High cholesterol levels increase your risk for developing cardiovascular disease. If you take oral contraceptives for birth control, you face a slight risk of developing blood clots that could cause heart attacks or strokes. Other factors, such as smoking, exacerbate your risk. Ask your doctor whether you can safely continue to use oral contraceptives if your total cholesterol measures more than 200 mg/dl -- milligrams per deciliter of blood.
Total Cholesterol
Your total cholesterol includes the sum of your low-density lipoprotein -- LDL or "bad" cholesterol -- levels and your high-density lipoprotein -- HDL or "good" cholesterol -- levels plus 20 percent of your triglycerides, a type of fat that acts similarly to LDL cholesterol in your bloodstream. Total cholesterol levels between 200 mg/dl and 239 mg/dl put you at borderline risk for cardiovascular disease. If your total cholesterol measures higher than 240 mg/dl, your risk heightens.
Risk Factors
The severity of this risk depends on a number of medical and lifestyle factors. Your age, gender and personal and family history of heart attacks and strokes affects your risk. If you have diabetes or high blood pressure or weigh more than you should, you increase your odds of suffering a heart attack or stroke. In addition to smoking, lifestyle choices that make you more susceptible to heart disease include drinking more than two alcoholic beverages a day, failing to exercise and taking certain medications, including birth control pills.
Hormones
Oral contraceptives, by themselves, pose minimal threat. The estrogen in birth control pills can cause blood clots, but modern pills contain low amounts. Your doctor can help you evaluate your overall risk for cardiovascular disease, including your cholesterol levels, and tell you whether you can continue safely taking oral contraceptives. If you take oral contraceptives that include estrogen and progestin, switch to a progestin-only contraceptive. If you take progestin by injection, usually administered every three months, it offers about the same protection against pregnancy as oral contraceptives that contain estrogen. Oral versions of progestin do not work as well.
Considerations
Signs of blood clots include sudden change in vision, headaches or pain in your stomach or legs. If you take oral contraceptives that contain estrogen or statins to control your cholesterol levels, do not eat grapefruit or drink grapefruit juice. Certain properties in grapefruit inhibit your body's ability to metabolize drugs. Drugs build up in your system, increasing the risk of side effects such as blood clots and strokes. If your method of birth control does not include hormones -- condoms, for example, -- your cholesterol levels should not affect its safety. But discuss your concerns with your doctor.
