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Bagleworm
Aug 15, 2007
I has your rocks

footaneurysm posted:

I'm 23 and I've been on the pill for 3 years now, Yaz before and now Loestrine 24, and they both have 4 placebo pills instead of 7. Ever since I started taking the pill my period would come on the 3rd or 4th day into the placebo pills and go through the first day or two into the next pack. I'm concerned about the timing of my period. I've even tried putting off starting the next pack for a few days to make the placebo last 6 or 7 days rather than 4, but my period would then come a few days later the next month. I'm worried because that means I'm not getting the hormones in the last few days before my period, I just want to be sure I'm still protected. I know it's been answered before but the fact that my period is very insistent on being "late" I'm wondering if this has any impact on how effective the pill would be. I'm also concerned because due to health issues in the past few years my period is getting lighter and shorter and I've even missed a period here and there. If I miss a period would that also impact how protected I am on the pill, assuming it's not due to pregnancy?

How your period behaves has nothing at all to do with the effectiveness of your hormonal birth control. Many women lose their periods entirely when on hormonal birth control and their BC is still at full effectiveness. :)

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Reformed Tomboy
Feb 2, 2005

chu~~
Please do not "extend" your placebo week, as this makes you not protected. Take one pill every day. Period. And you'll remain safe.

As to your missing or late periods, that's normal. You don't magically get your period on the first placebo pill day, it takes a few days for your body to realize it's "supposed" to have a period. Also, these pills with only 4 placebos are meant to reduce your period duration, and sometimes even eliminate it completely. But, as has been said, if you take your pills on the days you're supposed to, you'll remain safe.

footaneurysm
Mar 27, 2006

Bagleworm posted:

How your period behaves has nothing at all to do with the effectiveness of your hormonal birth control. Many women lose their periods entirely when on hormonal birth control and their BC is still at full effectiveness. :)

Oh that's a relief! I've been paranoid about it ever since starting the pill, avoiding sex every month before my period. My boyfriend has even said that he thought I was being paranoid about it but I didn't really trust him on that since he's not really the type to do research. Thanks so much for the help!

Eggplant Wizard
Jul 8, 2005


i loev catte

DrNutt posted:

As someone who works in reproductive health care, I am genuinely impressed by the thoroughness and accuracy of the op. There are so many awful misconceptions (zing) about birth control that it's nice to know they won't be bandied about in this thread.

:3: Do hang around; most of us are just working from our own experience and research (as far as I know).

Wafulz posted:

you forgot the most important form of birth control: abstinence!!!! :supaburn:

It may also be useful to talk about failure rates because people suck at numbers. I could do a quick write up if nobody else wants to.

I didn't forget abstinence; I just figured it doesn't need much explaining! :)

Yes, it would be really helpful if you could do just a very short writeup of failure rates. I just about understand it enough for my own peace of mind, but I knew I wouldn't be any good at trying to explain statistics :P

inaniloquent
Apr 7, 2007

Je suis génie.
Implanon update, two weeks out: I know the idea of having something literally implanted right under your skin sounds weird and like it will look obvious to anyone who can see the area of insertion. However, from the way things are healing up, I doubt if anyone will be able to notice it with the naked eye! The insertion cut is tiny as can be, any scarring will be less than the size of a pin's head. I also had a fabulous doctor perform the procedure so there has been very minimal bruising. :D

I had it done at the Riverside, CA Planned Parenthood and can't speak highly enough of the place.

Bagleworm
Aug 15, 2007
I has your rocks
(I think I covered everything!)

Birth control's effectiveness is measured by two different numbers: the typical use and the perfect use failure rate. Both of them attempt to give an idea of how many pregnancies will result from the use of a single method of birth control for a year.

Perfect use is exactly what it sounds like: use the method perfectly for a year, and this failure rate is the chance the method will fail on its own. This result usually comes from clinical trials over the first year of use.

Typical use is what an average person can be expected to see. Typical use usually comes from surveys and studies conducted in the real world, where people make mistakes. (They are occasionally estimated based on the typical use rates of similar methods) The result is calculated as a simple percentage: calculate how many women got pregnant while using this method as their only form of contraception, regardless of if they followed the method's instructions. (Typical use is usually calculated based on the first year. Some methods have lower typical use failure rates if you factor in more years!)

