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I know I'm so close to getting my IUD but I'm curious about a possible side effect of the nuvaring while I've been on it. Its been almost a month and not only do I have an insatiable appetite but I've been perpetually bloated up like a balloon. I know I was not this big before... It probably doesn't help that for the first two weeks all I wanted to eat was PMS food - sweets and fatty food all the time. I guess I'm unsure if I could really get side effects under a month of use from birth control. I'm hoping it'll be easy to lose the extra weight I gained after I stop taking this 
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Feb 9, 2012 20:53
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If you're bloated and gained the weight really really quickly, some (maybe even all?) of the weight gain could be from water retention. And yes it is quite possible to feel side effects from under a month of use. In fact it's usually the first 3-4 months that are the worst if you're having going to have side effects because your body takes a while to adjust. That's why doctors will usually make you wait it out before trying something else as long as they aren't too severe. Don't take that as a "suck it up" message though. If this is something you can't stand don't hesitate to talk to your doctor about it and see what they advise.
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Feb 9, 2012 22:08
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Shnooks posted:I know I'm so close to getting my IUD but I'm curious about a possible side effect of the nuvaring while I've been on it. It's possible - I'm experiencing the same thing right now with the pill I just switched to and I've only been on it a week. The last one I took didn't make me bloated all the time but I had intense cravings for junk food the entire 8 months I was on it. I definitely gained a little bit of weight from that, but it's generally easy enough to tell the difference between bloating and actual weight gain since one comes and goes suddenly. It'll either go away on its own with time or go away when you stop using Nuvaring.
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Feb 10, 2012 02:59
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Shnooks posted:I guess I'm unsure if I could really get side effects under a month of use from birth control. Everything NaturalLow said is spot on. Something else to keep in mind that "they" don't tell you is going on a type of birth control you've been on previously will not yield the same side effects as the first time you were on it. Once you go off a type, if you want to go on it again, you have to treat it like a new type you've never been on before (not knowing side effects, and waiting 3 months or so for them to even out).
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Feb 10, 2012 03:41
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Reformed Tomboy posted:Everything NaturalLow said is spot on. Does anyone know why this is? It just seems strange that our bodies would act differently to the same hormones. Or is just one of those "we just don't know" type of things, like how we don't know exactly how IUDs work?
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Feb 10, 2012 03:50
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Just looked at my calendar and I think I should have gotten my period yesterday. Fingers crossed that I'm one of the lucky ones whose Mirena completely stops their periods completely!
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Feb 10, 2012 03:50
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Reformed Tomboy posted:Everything NaturalLow said is spot on. Ugh, that's so irritating I'm so glad I'm getting an IUD.
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Feb 10, 2012 04:14
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I feel like an idiot because I'm quite certain this exact same thing was asked and resolved on page 49 but I'm a guy and dumb and need it told to my face. My girlfriend is on gianvi, the generic yaz, and when she went to take her pill last night, she realized she had missed an active pill during the month. It was likely to have been in the past week, we likely had sex around the day she missed, and yesterday was her first day of the placebo pills(so her last active pill was supposed to be Tuesday, but she took it Wednesday, then she realized she was taking the Wednesday placebo on Thursday). We kinda read online but couldn't find a direct answer, so she took the first pill of her next pack. She hasn't started the placebos and we were wondering if she should start them now or take active pills for a few days or what.
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Feb 10, 2012 19:18
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If she only missed one pill and took the others on time it will probably be fine. Just do the placebo week like normal.
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Feb 10, 2012 19:51
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I know in the drug information insert that comes with my pills, missing one pill isn't really considered a problem as long as it's just the one. Since she's already started the the next pack she could just keep taking that as normal and skip the placebo week. But that will cause her to skip a period, which isn't dangerous but can make everyone involved a bit nervous and she might have breakthrough bleeding, which is just annoying. Personally if I were her I would probably just use condoms for a while until I was back on a steady normal pill schedule for a week or so just because there seems to be so much confusion.
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Feb 11, 2012 00:47
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Edit: NM, found the answer.
