Birth control and liver

[Kela]

Hello!

Well it’s been a while since I’ve been here:D

I’m due to get my implant changed tomorrow, just wondering what the deal is with birth control and liver problems?

I read some stuff that said oral birth control can cause liver tumours..is this true and what’s the deal with non oral birth control like the implant?

Thanks

[Sam W]

Hi Kela,

My biggest recommendation is to talk to your healthcare provider about these concerns, since they will have the best grasp of the things you may be at risk for given your medical and family history. There is some evidence long term use of certain oral contraceptives can increase the risk of some liver issues. However, the main concerns with liver health and the implant are that it's not recommended for people who are already dealing with liver issues.

[Kela]

Okay thanks Sam W

Is the main concern then that if you already have liver problems, then the active hormone in the implant won’t be metabolised and used by the body properly?

[Heather]

My understanding of this is that if you already have liver problems, combined oral contraceptives (quite specifically) could potentially make them worse. But the literature out there is pretty clear that this is a rare issue and that OCs don't *cause* liver problems where there were not any before. If you don't have pre-existing liver issues, this isn't likely something you need to be concerned about. If you don't even use a method with estrogen in it in the first place -- the implant doesn't contain any estrogen -- to the best of my knowledge, this is a total non-issue.

I'm not sure where you read what you did, but decades ago, when the amount of estrogen in birth control pills was much, much higher than it is now, there were different concerns and findings. Some of that material is still out there and high up in search results about the pill and the liver, so you may have read something out of date without recognizing it. The pill -- and other hormonal methods -- of the 60s, 70s and 80s is very different than the pills of today.

[Kela]

I asked the nurse and she confirmed it was a non issue

Isn’t it funny, a few years ago I was worried about pregnancy scares, and now I’m worried about liver functions and smear tests!

Ooh one other question, my arm is slightly itchy where I had the implant replaced...is that a common side effect of local anaesthetic wearing off?

[Heather]

I'm glad you were able to do that.

You know, a lot of people have a lot of fears and worries around all of this, and that often has a lot to do with the fact that a lot of people still usually grow up either directly hearing or picking up on fear-factoring or misinformation about both pregnancy and contraception. Of course, it's also not like this isn't a major issue: it is! So, it's pretty understandable to have concerns about any of it.

That is a common side effect, indeed!