Typical use failure rates can include things like missing pills, breaking a condom, not pulling out if the pull out method is your only means of contraception, being late for your Depo reinjection... that sort of thing. Typical use failure rates can vary a few percentage points depending who did the study and on their sample size, but they are generally a good indicator of how easy the method is to do correctly. Should the method have a small perfect use but a high typical use failure rate, it generally indicates that it is easy to mess up.

showbiz_liz
Jun 2, 2008
I hate hormonal birth control because it affects my libido. I want to try an IUD, but aside from all the usual worries, I'm curious as to whether the Mirena has been known to have the same kind of affect on libido. If so I definitely want to go for copper, but since Mirena seems to be so good otherwise, I wanted to be sure.

Squibsy
Dec 3, 2005

Not suited, just booted.
College Slice
My girlfriend (who is 22) started on a combined pill about two years ago, and it seemed pretty great. One year ago her father died, and the stress and grief of this has remained with her since. She was then (and is still) also having a very stressful time at university. In the middle of all this around 9 or 10 months ago, she went to get a repeat prescription but her blood pressure was way high and her doctor took her off it and put her on a progestin only pill called Cerazette. Everything seemed ok, but...

In the last few months she's experienced a mounting degree of anxiety, steadily building up until in the last six weeks or so it's been extremely acute. At various times she tried to explain how she was feeling - essentially as though she was completely out of control of her worry and that it was like a kind of outside force or even demonic possession (this sounds overly dramatic but I assure you at the time it was no joke.) She was using words like 'crazy', 'insane', 'hating herself' etc. She was most frequently having panic attacks at night, fearing being unable to sleep. She has always suffered anxiety, but I've known her a long time and we've been together for a few years, and she really had seemed to be getting much more on top of it.

About three weeks ago she started to wonder if the pill was having anything to do with it, and she had a look online at various forums and things and found a great many testimonials of women who had suffered very similar experiences while on Cerazette, and many were convinced that the pill was responsible. Most of them described having pre-existing anxiety, and stressful events in their lives around the time they were affected, but they all felt that the anxiety they were now suffering was much more acute than what they'd been dealing with previously.

Anyway, we decided that she probably should stop taking Cerazette, and that we'd see what happened. I'm obviously hoping that her most extreme anxious symptoms will disappear, but I'm trying to discourage her from getting her hopes up too much, just in case it's not what's causing this episode. She's been off it for about ten days, and while we know that [if it is the cause] it'll take a while to disappear, it does seem as though there's some improvement.

So, that's the background information/testimonial. I have a couple of questions on this issue that some of you might be able to help with...

- Has anybody else either suffered symptoms like this and/or been on Cerazette with/without trouble?

- Now that she's not on birth control, we're obviously using condoms. We've been monogamous and committed from the very beginning of our relationship, and took a long time to get round to having sex, so actually had never used them before. Neither of us like them much at all, for various reasons which I'm sure most people understand! Basically we're looking for other options, but considering how awful [we think] this pill has been, we're a bit wary about just going straight onto another. Are side effects like this common? Is there a pill which, I dunno... has a good track record for NOT causing this sort of thing?

- We've discussed non-hormonal alternatives but she's pretty freaked out about the idea of an IUD, and most of the other options don't seem reliable enough to use by themselves... But neither of us really knows much about any of this stuff and so could do with some advice.

EDIT: Should probably mention that we're in the UK, and while a lot of stuff is provided [nearly] free by our NHS, expensive stuff like Mirena ($850?!?!) will probably not be!

Squibsy fucked around with this message at 23:39 on Jan 19, 2011

Professor Beetus
Apr 12, 2007

They can fight us
But they'll never Beetus

Eggplant Wizard posted:

:3: Do hang around; most of us are just working from our own experience and research (as far as I know).

I should go ahead (without getting into too much detail) and say that I am not a licensed nurse or doctor, and that all of my knowledge comes from my agency's training programs. Having said that, I am dealing pretty much daily with a lot of these same issues and explanations, so this thread is familiar ground for me.

So far it seems like all the answers given to the questions asked here have been satisfactory and well-informed, so good job! Having said that, it is important to remember that everyone's body is different, and as such will respond differently to the different types of hormonal (and even non-hormonal) contraceptives. If anything has you really worried, it's always best to consult with your doctor or clinician.