Shnooks fucked around with this message at 16:56 on Feb 11, 2012 |
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Feb 11, 2012 16:18
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So, right now I'm on the shot. I was off birth control for a while but then I decided to go back on because having sex with condoms is really painful for me. (I don't know what my deal is, but even lubricated condoms chafe the hell out of me and leave me with a really bad stinging sensation after sex). My new boyfriend and I haven't had sex yet, but we're probably going to soon, and we were talking about it and he said something about needing to get condoms. I said, "oh, no, you don't have to, I'm on birth control. Unless you're worried about STDs?" And he said "no, I know we're both clean. I just think we should still use a condom." The subject kind of changed and I didn't really get a chance to say "hey wait condoms are uncomfortable for me" but now I'm wondering, is it irresponsible of me to want to have sex without a condom? I realize there's only something like a .01% chance of me getting pregnant on my current birth control, and I had condomless sex on this BC multiple times with no problems, but now part of me is worried that I'm being irresponsible or something. Not to mention, I would feel bad if my boyfriend was super uncomfortable with the idea of not using a condom and I forced him into it. But then it would also suck if we had to use condoms and I had to deal with my vag hurting like a motherfucker every time we had sex. So do I try and convince him not to use condoms and risk making him uncomfortable/worried, or do I suck it up and use condoms even though they hurt?
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Feb 13, 2012 17:32
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Maybe try a female condom?
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Feb 13, 2012 18:31
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Have you tried non-latex condoms? Sex was pretty miserable for me before I figured out that I'm allergic to latex.
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Feb 13, 2012 19:13
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Budget Bears posted:So do I try and convince him not to use condoms and risk making him uncomfortable/worried, or do I suck it up and use condoms even though they hurt? Hopefully a change in condom material will work.
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Feb 13, 2012 21:15
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Try Polyurethane condoms or if you have both been tested, lambskin condoms work well. I hated condoms for the same reason, and I do well with lambskin condoms, if i'm in a relationship where both my partner and I have both been tested.
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Feb 13, 2012 23:06
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Budget Bears posted:So, right now I'm on the shot. I was off birth control for a while but then I decided to go back on because having sex with condoms is really painful for me. (I don't know what my deal is, but even lubricated condoms chafe the hell out of me and leave me with a really bad stinging sensation after sex). If condoms hurt you it's not okay. Look into other kinds of condoms for sure. Your BC takes care of the pregnancy risk and you are not being irresponsible if you rely on it alone. Seriously, that's the whole point of it. Sit down and talk to him about it, share your issues with condoms and suggest you try other ones (non-latex?). You should not just lie there and take it because  his feewings* without at least talking about it.* His feewings may be a little paranoid but are perfectly valid. My point is that it needs to be discussed more fully.
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Feb 13, 2012 23:36
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Budget Bears posted:So, right now I'm on the shot. I was off birth control for a while but then I decided to go back on because having sex with condoms is really painful for me. (I don't know what my deal is, but even lubricated condoms chafe the hell out of me and leave me with a really bad stinging sensation after sex). In addition to what's been said, are you using lube? Even lubricated condoms don't come with the amount of lube you should be using when using condoms. Assuming you both have been tested and verified clean of STIs, it is probably better for you to try to convince the bf that it's okay to not use them.
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Feb 14, 2012 03:41
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Maybe you and your bf should go to a free clinic and get tested together. Not using condoms is a pretty big decision, and at this point your boyfriend doesn't know if you're really clean or not, even if he says he knows you are, and he doesn't really know you're on the shot, does he? I mean, it's not like the pill that he could presumably see you take it every day, Nuva Ring, even an IUD. I don't mean to sound like you should use condoms if they hurt you, but I think we should try to see this from his point of view too. I mean, if a girl posted here saying her boyfriend said condoms were too small/too big/whatever, we would offer other options like finding another size, or another brand, or another material, which a bunch of us have suggested so far. So yeah, as Eggplant Wizard said, and discuss the matter further. It's great that you and your bf are discussing sex and birth control and not rushing into anything, so talking about condoms and the issues you have with them shouldn't be too hard. You both sound mature.
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Feb 14, 2012 03:50
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Thanks for the replies guys.  For what it's worth, I've tried non-latex condoms as well as extra lube and still had the same problem. My boyfriend is a virgin and I recently tested clean. Can I get female condoms wherever they sell male condoms? I'm down to try those, or any other recommendations you all have.
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Feb 14, 2012 05:44
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Budget Bears posted:Thanks for the replies guys. If he just wants another method for BC and not for STD's, you could get a diaphragm. It's another barrier method, less effective on its own than condoms on their own, but it'd be fine for secondary protection. It's a thing that you put in your vagina over your cervix, and I believe you have to have one fitted to you. It would at least not chafe like condoms can. Maybe someone who's used one can chime in with her experience. Have you tried non-spermicidal condoms? Maybe that's what's irritating you.
