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8 Common Side Effects of Taking Birth Control Pills

By: Emily Lockhart on Tuesday, April 1st

If you take, or have taken, hormone-oriented birth control pills, I don’t have to tell you that they can cause some pretty wacky side effects. In the first few months of taking a new birth control pill, your body may have reacted with slightly annoying cramps or breast tenderness to more serious migraines or breakthrough bleeding, causing you to switch pills or swear off them forever.

Here are the most common and widely reported side effects of taking birth control pills…

1. Spotting

Embarrassing and unpredictable spotting, or breakthrough bleeding as doctors call it, is most common when taking progestin-only shots or low-estrogen pills. It occurs when the lining of the uterus becomes thin and sloughs off a little bit in the middle of your pill cycle.

irregular period spotting

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