Also, I didn't see much on weight gain in the op, but it's one of the most common concerns I deal with (sadly). The fact is that hormonal birth control methods do not cause you to gain weight. What they can do (which is why a lot of women deal with weight gain on hormonal contraceptives) is increase appetite, and most women will increase their food intake without even realizing it. One thing that's kind of interesting is that it is most commonly seen with the Depo shot, and to be honest I'm not sure exactly why.

If anyone is interested in hearing more anecdotal stuff/stories/crazy misconceptions, let me know and I'd be happy to oblige. I just don't want to poo poo up the thread with funny stories if people are here mostly for helpful tips and advice.

Not Impressed
Feb 11, 2005
You could tell I was no debutante.
After 7 years on the pill, I'm seriously considering the Mirena. I've never had regular periods off the pill, so I'm a little concerned about the spotting that people report for the first months. I don't want to end up having spotting for the entire duration. How have other goonettes found the Mirena to be in the spotting/periods department?

And for a semi-embarassing but important question I can't seem to get an answer to - will my partner feel the strings? Even if he's fingering?

I also use the Diva cup and my doctor didn't seem to think it was such a good idea to keep that up with an IUD because of the risk of pulling the strings out. Is anyone out there using a menstral cup with an IUD successfully? Or best to just let this practice go?

Mid-Priced Carp
Aug 10, 2008
I'm a little late to this megathread, but I have the Implanon, so if any goons have questions/concerns/whatever about it, I can talk about my experience with it. I will say this: not having periods is amazing.

Professor Beetus
Apr 12, 2007

They can fight us
But they'll never Beetus

Not Impressed posted:

After 7 years on the pill, I'm seriously considering the Mirena. I've never had regular periods off the pill, so I'm a little concerned about the spotting that people report for the first months. I don't want to end up having spotting for the entire duration. How have other goonettes found the Mirena to be in the spotting/periods department?

And for a semi-embarassing but important question I can't seem to get an answer to - will my partner feel the strings? Even if he's fingering?

I also use the Diva cup and my doctor didn't seem to think it was such a good idea to keep that up with an IUD because of the risk of pulling the strings out. Is anyone out there using a menstral cup with an IUD successfully? Or best to just let this practice go?

I can't really say anything about the Diva cup, and there's unfortunately no easy answer to the spotting question (especially with no history re: your past use of hormonal contraceptives), but the strings should be a non-issue for partners. They generally soften up/curl up, and if there is an issue they can sometimes be shortened if you and your doc determine that they are too long.

e: I have heard some reports to the contrary regarding the strings or even the Nuva ring, but unless your partner is John Holmes or something, it's unlikely that there would be an issue. People tend to get really strange ideas in their head about these two BC methods for whatever reason.

Professor Beetus fucked around with this message at 03:16 on Jan 20, 2011

JustinMorgan
Apr 27, 2010
Love the new thread. Very well organized and thorough. If anyone has questions about the Paraguard IUD I can help. I have also been on Nuva Ring, Ortho-Cyclen, and Ortho-TriCyclen Lo if anyone has questions about them.

favoritehello
Sep 17, 2010

DRP Solved! posted:

I wholeheartedly support what some other posters have said about discussing this with your pharmacist, but I figured I might be able to elaborate a bit.

First, I'd like to say that, given the contents of the supplemented listed on the product website (http://www.sierrasil.com/composition.php), this supplement is unlikely to do anything at all for your wrist and hand pain.

Second, Yasmin does not really itself contain potassium, but contains a hormone that is very similar to spironolactone, a potassium-sparing diuretic. This means that the Yasmin can cause you to retain more potassium, and possibly too much potassium, which could lead to heart arrhythmias. Honestly, if you're on Yasmin it's a good idea to get blood tests every few months or so at first to make sure that your potassium levels are in check.

