Birth control pills? And long-acting? What exactly does that mean? In fact, the so-called “long-acting”, as the name implies, is to take once for a long time, but often this “strong” contraceptive pill, usually accompanied by very strong side effects. If we do not know it clearly, understand its composition and principle of action, blindly taking it is likely to be counterproductive and lead to irreversible consequences. What is the long-acting contraceptive pill? What are the side effects of taking it? Long-acting contraceptive pills are divided into compounded oral long-acting pills and long-acting contraceptive injections. The compounded oral long-acting pills are made of long-acting estrogen and synthetic progestin, and can be taken once for one month. Long-acting pills are contraceptives that have a longer duration of effect and work mainly to inhibit ovulation and prevent the fertilization of eggs. Long-acting contraceptives rely on the storage and gradual release of the drug in fatty tissue to achieve a long-lasting effect. The advantages of taking the pill orally are that it lasts longer, does not need to be taken daily, is easy to use and place, and does not interfere with sexual life. Taking long-acting pills can have the side effects of early pregnancy reaction and increased leucorrhea, and sometimes the contraceptive effect is not as good as short-acting pills. The four types of medication are oral, skin patch reagents and injections which are less common. The most common one is to place the medication inside the IUD, which can maintain the contraceptive effect for up to five years through a unique slow-release feature. The long-acting estrogen is ethinyl estradiol cyclopentane, which is orally absorbed through the gastrointestinal tract and slowly released to provide long-acting contraception, while the progestin induces the endometrium to convert into a secretory endometrium, causing withdrawal bleeding, with an effective rate of 96-98%. Since long-acting oral contraceptives have a very high hormonal content and more side effects, they are rarely used in the market at present. In conclusion, long-acting contraceptives are less effective than short-acting ones, while for emergency contraceptives, the effect may be slightly better. However, considering the safety and the degree of damage to the body of the user, the use of long-acting contraceptives is still not recommended, and it is recommended that short-acting contraceptives are preferred. References: [1] Heng Lili. Emergency contraceptive pills [J]. Family Medicine. 2020(2):2