I am a female sprinter and are looking for info. on different birth control pill options for an athelte. I did a search on the site and I didnt find much posted on this. however, I saw that charlie said that many of the elite women sprinters are on them. I know there are a lot of side effects, but also alot of advantages. as a female athlete myself, I was wondering if any women (or any men that may know) on the site know of a good brand with little side effects.
My wife has an implant in her arm, a little steel rod, last about 3yrs. So far, for her, the least side effects, compared to oral tabs its heaps better.
I would like to know more about this as well for the sake of my open female athletes who have expressed concern.
You want the lowest estrogen ones possible. Three options are Min-Ovral, Minestrin, and Marvelon. You may get some spotting at first, but be patient till it sorts out in a couple of months. If you complain to the Dr, he/she’ll switch you to a higher estrogen one and that’s not what you want (weight gain etc).
Hi Track,
I’ll take it upon myself to greet your arrival at this forum because so far as I can figure there are not many female members and that’s a pity. Hope you stick around because a female perspective on issues would provide a welcome counterview at times - and may even bring a touch more civility to some threads 
Will it say on them the estrogen levels? Does anyone have an example of a the levels in the ones above?
Thanks,
TC
Thanks for the responses!.. What is considered a low estrogen level ? What about the other hormone in it (progesterone). I know there are several types of progesterone used in different pills, does the type matter?
You’ll need to talk to a doc on that one but the three I mentioned are prevalent with athletes and work out well for them.
Checked this with some athletes I work with and in the UK this is known as Microgynon 30 it contains:
Levonorgestrel 150 micrograms
Ethinyl Estradiol 30 micrograms
From all reports it doesn’t seem to cause much weight gain. Indeed most of the athletes I know on them are holding levels of around 10-14% body fat with little effort.
Obviously check all this out with your doctor as this is not medical advice!
MONOPHASIC ORAL CONTRACEPTIVES DO NOT AFFECT LOWER LIMB MUSCULOTENDINOUS STIFFNESS
R. Stanton, A. Bryant, E. Hohmann. Musculoskeletal Research Unit, School of Health and Human Performance, Central Queensland University, Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia
Background: Recent evidence suggests that women not using oral contraceptives exhibit significantly altered musculotendinous stiffness (MTS) at ovulation. This may increase the risk of traumatic non-contact knee injury. However, it is unknown whether women using oral contraceptives exhibit the same changes.
Purpose: To investigate the effect of monophasic oral contraceptives on MTS.
Methods: In total, seven women who were using monophasic oral contraceptives volunteered for this study. Subjects were assessed for MTS using a unilateral hop test. Testing occurred weekly across the 4 weeks
of a single menstrual cycle. Repeated measures one way analysis of variance was used to identify the effect of menstrual cycle phases on
MTS.
Results: Mean (SD) MTS was 13 139 (1710) N/m at menstruation (week 1) and 12 858 (2037) N/m at week 2. At week 3, (ovulation) MTS was 13 016 (1370) N/m, and at week 4 MTS was 12 492 (2073) N/m. Repeated measures one way analysis of variance revealed no statistically significant difference in MTS stiffness across the menstrual
cycle (p.0.05).
Conclusions: Women using monophasic oral contraceptives do not undergo the menstrual cycle induced changes in MTS observed in those not using monophasic oral contraceptives. The resultant reduction in
electromechanical delay as a result of a stiffer system may have implications for the prevention of ACL injuries.