Anyway, according to the product website, you only get about 20 mg of potassium per day (less than contained in 1/20th of a banana) from taking 3 pills daily, so it's not a very large amount of potassium.

tl;dr: The supplement won't help your wrist/hand pain. The supplements don't contain very much potassium and shouldn't affect your potassium levels much. Go to a doctor about your wrist pain and get some routine bloodwork for your potassium while you're on the Yasmin.
Thanks for your input. I'm curious as to why you believe that the Sierra Sil won't do much. I've talked to doctors (many) about my wrist and hand pain. They say they can't do much, and that if it hurts I should just take an OTC anti-inflammatory like Tylenol which is why I figured trying the SierraSil couldn't hurt. If nothing else it gives me a little boost in some iron.

rainbow kittens
Jan 20, 2006

Poor little kittens, they've lost their mittens! And now they shan't have pie :(
Oh. My. Gosh. So, I am finally taking week 13 of Seasonale. The placebo week. I had been spotting/bleeding since my second week on this, with a very short week sometime in the second month where I didn't bleed at all. I would take the spotting days over this!

I've been bleeding heavily for the past three days. I feel lethargic, and it's like "crap, am I going to need a transfusion?"

I am really hoping that my doctor was correct when he said that when I start the second pack my body will calm the fffff down. Because this is unbearable! The cramps suck, too. 400mg of ibuprofen touches nothing.

DRP Solved!
Dec 2, 2009

favoritehello posted:

Thanks for your input. I'm curious as to why you believe that the Sierra Sil won't do much. I've talked to doctors (many) about my wrist and hand pain. They say they can't do much, and that if it hurts I should just take an OTC anti-inflammatory like Tylenol which is why I figured trying the SierraSil couldn't hurt. If nothing else it gives me a little boost in some iron.

That supplement only contains (rather small quantities of) minerals that you get from your diet. None of these minerals have any effect on joint or muscle pain, so the supplement won't do anything.

It likely won't hurt you anywhere but your wallet; however, it also won't do a thing for you.

DRP Solved!
Dec 2, 2009

rainbow kittens posted:

Oh. My. Gosh. So, I am finally taking week 13 of Seasonale. The placebo week. I had been spotting/bleeding since my second week on this, with a very short week sometime in the second month where I didn't bleed at all. I would take the spotting days over this!

I've been bleeding heavily for the past three days. I feel lethargic, and it's like "crap, am I going to need a transfusion?"

I am really hoping that my doctor was correct when he said that when I start the second pack my body will calm the fffff down. Because this is unbearable! The cramps suck, too. 400mg of ibuprofen touches nothing.

Assuming you don't have any medical conditions that would negatively be affected by it, you can take 800 mg of ibuprofen three times a day for the dysmenorrhea (assuming you're talking about period cramps). Period cramps tend to require a higher dose of ibuprofen than most aches and pains.

Kerfuffle
Aug 16, 2007

The sky calls to us~

DrNutt posted:

Also, I didn't see much on weight gain in the op, but it's one of the most common concerns I deal with (sadly).

Extreme weight gain via water weight isn't fake though. In the last thread someone gained an alarming amount of water weight in just a few days, and dropped it quickly after stopping the birth control.

Lackadaisical
Nov 8, 2005

Adj: To Not Give A Shit
Good time for a new thread!

I have an embarrassing question. I got the paragard a month and a half ago and had no real side effects afterward. Right after my 6 week check up, I started having heavy bleeding. I know bleeding is to be expected, but there wasn't any for so long that I'm starting to get worried. This isn't even spotting. Is this normal or do I call the doctor about it?

SimHuman
Jan 1, 2004

It's either real or it's a dream
There's nothing that is in between

lunarian posted:

Thank you for posting your update! I just got the Paragard in November of 2010 so I've only had it for about 2 months and I have been considering removal because my periods are so awful, but if it gets better then I may just stick it out. You have given me hope. Thank you.
I'd recommend sticking it out for a few months. My husband and I talked seriously about removing it when my periods were still nightmarish after six months, but before I could get around to asking the gynecologist about it, the bleeding and cramps dropped off a cliff and it's been fine since. Both this thread and my doctor warned me it could take up to a year before things settled down, but I hadn't quite believed them!

Fire In The Disco
Oct 4, 2007
I cannot change the gender of my unborn child and shouldn't waste my time or energy pretending he won't exist

Not Impressed posted:

I also use the Diva cup and my doctor didn't seem to think it was such a good idea to keep that up with an IUD because of the risk of pulling the strings out. Is anyone out there using a menstral cup with an IUD successfully? Or best to just let this practice go?

