Thread: How likely is it that I'll become infertile due to birth control? & other questions.

Typically lymph nodes swell when your body is fighting off some infection. I had this happen to me a few times about a year ago, in my throat. Every time I had a cold coming on my dang lymph nodes would swell. Never happened to me before, and hasn't happened since. I can't think of any connection to birth control with this, but if it continues to happen for the next few months I would suggest switching to another brand. This particular pill could be lowering your immune system for all we know.

Long-term effects of hormonal birth control are... unclear. The pill really hasn't been around long enough for there to be enough data to determine what will happen to a woman when she's 60 after she's taken the pill for x amount of years.

Have a read up on the internet of possible long-term side effects, but those mainly apply to women who have been on the pill for years upon years, if at all. You could be on the pill for 40 years and everything could be fine. Then again, say if you're a heavy smoker, the pill could contribute to blood clots in someone as young as you. It just depends on the person.

I don't recall ever reading anything about infertility as a side-effect. The pill just controls the amount of specific hormones in your body, and seems like most effects of the pill (like weight gain, weight loss, hair loss, sex drive gain or loss) reverse once a woman stops taking it.

So, long story short, if I were you I wouldn't worry myself about infertility. When you get older you might want to consider other, non-hormonal birth control options, but I'd say you're perfectly okay for now.