With the Pill
Oral contraceptives work by changing your hormone levels.
This stops you from ovulating (releasing eggs from your ovaries).
This, in turn, prevents you from getting pregnant.
The pill is usually over 99% effective when taken as directed.
Their effectiveness depends on taking them on a regular basis.
When you miss a dose or two, you may ovulate and become pregnant.
Diarrhea affects how well your body absorbs foods, liquids, and medications.
Instead of being taken up into the bloodstream, they are lost in the stool.
Severe diarrhea means you pass six to eight watery stools in a 24-hour period.
Chronic diarrhea is also common aftergastric bypass surgeryand some other procedures involving the intestines.
In addition, chronic diarrhea can come and go.
It can recur for months, resolve for a period of time, then return.
If you develop chronic diarrhea after reliably using birth control pills for a while, talk to your doctor.
It is commonly recommended that women who live with chronic diarrhea use birth control methods other than the pill.
Alternative Methods of Birth Control
The pill is just one form of birth control.
The difference is that the hormones are absorbed through the vaginal wall.
If your diarrhea continues for more than 48 hours, you may not be protected against pregnancy.
Use a backup birth control method like a condom or diaphragm.
Summary
If you take oral contraceptives, be aware that having diarrhea can change their effectiveness.
Diarrhea can impact the pill if you have severe diarrhea or diarrhea that lasts for more than 48 hours.
Nebraska Medicine, University Health Center.You asked, we answered: How effective are birth control and condoms?
National Health Service UK.What if I’m on the pill and I’m sick or have diarrhoea?
Bonthala N, Kane S.Updates on women’s health issues in patients with inflammatory bowel disease.Curr Treat Options Gastroenterol.