I know several women who still use a cup with an IUD. I believe they are just very careful to break the seal before removing the cup. You can also get the string cut relatively short.

Innovative Salad
Jun 18, 2003

That's President Tandi to you.
Eggplant Wizard: Those opening posts will leave Wikipedia sniffling in a corner. Nice work. :dance:

Not Impressed posted:

After 7 years on the pill, I'm seriously considering the Mirena. I've never had regular periods off the pill, so I'm a little concerned about the spotting that people report for the first months. I don't want to end up having spotting for the entire duration. How have other goonettes found the Mirena to be in the spotting/periods department?

And for a semi-embarassing but important question I can't seem to get an answer to - will my partner feel the strings? Even if he's fingering?

I also use the Diva cup and my doctor didn't seem to think it was such a good idea to keep that up with an IUD because of the risk of pulling the strings out. Is anyone out there using a menstral cup with an IUD successfully? Or best to just let this practice go?
I was on Mirena for 10 years and never really had to deal with spotting between periods, which themselves were maybe 3 days of really light spotting. Obviously it might go totally differently for you, but IIRC over 90% of the women who get Mirenas end up bleeding less in total - but that could still include more spotting, and my understanding is that periods on Mirena do tend to be a bit less regular. I don't think there's really a way to say for sure.

Depending on how you're built, your partner will probably be able to feel the strings with his fingers (you're supposed to check them yourself occasionally too). He may or may not feel them during intercourse, and from my limited experience, that depends less on his size and more on his sensitivity to a particular sort of stimulus. If it does bother you or him, it'll take less than a minute to have the strings trimmed at your follow-up appointment. And they do soften over time as well.

I haven't used a Diva Cup, but I've been using a Lunette (which claims to be safe with IUDs) with my ParaGard with zero problems. You have to make sure to break the suction before you remove the cup, but I imagine not doing that wouldn't be fun under any circumstances anyway. If you do get a Mirena, you may well not bleed enough to need one at all though.

Edit: And as far as I can tell, I have totally average periods on ParaGard. :dance: The first one was not so fun, but everything since has been totally OK. So I guess it's not guaranteed to make you bleed like a geyser. Yay.

Innovative Salad fucked around with this message at 05:45 on Jan 20, 2011

Professor Beetus
Apr 12, 2007

They can fight us
But they'll never Beetus

Kerfuffle posted:

Extreme weight gain via water weight isn't fake though. In the last thread someone gained an alarming amount of water weight in just a few days, and dropped it quickly after stopping the birth control.

Right, which I is why I always try to point out that everybody's different. This is less typical than the average "I went on depo and gained 20 lbs" thing.

Sapphic Swordsaint
Dec 19, 2010

Those rare moments when my superiors show wisdom come perilously close to restoring my faith in the social order.
A bit late, but a huge thanks to everyone who helped me out here! It's a bit relieving to know the pregnancy test is just legal rear end-covering and that if I need options, I can find better ones. :)

If anyone has any questions about what it's like to be on Depo, especially for so long, I'll be watching this thread and I have PMs (and hopefully not PMS). I'd be glad to help out!

Bagleworm
Aug 15, 2007
I has your rocks

Not Impressed posted:

After 7 years on the pill, I'm seriously considering the Mirena. I've never had regular periods off the pill, so I'm a little concerned about the spotting that people report for the first months. I don't want to end up having spotting for the entire duration. How have other goonettes found the Mirena to be in the spotting/periods department?

And for a semi-embarassing but important question I can't seem to get an answer to - will my partner feel the strings? Even if he's fingering?

I also use the Diva cup and my doctor didn't seem to think it was such a good idea to keep that up with an IUD because of the risk of pulling the strings out. Is anyone out there using a menstral cup with an IUD successfully? Or best to just let this practice go?

I have a copper IUD and have used a Diva cup from very early on; just make sure to break the seal before pulling it out (you're supposed to anyway, even if you don't have an IUD.)

My boyfriend can feel the strings with his fingers when I'm not aroused, but during sex rarely feels them. (Sometimes he'll notice a bit of chafing after, and we suspect some string rubbing, but he almost never feels it during). This is because during arousal the vagina lengthens and changes shape, pulling the cervix much further back. The strings themselves are very thin, too, and can be hard to notice if you're not specifically looking for them.

