Health Tips

EMERGENCY CONTRACEPTIVE PILLS VS ORAL CONTRACEPTIVE PILLS

Contraceptive pills are an important aspect of unplanned pregnancy in today’s generation. Are you aware that there are more than 40 registered contraceptive pills in Malaysia? There are two types of contraceptives pills: morning after pills & daily birth control pills. Do you want to know the difference and have a thorough understanding about them? Continue reading to learn more!

Talk to us now!

What is emergency contraception? ^2,3,4,5,8

Emergency contraception is a type of contraception, aims to prevent pregnancy after having unprotected sex, contraceptive failure or misuse before implantation of fertilized egg to uterus wall. It is only indicated as a backup contraception and not used on a regular basis. This is because the frequent use of emergency contraceptives (more than twice) within one menstrual cycle leads to a rise in hormones causing higher possibility of side effects to happen.² Hence, emergency contraceptives should not be used as the primary form of contraception as oral contraceptive pills are more effective for daily use. 

Morning after pills consist of levonorgestrel pill and ulipristal acetate pill which delay ovulation (release of egg from ovaries) and prevent sperm from fertilizing the egg. 

Levonorgestrel pill (LNG): ⁸

It should be consumed within 72 hours (3 days) after unprotected sex to achieve an effectiveness of 80-85% to prevent pregnancy with a 1-2 dosing regimen.

Ulipristal acetate pill (UPA): ⁸

It should be consumed within 120 hours (5 days) after unprotected sex to achieve an effectiveness of 95-98% to prevent pregnancy with a single dose regimen. 

Nevertheless, it is highly advisable to take emergency contraceptive pills as soon as possible after unprotected sex. As the time to take the pills after unprotected sex increases, the pills’ effectiveness decreases.

Talk to us now!

Which categories of individuals are suitable to use emergency contraceptives? ^2,5,8

Emergency contraceptive is suitable for any women or girl who :

• had unprotected sex

• contraceptives failure or misuse 

• wants to avoid an unwanted pregnancy 

• have contraindications with the daily oral contraceptive pills 

Talk to us now!

Comparison between emergency contraceptive and oral contraceptive pills ^4,5,6,7,8

Talk to us now!

Side effects of combined oral contraceptive pill & ways to manage them ^5,8

1. Vomiting: ^1,8

If you vomit within 2 hours of taking the pill, it will be considered as a “missed pill”. The pill may come back up or not be fully absorbed into the blood to exert its contraceptive effect. Hence, take another pill as soon as possible shortly after vomiting and take the next pill at your usual time. 

2. Nausea: ^7,8

Nausea may occur as a side effect or overdose of the active pills. Remember to not take the pill on an empty stomach too. Take the pills every day at night after dinner to avoid experiencing nausea during daytime which may interfere with your lifestyle. 

3. Breast tenderness: 

Changing combined oral contraceptive pills into progestogen-only pills or pills with drospirenone are solutions to avoid breast tenderness as both pills have a lower chance of it occurring. 

4. Bloating and fluid retention: 

Changing to the progestogen only pill with a mild diuretic effect which is removing salt and water from the body (Ex: drospirenone) can prevent this from happening. 

Now we have reached the end of the article. Hopefully, this article gives you more insight and knowledge on the correct information about oral contraceptive pills. Do you still have any questions regarding OCPs? Consult our online pharmacists for free HERE! You can also get a FREE OXWHITE premium cloth mask and FREE OCPs DELIVERY!

A WORD FROM DOC2US

Consult our professional doctors and healthcare professionals on DOC2US if you have any health-related concerns. DOC2US is a mobile application that allows you to talk to a doctor or any healthcare professionals via text chat at any time and from anywhere. For better communication, you can even send our online doctor images or voice messages related to your medical inquiry.

Download DOC2US app on Apple App Store, Google Play Store and Huawei App Gallery; or use our web chat at https://web.doc2us.com/

Note: DOC2US is not for medical emergencies. In the event of urgent medical conditions, please call 999.

Disclaimer: As a service to our users and the general public, DOC2US provides health education contents. Please note the date of last review or update on all articles. No content on this site, regardless of date, should ever be used as a substitute for direct medical advice from your doctor or other qualified clinicians.

REFERENCES

1. https://www.doc2us.com/adakah-kita-boleh-hamil-ketika-mengambil-pil-perancang 

2. https://www.howuknow.com/en/contraception-methods/other-methods/emergency-contraceptives 

3. https://www.doc2us.com/debunking-myths-of-plan-b-morning-after-pill 

4. https://www.howuknow.com/en/node/1421 

5. https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/morning-after-pill/about/pac-20394730

6. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/contraception/emergency-contraception/ 

7. https://www.mimsonline.com.au/Search/AbbrPI.aspx?ModuleName=Product%20Info&searchKeyword=yaz&PreviousPage=~/Search/QuickSearch.aspx&SearchType=&ID=80790001_2 

8. https://my.psa.org.au/s/article/Women-s-sexual-and-reproductive-health 

9. https://www.webmd.com/sex/birth-control/medicines-interfere-birth-control-pills 

Written By

Ms. Hean Shi Wen

Reviewed By

Doc2us Medical Board