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Feb 14, 2012 18:15
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The issue with adding any other contraceptive to Depo is that it's doubtful it would actually further reduce the risk of pregnancy. The process involved in obtaining and using a diaphragm, or in trying out a bunch of different condoms seems like a lot of hassle. It would probably take less effort and be more beneficial in the long-run to discuss the effectiveness of Depo and the marginal (if any) benefit of adding on another contraceptive method versus the burden of trying to find the optimal backup method. An optional but equally important topic to discuss is what you would both do in the 3/1000 chance that you become pregnant despite properly using the Depo.
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Feb 14, 2012 21:33
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I need to vent :I I switched pharmacies for the sake of convenience recently. Well something happened and I am now one refill short. Originally since I was getting my rings in 3 packs, 3 rings = 1 refill. Well since my insurance changed, I can only get one at a time. So my refills were only showing as 1 left, when really it was one 3 ring refill, and 2 individual ones, so their computer showed I had 5 refills left. Well new pharmacy says no you only have 4 total(1 that was filled with 3 remaining refills) left, and old pharmacy says it doesn't show the amount of refills transferred. I'm at a loss. I definitely had a year supply, but these will barely last until May instead of late June. I guess since I have new insurance I can schedule my yearly gyno appt whenever (I assume?), but ugh this is still stupid. I'm debating leave my remaining rings in for 4 weeks to prolong them as long as possible, but it's something I hate doing because it makes me physically feel weird that extra week.I had 2 extra pap smears done last year because of abnormal cell stuff that turned out to be nothing, so is it possible I could ask my gyno to give me enough new refills until I'm officially due for another one? Sorry for the long winded post, I've been brooding on this because I haven't felt like playing phone tag.
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Feb 14, 2012 23:50
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Depending on country and state/province, pharmacies are required to keep the original paper prescription for anywhere from 2-5 years. You could call the pharmacy where you originally got the prescription filled and get them to fax a copy to the new pharmacy so that they can see what was originally on there.
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Feb 15, 2012 00:10
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DRP Solved! posted:The issue with adding any other contraceptive to Depo is that it's doubtful it would actually further reduce the risk of pregnancy. I totally agree. I am trying to come up with ideas anyway because ultimately the choice is up to Budget Bears and her dude. If he's a virgin, maybe he really doesn't know anything about how birth control works. It is a lot to take on faith. Budget Bears, have him read about Depo specifically and maybe also some general information about birth control. I humbly (  ) suggest our amazing first post or two.
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Feb 15, 2012 01:47
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We can also totally answer his questions if he's looking for some reassurance. and thanks DRP, I'm fairly positive about which pharmacy I gave the original script to, (I've moved around a lot this year) hopefully that will clear up what happened. Would they be able to fax a copy to me? Or is that no-no? I'd like to do the math myself first in case I embarrass myself. If not I'll have to suck it up.
