That ashwagandha, you know, that herb thing everyone’s talking about. I heard it from my neighbor, she says it good for, uh, what’s it, stress and sleeping better. But, does ashwagandha affect birth control? My granddaughter, she’s on that pill, you know. She ask me, “Grandma, you know everything, does that, uh, ash…ashwa…that herb mess with my birth control?” I tell her, “Honey, I don’t know everything, but I will find out, you just wait”.
So, I ask around. Some folks say yes, some say no. It’s like asking if rain will come tomorrow – nobody really knows for sure, you know? I heard one lady say that ashwagandha, it messes with your, uh, your insides, your lady parts insides. That it can make that birth control pill not work so good. She says it changes your, your, uh… hormone levels.
Then there’s this other thing, some fancy words, I don’t know, uh, “estrogenic effects.” That ashwagandha might act like that estrogen stuff, the thing that makes you a woman, you know? If it does that, maybe it could mess with the pill? I don’t know. It’s all very confusing, these big words, uh, they say.
Then I heard, if you take too much of that ashwa-thing, it could make your, uh, your body get rid of things too fast. Like, you eat something, and it goes right through you, you know? Maybe it does that with the birth control pill, too? Makes it go through you too fast, so it doesn’t work no good? Could be, right? Makes sense to me, but I ain’t no doctor.
Some other folks, they say, “Nah, it don’t do nothing to the pill.” They say there ain’t no proof, no, uh, no real knowing that it messes with it. They say it’s like worrying if eating too many carrots will turn you orange. Might be true, might not, who knows? But they say don’t worry too much about does ashwagandha affect birth control. But I still worry.
There are some things that I know for sure make the pill not work, though. Like that, uh, St. John’s something. That’s another herb, I think. And those, uh, anti…antibiotics. Yeah, those things. And some other stuff for, uh, being sick. They say those things really do mess with the pill. But that ashwagandha? They not so sure.
Here what I think, you know, for does ashwagandha affect birth control. Better safe than sorry, right? If my granddaughter, she worried, I tell her, “Just use another, uh, another thing, you know, just in case.” There’s other ways to, uh, to not have babies, right? Use one of those, just to be sure. That’s what I say.
I also heard that that ashwa stuff, it stays in your body for a little while. Not too long, maybe, uh, two, three days, they say, for some of it. Some other, uh, fat…fat something, it takes longer. Don’t matter to me, it is just some days, you know.
But that’s what I figured out, anyway. It’s all a big maybe, you know? That ashwagandha and birth control, it’s a mystery. Maybe it does something, maybe it don’t. But if you’re worried, just be extra careful, that’s all. That’s what this old lady thinks, anyway. You young folks, you be careful out there, you hear?
Here a list of things, maybe you need to know:
- Ashwagandha, some say it good for stress.
- Some say it might mess with birth control, the pill.
- “Estrogenic effects,” big word, means it might act like woman stuff.
- St. John’s Wort, that’s a no-no with the pill, they say.
- Antibiotics, also no good with the pill, I heard.
- Does ashwagandha affect birth control? Maybe, maybe not.
- Better safe than sorry, use extra, uh, protection, you know.
- Ashwa-thing stays in body some days.
That is what I know, just so so, not too much. That herb, that pill, better ask doctor, not me.
