The Pill is NOT an excuse to have
sex without another form of
protection. The 1% failure rate is higher than it sounds, for one thing,
and that's when it's taken under
ideal conditions. Kinda like...testing something
in a vacuum. Ideal conditions almost never occur in
real life, so have sex with no other
prophylactic besides the pill ONLY if you are ready to have
kids.
Some of the most common varieties, such as
Ortho-Novum and
Orthotryciclin also help with
skin problems (much
adult acne results from
hormone imbalances, see). In my opinion, it also helps with
PMT, but maybe that's just because pain definitely tends to cause tension!
Weight gain, btw, is relatively uncommon, but not
rare. It's not a good reason to not try the pill if you need it, though. Recurrent
nausea and weird breakouts are pretty common for the first
cycle or two, but if you can last, it may be
worth it to you.