Moody
Food for Thought: Birth Control and Emotions (Sex Ed 101)
wondering, 18 writes...
Birth control pills trick your body into thinking it's pregnant, right? They also make some people more moody. If that's the case, is it safe to say that those would be the same emotional changes you will experience when you actually become pregnant (more or less)?Brittany says...
When thinking about these things, it's important to keep in mind that every woman is different. Some women won't become moody on birth control, and those women who aren't moody on birth control, might be moody if they become pregnant... and vice versa.
Saying that birth control "tricks" your body into thinking its' pregnant is also a very simplified way of describing how the birth control pill works. Essentially, what is really does is send synthetic hormones to your reproductive system in order to prevent an egg from being released, which also makes the mucus thicker so it's more difficult for sperm to reach the egg just in case something happened and it did get released. It also affects the uterine lining so it doesn't build up as much as it would if you weren't taking any hormonal birth control, so if an egg did get fertilized, it won't have anything to implant to. All together, this prevents pregnancy.
As far as moodiness goes, it's hard to tell. If you're on a birth control pill that's right for you (keeping in mind that there are TONS of different pills out there), you shouldn't really have any side effects that are noticable. That's why a doctor usually has you come back after a few months of being on a new pill, just to see if it's working out for you and if you're unhappy with it at all.
But all that aside, there are many other hormones that affect a pregnancy. Generally, when dealing with birth control pills - it's either estrogen with progestin, or just progesterone. When you're talking pregnancy, it's Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (hCG), estrogen, progesterone, Human placental lactogen (HPL), Relaxin, Oxytocin, Prolactin, Placental growth factor, erythropoietin, calcitonin, vasopression, thyroxine, growth hormones, thyroid stimulating hormone, Adrenocorticotropic hormone, cortisol, Prostaglandin, endorphins, and then some.
Many of those hormones are present in your body even when you're not pregnant, but once you get pregnant, they begin to increase and start working together to create a healthy little baby. And when all that starts happening, you can imagine your body, mind, and emotions start to go a little haywire, not to mention all the thoughts that might be going through your head about how you're going to raise your child, will you be a good parent, etc.
There's more about the hormones I listed which can be found in this article if you're curious! I found it really interesting; it's great reading material.
Tags: pregnancy, birth control pills, the pill, emotions, hormones, pregnant, mood swings, moody