Is it really risky to take birthcontrol and smoke if I'm 35?

I know the most obvious thing is to just quit smoking but I can't do it. I really need to be on the pill not just for birth control but adult acne, irregular periods, cramps, mood swings, and other problems that can't be helped by oral contraceptives. Is it like 1 in a million can have a stroke or is much higher?

Smoking most definitely increases the risk of stroke, heart attack, cancer.... all the good stuff. There are a zillion studies, but depending on your situation, you could easily be increasing your chances of various issues five or tenfold. Who knows.

Why can't you quit, have you tried any of the Rx options?

And good luck!
John Jones, M.D.

Studies have shown that smoking dramatically increases the risk of heart attack in women at the ages when the overall risk of this event begins to rise steeply (over 35 years of age). The combination of oral contraceptive pill use and smoking has a greater effect on risk than the simple addition of the two factors. Therefore, oral contraceptive pills generally are not prescribed to smokers over 35 years of age.

In another study that appeared in the January 1999 issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, an estimate of the annual risk of death in the U.S. from cardiovascular disease, attributable to low-dose combination oral contraceptives among smokers versus non-smokers of defined age groups, was undertaken. Results of the study found 0.06 and 3.0 deaths per 100,000 nonsmokers 15 to 34 years of age and 35 to 44 years of age, respectively. In smokers this risk increases, respectively, to 1.73 and 19.4 deaths per 100,000 users in these two age groups; however, 97 percent and 85 percent of this risk is due to the combined effects of smoking and using oral contraceptives.

It is much higher. An estrogen-free birth control is best for women with a higher risk of stroke (such as smokers and women over 35). Your best bet would be to talk to your doctor about your situation.

EDIT: Just so you know, smoking alone greatly increases your risk.

It is dangerous. Would a nicotine patch circumvent that? I mean, the harmful effects of smoking but you still get the nicotine?