Birth Control and Type 1 Diabetes

Women always hear about the most important thing to practice is safe sex. This can be frustrating for diabetics since we also hear that the most important thing to do is to manage our diabetes. Since contraceptives like birth control can interfere with our diabetes, how and why do we have to choose which is more important - practicing safe sex or managing our diabetes?

A while ago, I was debating on whether or not to take birth control. This can be a difficult decision for many women. Being a diabetic makes it even harder as there are more risks involved with BC when you have diabetes.

 

You should definitely talk to your doctor before taking birth control to get a better understanding on this topic and decide what is best for you, but these are some things I wanted to share based on the research I did!

Side Effects 
According to the American Diabetes Association, birth control pills, patches, injections, and rings are generally considered safe for women with diabetes. However, the estrogen in pills can raise blood glucose levels, increasing a diabetics’ resistance to insulin.

To fix this, the diabetic would need to adjust (possibly increase) the amount of insulin she receives
Higher cholesterol levels associated with birth control increases the risk of heart attack. This can be scary as diabetics already have an increased risk of heart attack

Tips
Many physicians recommend taking birth control with the lowest dose of estrogen for diabetic women. It is also important to alter and monitor your insulin injections more carefully when on the pill.

Make sure to take the pill consistently/correctly to avoid surprises! To avoid confusion on whether or not the pill is working for you, it is important that you use it successfully. If you don't take it as prescribed, you may interpret the outcomes of inconsistency as negative side effects. And keep in mind that symptoms should improve with continued use!