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Feb 15, 2012 02:14
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Kerfuffle posted:We can also totally answer his questions if he's looking for some reassurance. They may refuse to fax a copy of the prescription directly to you if you do it over the phone since they have no real way of knowing that it's really you on the other end of the line, so that may not fly with them. To be honest, I'm surprised they didn't think of verifying it with your original pharmacy themselves! DRP Solved! fucked around with this message at 04:57 on Feb 15, 2012 |
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Feb 15, 2012 04:55
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Budget Bears posted:So, right now I'm on the shot. I was off birth control for a while but then I decided to go back on because having sex with condoms is really painful for me. (I don't know what my deal is, but even lubricated condoms chafe the hell out of me and leave me with a really bad stinging sensation after sex). You may want to think about trying different kinds. For whatever reason, I have the exact same reaction to Trojan condoms. I've never been able to use them. Durex and Lifestyles are great for me. Also, get the basic condoms - don't get the pleasuremaxfancyribbedstudded condom. Those do chafe. Also, how old are you? I had a lot of the same issues when I was younger. ***** I'm starting my second month of NuvaRing, and I'm in the "holy god I have the worst headache of my life right before and after my period" club. Apparently this is common? I looked on messageboards where dozens of other women were saying the same thing - a horrible headache, similar to a tension/migraine hybrid, but without an aura, no light sensitivity, and tylenol/advil/etc does not do a thing to make it better. Any ideas? I do have a history of migraines with aura, but my doctor is letting me try Nuvaring kind of as an experiment. She thinks the lower dosage and the method of dosage might be okay...but it's not looking good, I guess. =( Are there any pills you can recommend that either taper into the placebo week or skip the placebo week altogether? The lower the dose, the better. This is my last hope. =(
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Feb 15, 2012 06:01
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Skywriter posted:You may want to think about trying different kinds. For whatever reason, I have the exact same reaction to Trojan condoms. I've never been able to use them. Durex and Lifestyles are great for me. Also, get the basic condoms - don't get the pleasuremaxfancyribbedstudded condom. Those do chafe. Also, how old are you? I had a lot of the same issues when I was younger. There are many pills that change hormone doses week to week leading up to your period, but in my experience the dose usually gets higher rather than lower. And there are quite a few that don't have placebo weeks like Seasonale and a few others whose names escape me. If the placebo week is really the problem, there's no medical reason you have to do it. Even if the pills/ring or whatever come with them, you can just skip the placebos and go straight into a new pack or ring during that week. Lots of women do it all the time to skip their periods. I hope you find a solution. Birth control makes my migraines more frequent and OTC medicine doesn't have any effect on the pain either. I'm just holding out until I can save up for a copper IUD or something.
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Feb 15, 2012 06:53
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Skywriter posted:I'm starting my second month of NuvaRing, and I'm in the "holy god I have the worst headache of my life right before and after my period" club. Apparently this is common? I looked on messageboards where dozens of other women were saying the same thing - a horrible headache, similar to a tension/migraine hybrid, but without an aura, no light sensitivity, and tylenol/advil/etc does not do a thing to make it better. Have you thought about an IUD? The Mirena has a low, progestin-only hormone dose, and the copper IUD has no hormones at all. I love my Mirena! I don't have much of a period at all anymore, and pms/period symptoms are very minimal.
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Feb 15, 2012 07:23
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Aceofblue posted:Have you thought about an IUD? The Mirena has a low, progestin-only hormone dose, and the copper IUD has no hormones at all. I love my Mirena! I don't have much of a period at all anymore, and pms/period symptoms are very minimal. 
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Feb 15, 2012 15:44
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Skywriter posted:I'm starting my second month of NuvaRing, and I'm in the "holy god I have the worst headache of my life right before and after my period" club. Apparently this is common? I looked on messageboards where dozens of other women were saying the same thing - a horrible headache, similar to a tension/migraine hybrid, but without an aura, no light sensitivity, and tylenol/advil/etc does not do a thing to make it better. You are aware that the prohibition for using combined hormonal birth control in patients who have migraine with aura is because of an increased risk of stroke, not an increase in headaches, right? It can still be reasonable to go ahead and use combined hormonal methods anyway if the increased risk of stroke is worth it to you, but I just want to make sure you are informed of the actual risks, since it isn't clear from your post. I second the recommendation to consider an IUD. My sister (migraine w/ aura) and I (migraine w/o aura) both have the Mirena IUD and have done very well on it. It has reduced my headaches both compared to being on the pill and compared to using non-hormonal methods. Although a few women seem to experience more headaches with it (not necessarily those with a history of migraines) it's not a common issue. For me (and it sounds like you as well) my headaches are very strongly linked to fluctuations in hormone levels and so the stabilization that the Mirena provides is very helpful in eliminating them.
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Feb 15, 2012 16:11
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drat. My pills must have been taking care of acne stuff. I've been breaking out the past few days. Hopefully this is just "new birth control" stuff, and it'll go away soon.
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Feb 16, 2012 00:04
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uberwekkness posted:drat. My pills must have been taking care of acne stuff. I've been breaking out the past few days. Hopefully this is just "new birth control" stuff, and it'll go away soon. I think that might have happened with me, too. I've always had semi-bad skin, but recently it started clearing up. I thought "Yeah, I'm an adult, goodbye terrible skin!" but nope, after switching from the pill to Implanon I'm back to breaking out. It's not as bad as it used to be, but every so often I'll get a big one in a really obvious spot on my face and just be embarrassed for days until it goes away. Hopefully my new skin care regimen will help.