Here's a question - would IUD strings potentially make breaking a condom more likely?

Oh, and for anyone who just got an IUD - do not be alarmed if sometimes you can't find the strings right away - the placement of your cervix actually varies both during your cycle and depending on other factors, like arousal. If one day you can't find your strings (but you don't have severe cramping to indicate expulsion), just give it a bit of time and try again.

PS: no one needs to feel embarrassed or like something is TMI in this thread. We're talking about vaginas and sex here - we're all comfortable with discussing blood, pain, discharge, smells, and the fact that other people gently caress. :)

Holden Rodeo
Apr 2, 2008
Holy balls, that OP is comprehensive.

Morning-after pill trip report, two months afterward: Got it in November for $45 NZD. Bought a cold bottle of juice, sat down in a public park, took out the pill (it was just one) and thought, "Here goes." I felt fine the day of, but was warned of nausea and picked up candied ginger just in case. Luckily it went down just fine, I was more queasy going into the pharmacy than I was after taking it.

My first period afterward came two days early and was considerably lighter and shorter, but still obviously a period. Goddamn it came with killer PMS leading up to it though, I got the worst mood swings. My next period came a full week late (:aaa:) and came in heavy, but otherwise normal. Now it all seems to have leveled out more - still a bit early, but not as strong or light as before. Yay.

I'm just posting this because when I was freaking the gently caress out and searching for anecdotes online I would have liked to see how it worked out for people several weeks down the road, what kind of lasting effect it might have.

Neko Sou
Jan 24, 2006
Scarved Wonder
On my 3rd month of Jolessa (Wal-Mart generic for Seasonale) and I just started bleeding out of nowhere for over a week now. I was a couple weeks away from my first scheduled period when this started. My gynecologist had all but promised me I'd be bleeding a lot so I was surprised when it never happened (until just recently). Is this going to keep going until my period starts? :smith: I can't have sex with my husband when I'm on my period (religious reasons) and I've never used a tampon (before it was religious reasons but now that I'm married I'm scared it will be too painful) but I'm starting to get desperate. I want to get a Brazilian but I can't do it when this is going on. It's just enough bleeding to prevent me from doing the stuff I want to do but it's not a real period. Help anyone? :(

rainbow kittens
Jan 20, 2006

Poor little kittens, they've lost their mittens! And now they shan't have pie :(

Neko Sou posted:

On my 3rd month of Jolessa (Wal-Mart generic for Seasonale) and I just started bleeding out of nowhere for over a week now. I was a couple weeks away from my first scheduled period when this started. My gynecologist had all but promised me I'd be bleeding a lot so I was surprised when it never happened (until just recently). Is this going to keep going until my period starts? :smith: I can't have sex with my husband when I'm on my period (religious reasons) and I've never used a tampon (before it was religious reasons but now that I'm married I'm scared it will be too painful) but I'm starting to get desperate. I want to get a Brazilian but I can't do it when this is going on. It's just enough bleeding to prevent me from doing the stuff I want to do but it's not a real period. Help anyone? :(

I just finished up my first pack of Seasonale. I've been bleeding since week two. I'm on week 13 (placebo week) and bleeding VERY heavily.

If you're having sex, then tampons shouldn't be a problem. I find them more comfortable than pads!

Eggplant Wizard
Jul 8, 2005


i loev catte
Tampons are way more comfortable than pads, yeah (unless you have a really really light flow, which doesn't seem to be the case. Then they get a little itchy.). Divacup or keeper is even more comfy, IMO, but see if you like tampons first.

Eggplant Wizard fucked around with this message at 18:12 on Jan 20, 2011

HELP, MY ARM--
Oct 12, 2006
Oh, accept the pain, Frank!
I have a question :)

I've been on ocella/Yasmin for the past 3-4 years. I've been hearing a lot of bad things about Yasmin/my doctor friend trying to scare the bejeebus out of me and he suggested Loestrin. I did some research and found that Loestrin being a lower dosage, might mean a lower chance of developing nasty clots? BUT, some of the symptoms of Loestrin include developing extra hair and acne break outs which is something I do not want to go through at the age of 22.

