However, failures may occur in rare instances. Studies have not clearly demonstrated any significant association between failures of the pill and the taking of antibiotics. It is associated with an increased risk of gastrointestinal bleeding and shouldn’t be used to prevent the condition. Unexplained, severe pain in either calf muscle is a warning: Stop taking your contraceptive pills immediately and seek medical advice.Īspirin has not been shown to be effective at preventing deep vein thrombosis. The combined pill is definitely not recommended if you’ll be spending over a week at very high altitude (4500 metres or higher). Consider alternative contraception if you’re planning to stay at over 3500 metres for several weeks. High altitude travel can also raise the risk of DVT for women on the pill. Properly fitted graduated compression stockings will reduce the potential for DVT among those at higher risk, including women taking the pill. (Try to secure an aisle seat so you can get up and move about the cabin more frequently.) You should avoid taking sleeping pills. To avoid the potential for DVT, exercise your lower legs regularly while seated and take frequent walks in the cabin. DVT can also lead to the potentially fatal pulmonary embolism, when a piece of the clot breaks off and becomes lodged in the arteries to the lungs. (The same goes for car, bus or train journeys of over five hours.). DVT is also a potential side-effect (albeit rare) of taking the contraceptive pill, which makes DVT a slightly higher risk for female travellers on long flights. Long-haul flights can increase the risk of deep-vein thrombosis (DVT), a condition that results in potentially fatal blood clots, usually in the legs. Is deep vein thrombosis more of a risk if you are taking the pill? However, you should also use other means of contraception until you have taken 7 active pills in a row. However, if a pill is more than 24 hours late, take it as soon as you remember and keep taking pills at the usual time. If your pill is simply ‘late’ (less than 48 hours since the last dose) take the most recent missed pill as soon as you remember, and continue taking the remaining pills at your usual time. (A ‘late’ pill is deemed to be less than 24 hours, while a ‘missed’ pill is when more than 24 hours has passed.) Spotting, irregular periods, or even pregnancy may result if you are late or miss taking your contraceptive pill. They just need to be changed at the correct time. Contraceptives that are delivered at a constant dose, such as by injection, by implant or by vaginal ring, are not affected by illness or time zone changes. Your pill instruction leaflet will have more advice. If you get sick during your travels use extra contraception during the period of illness and for the following 7 days. A bout of traveller's diarrhoea or vomiting could mean your body does not absorb the active medication in the pill. Travellers' diarrhoea (TD) is the most common illness of travellers to developing countries, causing illness in up to 70% of those staying for two weeks or more. Will the pill still work if I become ill or get traveller’s diarrhoea? Here’s a time zone converter to help you work out the time difference. All you have to do is remember to take your pill as usual. Once on board, adjust your watch forward to the destination time and the next time you take a pill it will be 7pm – you’re normal time back home. On your day of departure you’ll be taking the medication at 1pm. Six days before you leave, start taking your pill an hour earlier each day. Say, for instance, that your destination is 6 hours behind the time at home and that you normally take the pill at 7pm. So, another option is to adjust to your destination’s time. But, that may not always be convenient if you’re travelling across a number of time zones. Some women take a second watch set to the time back home and stick to their normal pill-taking routine. If the time difference means you would have to take your pill in the middle of the night, take it before you go to bed instead of in the morning. The contraceptive pill must be taken every 24 hours and it’s better to take it early rather than late. How do I manage the change of time zones? Travel doctors get lots of questions from women about taking the contraceptive pill while travelling overseas. By Dr Eddy Bajrovic, Medical Director of Travelvax Australia.
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