Smoking while using birth control. Is it dangerous?

There are several health risks that go along specifically with smoking while on combined hormone methods like birth control pills or the Patch. Combined hormone methods contain both synthetic estrogen and progestin. They mimic the hormones produced by a woman's ovaries. Usually, these hormones prevent the ovaries from releasing an egg (ovulation). They can also thicken the cervical mucus, which prevents sperm from joining with an egg.

Smoking while using birth control pills, the Patch, or NuvaRing can be dangerous.

Women who use combined hormone birth control types and smoke cigarettes can have very serious health risks. The older the woman is and the more she smokes, the greater the danger. Risk of death is much higher for women 35 and older who smoke and use combined hormone methods than it is for nonsmokers. Women 35 and over who smoke and use a combined hormone birth control type are nearly 10 times more likely to have a heart attack than women who don't smoke or use one of these methods.

If you want to use the Pill, the Patch or NuvaRing and are 35 or older and smoke, be prepared to give up one or the other.

This is especially true if you have diabetes, high blood pressure, or elevated cholesterol, because these conditions further heighten the risk of heart attack or stroke.

If you cannot quit smoking, you must choose another birth control type. Trying to stop smoking is not easy. The physical withdrawal could last only two weeks, but the psychological addiction is a longer and more difficult path to follow. But take heart, within one year of quitting, a smoker's risk of heart disease is cut by half. Five years after quitting, an ex-smoker's chance of heart attack and stroke drops to about the same as the risk of someone who never smoked at all.

Ten years after quitting, an ex-smoker's risk of developing lung cancer is reduced to about the same as a nonsmoker's risk.

Some smoking facts.

Women who smoke die nearly seven years earlier than nonsmokers.
Women who smoke are 13 times as likely as nonsmokers to develop lung cancer - the number one cause of cancer death for North American women.
Smokers are nearly four times as likely as nonsmokers to develop cervical cancer.
Smokers have twice as much heart disease as nonsmokers - those who smoke two packs or more a day have three times as much heart disease.
Smoking is also associated with cancers of the bladder, colon, esophagus, kidney, liver, mouth, pancreas, rectum, stomach, and throat.
Smoking seems to stimulate the recurrence of genital warts.
Smoking is associated with early menopause.
Smoking is associated with decreased fertility. Women who smoke take longer to get pregnant than nonsmokers. Smokers also have much higher rates of miscarriage.

Smoking during pregnancy:

Causes premature birth
Leads to low birth weight, which causes other health problems
Increases the risk of infant death just after birth by 25 percent

Helpful tips to stop smoking:

There is no "safe" level of smoking. But the less you smoke, the fewer risks you run.

Don't smoke down to the end of the cigarette.
Take fewer puffs on a cigarette.
Cut down the amount you inhale.
Cut down the number of cigarettes you smoke each day.
Try using a nicotine substitute - skin patch or chewing gum.
Talk to your doctor about prescription medication that can help you.
Chew sugarless gum.
Keep a list of reasons you want to quit and refer to it often.
Enlist the support of family and friends.

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