After you take the pills

• Your next period may be earlier or later than usual.

• Your flow may be heavier, lighter, or more spotty than usual.

• If you see other health care providers before you get your period, remember to tell them that you have taken morning-after pills.

• Schedule a follow-up visit with your clinician if you do not menstruate in three weeks or if you have symptoms of pregnancy.

• Be sure to use another method of contraception if you have vaginal intercourse before your period.

Side effects

Side effects associated with the use of morning-after pills usually taper off one or two days after the second dose has been taken.

• Nausea, usually mild, is experienced by 50 percent of women who use morning-after pills.

• Up to one out of three women experience vomiting.

• Breast tenderness, irregular bleeding, fluid retention, and headaches may occur.

If you use emergency contraception frequently, your periods may become quite irregular and unpredictable. Repeated use is not advised.

Emergency contraception may not prevent ectopic pregnancy. Ectopic pregnancies develop outside the uterus. They must be treated or they will cause complications that may cause death.

If you think you may have an ectopic pregnancy, get medical attention immediately. Signs of ectopic pregnancy include:

• severe pain on one or both sides of the lower abdomen

• abdominal pain and spotting, especially after a missed menstrual period or a very light one

• feeling faint or dizzy

*30/155/5*

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 25th, 2009 at 10:58 am and is filed under Women's Health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.