Can I do a colon cleanse and still take my birth control pills?
Thursday, May 14th, 2009 at
5:36 am
I just started a colon cleanse, but the whole point of it is that it absorbs everything in your intestines and then pushes it out.
But I don't want my birth control absorbed out! Can I still take it and it be effective? Or if I woke up at 3 am in the morning (I take my last dose of colon cleanse stuff at 10 pm, the next one at 7 am) and took the BC would it still be effective?
thanks.
Tagged with: birth control • colon • intestines
Filed under: How To Cleanse Your Colon
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Probably not. Alot of people are warned about birth control pills interacting with antibiotics, or if they are having diarrhea or frequent loose stools. The reason for this is due to the fact that in order to be effective bacteria in your stomach must effectively break down parts of the hormones in the BC that have been recycled through your liver and must be re asborbed once again to reach the target hormone level (required to suppress ovulation). If the contents of the intestines are cleared prematurely, or there is a lack of bacteria (ie after taking an antibiotic) there is a risk of incomplete absorption of your BC.
Your suggestion theoretically would work, but I would be extra cautious. I would suggest either of two things:
a) Do not take your BC on the day you do your colon cleanse and take 2 pills the following day, then resume as normal.
b) Take your BC as normal, use backup contraception for 7 days after the colon cleanse (I would recommend using extra method of contraception for the remainder of your cycle).
It is ultimately up to you and how comfortable you are. There is always some slight risk regardless with birth control pills, but the number is quite low, mostly due to human error (such as missing pills).
Lastly, the colon is self cleansing and does not require products to cleanse the bowel or intestinal contents. Sometimes these products can lead to electrolyte disturbances such as hyponatremia, or hypokalemia. Obviously, this decision is up to you but you should be cautious when using them, and perhaps check with your doctor regarding its safety for you. Hope this helps.
don't do it. These 'programs' are hoaxes at best and dangerous at worst!!!
Colon "cleansing" is useless. Period. NO matter what those infomercials say, they are useless and only designed to take your money. It's a VERY HIGH COST LAXATIVE.
This is a 'repeat' of 'colon cleansing' that rears up every few years.
It does not absorb anything. If you eat normally and have bowl movements your colon is in good shape, Also, if you've had a colonoscopy every few years, you know that you are have to take take a powerful laxative to ensure your colon is clean for the doctor to observe the colon lining with the instrument.
Colon cleansing is useless because all this laxative does is make you crap horrendously, ie, it will cause your colon to evacuate and then it will cause the rest of your digestive tract to empty. You'll flush out the good bacteria in your gut that you need for proper digestion. And it is potentially dangerous as it will dehydrate you because of diarrhea.
It will NOT 'detoxify' you. It will NOT make you lose weight (you will 'drop' some but it will come back as your digestive tract starts to fill up with what it is supposed to be doing.
Do NOT do this at all, especially if you are pregnant!
http://www.quackwatch.com/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/detox.html