Any willing individual want to provide some assistance with something?

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Knicks

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I'm stepping outside right now and without going into unnecessarily in-depth details about why I'm requesting this, I need someone here to type out in decent detail how OCPs prevent fertilization and why break-through bleeding occurs. But the thing is, explain it as if you were explaining it to a COLLEGE freshman.

If anyone's willing and able, please do.

If you're not willing, obviously there's no need for you to respond to this thread.

Thanks in advance.

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OCP's prevent fertilization by preventing ovulation. The hormones present in the pills are the hormones of pregnancy. By taking the pills, you are basically tricking your body into thinking that you are already pregnant. As a result, the ovary does not release an egg as it normally would at mid-cycle. There is no egg present for fertilization during intercourse, and fertilization is thereby prevented.

Breakthrough bleeding is a common side effect. I'm not sure what the exact pathophysiology is, but it has something to do with the hormones' effect on the endometrium.
 
ugh, i hate this topic, probably why I never learned it. anyways, can OCPs cause abortion? I mean, if you give high dose of that stuff and kill off the LH and FSH from the anterior pituitary after fertilization and before the corpus luteum kicks in; would it cause endogenous progesterone/estrogen to drop and the endometrium to slough off -> egg not implant.
 
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ugh, i hate this topic, probably why I never learned it. anyways, can OCPs cause abortion? I mean, if you give high dose of that stuff and kill off the LH and FSH from the anterior pituitary after fertilization and before the corpus luteum kicks in; would it cause endogenous progesterone/estrogen to drop and the endometrium to slough off -> egg not implant.

Basically thats the morning after pill. It messes with the follicle maturation. I think you experience more spontaneous abortions with IUDs though.
 
ugh, i hate this topic, probably why I never learned it. anyways, can OCPs cause abortion? I mean, if you give high dose of that stuff and kill off the LH and FSH from the anterior pituitary after fertilization and before the corpus luteum kicks in; would it cause endogenous progesterone/estrogen to drop and the endometrium to slough off -> egg not implant.

If you are using the pill properly, it is 99% effective. Since there is no fertilization taking place, there is no abortion. However, if you aren't taking it right, fertilization can occur. In those cases, high or even standard dose of OCP can prevent implantation, which some people consider abortion. Also, continued use of the pill after pregnancy occurs can result in birth defects and miscarriage.
 
OCP's prevent fertilization by preventing ovulation. The hormones present in the pills are the hormones of pregnancy. By taking the pills, you are basically tricking your body into thinking that you are already pregnant. As a result, the ovary does not release an egg as it normally would at mid-cycle. There is no egg present for fertilization during intercourse, and fertilization is thereby prevented.

Breakthrough bleeding is a common side effect. I'm not sure what the exact pathophysiology is, but it has something to do with the hormones' effect on the endometrium.

Great thanks, I'm explaining the whole OCP thing to a [college] friend of mine, cuz she asked me about it since she knows I'm a Med Student. But like someone else said, I also didn't really didn't like this topic.

So, just to go into "medical" detail about the whole process: OCPs contain estrogen and progesterone, right? So the progesterone maintains the endometrium and increases the cervical mucus thickness, right? And as long as there's progesterone present, the endometrium isn't going to slough off, right?

This is how it works, right? lol

If I'm missing some details, please fill 'em in.


Also, if someone knows the reason for the break-through bleeding, please explain.
 
OCPs and morning after pill (plan b) do NOT cause abortion. They prevent ovulation and fertilization. The "abortion pill" is RU-486 and terminates existing pregnancies.
 
OCPs and morning after pill (plan b) do NOT cause abortion. They prevent ovulation and fertilization. The "abortion pill" is RU-486 and terminates existing pregnancies.

excellent point, but that's just semantics so far as some people are concerned.

EDIT: so as to be OT, I'll venture that the reason there isn't much good info on the breakthrough bleeding issue is because no one really knows why it happens in conjunction with OCP use.
 
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OCPs and morning after pill (plan b) do NOT cause abortion. They prevent ovulation and fertilization. The "abortion pill" is RU-486 and terminates existing pregnancies.

I agree that it's semantics. I'm not catholic, but I think the difference the priest probably cares about is whether a fertilized egg is flushed out (as in plan B) or whether there is no fertilization (as in OCPs). True that it's not an abortion either way, but some argue that every fertilized egg deserves a chance, even if it hasn't implanted.
 
Great thanks, I'm explaining the whole OCP thing to a [college] friend of mine, cuz she asked me about it since she knows I'm a Med Student. But like someone else said, I also didn't really didn't like this topic.

So, just to go into "medical" detail about the whole process: OCPs contain estrogen and progesterone, right? So the progesterone maintains the endometrium and increases the cervical mucus thickness, right? And as long as there's progesterone present, the endometrium isn't going to slough off, right?

This is how it works, right? lol

If I'm missing some details, please fill 'em in.


Also, if someone knows the reason for the break-through bleeding, please explain.

technically analogues of those hormones

Also not 100% sure if its Progesterone (but i think it is) has some influence on isthmus of the fallopian tube contraction as well as affecting the cilia in the tube, helping prevent fertilization even more.
 
I agree that it's semantics. I'm not catholic, but I think the difference the priest probably cares about is whether a fertilized egg is flushed out (as in plan B) or whether there is no fertilization (as in OCPs). True that it's not an abortion either way, but some argue that every fertilized egg deserves a chance, even if it hasn't implanted.

That is not the nature of the Catholic church's objections. They are against birth control in all forms except for "natural child planning" aka rhythm method. It has to do with believing sex is for procreation only, rather than trying to prevent unintended abortions.
 
The breakthrough bleeding occurs because normal hormonal cycles that would normally cause menses are interrupted. In most common OCPs this is why there are a week of sugar pills so as to allow for a period, to assure women that they are not pregnant. However in some cases the hormonal disruption is enough that normal endometrial shedding does not occur as it naturally would. In these cases you can have endometrial thickening until it reaches some threshold and sloughs off causing breakthrough bleeding.
 
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