My question to you fellow, much-more-knowledgeable goons is whether or not it's worth switching to Loestrin IF Loestrin means a lower possibility of developing a clot because of the low dosages? Is the Yasmin publicity blow up worth listening to? Or should I skip this and go straight to a gynecologist about all this?

DRP Solved!
Dec 2, 2009

HELP, MY ARM-- posted:

I have a question :)

I've been on ocella/Yasmin for the past 3-4 years. I've been hearing a lot of bad things about Yasmin/my doctor friend trying to scare the bejeebus out of me and he suggested Loestrin. I did some research and found that Loestrin being a lower dosage, might mean a lower chance of developing nasty clots? BUT, some of the symptoms of Loestrin include developing extra hair and acne break outs which is something I do not want to go through at the age of 22.

My question to you fellow, much-more-knowledgeable goons is whether or not it's worth switching to Loestrin IF Loestrin means a lower possibility of developing a clot because of the low dosages? Is the Yasmin publicity blow up worth listening to? Or should I skip this and go straight to a gynecologist about all this?

First, I don't think that Yasmin deserves such bad rep and am unaware of any evidence showing that Yasmin causes more clots than any other combined oral contraceptive with similar estrogen levels.

Second, Yasmin and Loestrin both contain 30 micrograms of estrogen estrogen per pill. Estrogen is the hormone in birth control that is linked to increasing risk of blood clots.

I hope that cleared up a bit!
Third, the increase in risk for clots from being on estrogen-containing birth control pills (with two exceptions, Yasmin not being one) is an increase of about 0.0001% per year (this isn't cumulative or anything). If that risk seems like too much for you, you may want to consider progestin-only pills, Depo, or other forms of birth control that don't contain estrogen.

Reformed Tomboy
Feb 2, 2005

chu~~
Are you at risk for the things they're saying about it? Do you have PMDD (this is more a Yaz question, but I guess they're the same thing)? Have you had any negative side effects in the years you've been on it?

If you've been fine on it, stay on it if you want to. I stayed on the patch through its mess, and later stayed on Yaz through its. Because those methods worked for me, I was the targeted audience (PMDD sufferers), and I had no negative side effects.

Should you decide to move onto a new type anyway, good luck. But as I have no experience with the one you're considering, I won't comment on it :)

Moto Punch
Feb 3, 2009

barrio speedwagon posted:

Holy balls, that OP is comprehensive.

Morning-after pill trip report, two months afterward: Got it in November for $45 NZD.
Did you buy it from a chemist? That's way expensive! I got it from family planning for $25 NZD and they threw in a big box of condoms for free.

HELP, MY ARM--
Oct 12, 2006
Oh, accept the pain, Frank!

DRP Solved! posted:




Reformed Tomboy posted:



Thank you for both of your inputs! I really appreciate it. Yasmin has been working for me, and it seems like the chances of any issues are low. Hearing about people who are/were also on Yasmin and not worried is really reassuring.

Parsnip
Jun 24, 2004
you chose...poorly
Fantastic OP!

I was wondering...should I be concerned about the birth control I take? I take Ogestrel (generic for Ovral, but the brand is no longer produced) which is 0.5 mg of norgestrel and 0.05 mg ethinyl estradiol. It is one of the higher(est?) estrogen content pills, and was approved by the FDA 1968, so it is pretty old compared to the more popular pills.

I had never really thought about it until I started working at a pharmacy, and one of the pharmacists was concerned that I was taking it. My uncle dropped dead of a stoke in his 30's, so I guess I could say I have a family history of stoke.

I had started on lo-ogestrel when I started the pill in 04. At the 6 mo follow-up I told her I had cramps non-stop the entire so she prescribed this and I've been on it ever since.

For personal lady part history I only got my period about once a year from age 11 to 18 (sometimes it was more than once), but now I am regular with the pill.

Even with the high dose I have no side effects. I can take 3 at once (when I am a loser at taking them...I am not seeing anyone right now so pregnancy is not a concern) and it doesn't even bother me.

I even asked my doctor in sept. if it was a good pill to take, and she said yes. However the pharmacist (who is actually good friends with the doctor) said that though doctor is very good, she might not be the best authority for birth control and said that I should visit a ob/gyn. Should I go? I worry about messing with 'a good thing' and going crazy if I change my birth control. But of course, I don't want to stoke out at 26.

