Free Dear Playboy Advisor: Questions From Men and Women to the Advice Column of Playboy Magazine by Chip Rowe Page A

type of pill she’s taking. While past research has shown that the pill lowers the hormones thought to affect sexual desire, a recent study of 364 women suggests that certain types of pills may inhibit them less than others. Writing in the Archives of Sexual Behavior , researchers at San Francisco State University found that users of triphasic pills, which vary the level of progestin released during the pill’s 21-day cycle, reported more sexual thoughts, fantasies and arousal than those taking monophasic pills, which maintain a consistent level of the hormone. Surprisingly, women taking triphasics also reported more sexual thoughts and interest than women who weren’t using oral contraceptives, but pill users may be hornier to begin with. Another interesting finding: Women not taking the pill reported more and better anal sex.
     
    What are the odds?
    My wife says birth control pills fail about three percent of the time, while I’ve read that condoms fail about 12 percent of the time. So what would the failure rate be if a couple used both the pill and a condom—0.36 percent?—J.T., College Station, Texas
    Your calculations are on target, but they’re based on the worst-case scenario, i.e., the woman forgets to take her pill, the guy is a klutz with the condom and they don’t use spermicide. In the best-case scenario, in which both people know what they’re doing and do it well, the probability of simultaneous failure is one in a million. About the only way to get better odds is not to have sex.
     
    Morning-after pills
    I’ve heard there’s birth control that can be taken after sex. Is that true? My girlfriend and I had a scare after a condom broke, so we’re curious about any safety valves out there.—R.W., Oakland, California
    Given our culture’s reliance on pills to battle everything from tension headaches to lackluster personalities, it’s surprising that we haven’t embraced more drugs that combat the serious social problem of unwanted pregnancies. There are two methods. The first is to take a specific dose of common birth control pills within up to five days after unprotected intercourse (it’s most effective within 120 hours). There are two types, both of which work by preventing the fertilized egg from implanting in the uterus. The first contains estrogen and progestin and can reduce a woman’s chance of getting pregnant by at least 75 percent. The other, known as Plan B, has just progestin. The latter is preferred by many women because there is less chance of nausea and vomiting and it reduces the risk of pregnancy by 89 percent. The second method is a copper-T intrauterine device inserted by a doctor within seven days after intercourse. You can get more information, including a list of birth-control pill brands and a list of health-care providers at a site maintained by the Office of Population Control at Princeton University and the Association of Reproductive Health Professionals. It’s located at not-2-late.com.

 
     
    COOKING
    Hey, good looking…

     
     
    Do certain foods cause sex dreams?
    Have any studies found a connection between the foods we eat and the dreams we have? If so, what foods create the sexiest dreams?—T.G., Seattle, Washington
    There’s no surefire way to determine if a person is having an erotic dream other than waking him to ask, and no sleep scientist has felt the need to do that and also record what the subject had for dinner. Even an erection isn’t a reliable gauge, since they occur whenever a healthy male is dreaming about anything. Many people believe that heavy or spicy meals induce vivid dreams, but it may be that certain foods simply cause more frequent awakenings, which increase recall. In an earlier time, authorities speculated on diets that could prevent “pollutions,” or wet dreams. Our dusty copy of The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Sex , published in 1950, asserts that “erotic dreams mainly come to persons who during the day too frequently nurse