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Feb 16, 2012 02:27
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This seems like kind of a weird thing to be freaking out about, but I just started a period. I have not had a period in ~6 years, since 5-6 months after I got my first Mirena. I haven't been able to feel my IUD strings for about the last 6 months or so (since ~1 year after insertion) but haven't been concerned about it because I couldn't feel the strings for the last one for the last 3-4 years I had it. My uterus apparently likes sucking up IUD strings (which made for a really lovely removal experience for the first one). About 2 weeks ago I all the sudden got fertile type cervical fluid, which was odd since it's happened occasionally since I got the IUD, but not often. And this morning I started bleeding, what appears to be normal period flow (soaked through my underwear and jeans in less than 1 block of walking home), which has not happened since about a month after I got the first Mirena (the periods from that point on got progressively lighter and were not much more than spotting). I've got a doctor's appointment for a pap smear and (oddly enough) to discuss when I want to get my IUD out scheduled for next Thursday. Now I'm not sure if I want to try to get an earlier appointment to try to figure out what is going on with the IUD ASAP or if I should wait it out a bit and see what course this bleeding takes (maybe it's just stronger spotting than I'm used to?). Has anyone else who has had Mirena for a while all the suddenly gotten a period or heavy spotting?
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Feb 16, 2012 19:42
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Regarding pharmacies, does anyone know how to get a pharmacy to refill a prescription earlier than "exactly 4 weeks from the date you pick it up"? I get my prescriptions from CVS because it's the only place nearby, and if I try to call in the prescription early, they just tell me it's too soon and I have to wait until the 4 weeks are up. This means I can never have a backup pack because it auto-refills halfway through the placebo week. I'm worried that if I ever have to leave the city, or something else happens, I won't be able to get my next pack in time. Or, I can never experiment with skipping a week to miss a period. Yet they insist that there's some protocol issue with me getting a pack at the end of the pills-week. With my lovely insurance I'm only eligible for a pack a month, not three, so maybe I'm just out of luck :/ Oddly enough, they do the same thing with my prolactinoma medicine. I'm really thinking they don't like my uterus as much as I do
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Feb 17, 2012 02:58
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Sexual Panda posted:Regarding pharmacies, does anyone know how to get a pharmacy to refill a prescription earlier than "exactly 4 weeks from the date you pick it up"? I get my prescriptions from CVS because it's the only place nearby, and if I try to call in the prescription early, they just tell me it's too soon and I have to wait until the 4 weeks are up. This means I can never have a backup pack because it auto-refills halfway through the placebo week. (Good thing about having an IUD means you don't need to deal with that!)
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Feb 17, 2012 03:57
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Sexual Panda posted:Regarding pharmacies, does anyone know how to get a pharmacy to refill a prescription earlier than "exactly 4 weeks from the date you pick it up"? I get my prescriptions from CVS because it's the only place nearby, and if I try to call in the prescription early, they just tell me it's too soon and I have to wait until the 4 weeks are up. This means I can never have a backup pack because it auto-refills halfway through the placebo week. Does your prescription coverage do mail order stuff? I think the coverage I've got is the same way if you go to the pharmacy but will get you a 3mo supply if you do mail order (since it costs them less and they want you to use the service).
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Feb 17, 2012 04:04
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Aceofblue posted:When I used to be on the pill, my insurance changed from allowing me to pick up 3 months worth at a time to one pack at a time. When that happened, if I had to pick up a pack early, I had to call my insurance, who then had to call my pharmacy and tell them that it was okay to fill it early. That was only for vacation type-things though, and I couldn't use it to just skip the placebo and start the next pack right away since then you'd get two weeks out of cycle. It's a really awful setup. Yeah, don't blame your pharmacy. It's all about what your insurance will allow. They're the ones to contact.
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Feb 17, 2012 04:58
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Ceridwen posted:I've got a doctor's appointment for a pap smear and (oddly enough) to discuss when I want to get my IUD out scheduled for next Thursday. Now I'm not sure if I want to try to get an earlier appointment to try to figure out what is going on with the IUD ASAP or if I should wait it out a bit and see what course this bleeding takes (maybe it's just stronger spotting than I'm used to?). Call your doctor tomorrow and ask what s/he thinks you should do. My biggest concern is that it seems really heavy, plus you've not had a period in all that time. It would worry me, I guess I'll put it that way.
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Feb 17, 2012 08:03
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