I'm sorry that this is kinda long, but I wanted to put all the details that might be important!

Reformed Tomboy
Feb 2, 2005

chu~~

Parsnip posted:

I even asked my doctor in sept. if it was a good pill to take, and she said yes. However the pharmacist (who is actually good friends with the doctor) said that though doctor is very good, she might not be the best authority for birth control and said that I should visit a ob/gyn. Should I go? I worry about messing with 'a good thing' and going crazy if I change my birth control. But of course, I don't want to stoke out at 26.

I'm sorry that this is kinda long, but I wanted to put all the details that might be important!

The doctor that put you on this, and is telling you to stay on it is not an ob/gyn? She's a general practitioner, then? You really should see a gyno for gyn-related stuff. They are educated on that as an emphasis, and not general knowledge that "normal" doctors are given, and so are better to consult. Would you talk to your regular doctor if you had a specialized problem? No, she'd refer you to someone else. Who does your lady-check-ups?

In this case I'm going to have to agree with the pharmacist. You really should see a gyno, and you should really consider swapping types. I'm the queen of telling people to stay on pills that work, but in the case of old pills (that came out in the 60s and 70s), I don't agree. They've learned a lot since when bc first came out, and there's no reason to be on a dosage that high.

I was on a high dosage pill once, for one pack. I got it at a clinic, and when I went back to my real gyno, she freaked about it. took me off it right away. She told me she was shocked they put me on it in the first place considering it's dose, my weight, and how old the pill was. I can't recall what it was called, but I'll try to dig out the old packet I saved.

Also, is there a reason the brand version isn't made anymore?

Edit: it was Necon 1/35 1mg norethindrone and 0.035mg of ethinyl estadiol

Reformed Tomboy fucked around with this message at 05:11 on Jan 21, 2011

Wafulz
Jul 7, 2004

Is this what we've come to?

Bagleworm posted:

(I think I covered everything!)

Birth control's effectiveness is measured by two different numbers: the typical use and the perfect use failure rate. Both of them attempt to give an idea of how many pregnancies will result from the use of a single method of birth control for a year.

Perfect use is exactly what it sounds like: use the method perfectly for a year, and this failure rate is the chance the method will fail on its own. This result usually comes from clinical trials over the first year of use.

Typical use is what an average person can be expected to see. Typical use usually comes from surveys and studies conducted in the real world, where people make mistakes. (They are occasionally estimated based on the typical use rates of similar methods) The result is calculated as a simple percentage: calculate how many women got pregnant while using this method as their only form of contraception, regardless of if they followed the method's instructions. (Typical use is usually calculated based on the first year. Some methods have lower typical use failure rates if you factor in more years!)

Typical use failure rates can include things like missing pills, breaking a condom, not pulling out if the pull out method is your only means of contraception, being late for your Depo reinjection... that sort of thing. Typical use failure rates can vary a few percentage points depending who did the study and on their sample size, but they are generally a good indicator of how easy the method is to do correctly. Should the method have a small perfect use but a high typical use failure rate, it generally indicates that it is easy to mess up.

Damnit, I wrote my post before noticing you had written one! You're pretty spot on, although "typical use" isn't really what the average person can be expected to see - it's more just accounting for human error. A lot of people hold the misconception that if they follow the instructions on their birth control, they still belong to the "typical use" failure rate, which leads to a lot of unnecessary freakouts. I also think it's a good idea to mention to people that if you follow the instructions you're okay.

lou reed
Aug 20, 2005

How is babby made?
The whole effectiveness percentage thing has always perplexed me. If condoms are 98% effective with perfect use, does that mean if you had 100 women use condoms perfectly and they all had sex at the same time, two of them would end up pregnant? What if one woman had sex 100 times while always using a condom perfectly? Will she get pregnant within the first 50 tries? Or is it if you go up to bat, you have a 2% chance of striking out?

I just found out the other day that even sterilization has a failure rate. What the hell??

Kerfuffle
Aug 16, 2007

The sky calls to us~
I believe that % is the amount of failure of perfect use out of 100 people, over the course of a year. Sterilization like essure has a failure rate because of the risk eptopic pregnancies.

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lou reed
Aug 20, 2005

How is babby made?
Ah, that makes way more sense. Thank you!

I'm getting a Paragard. I'm going to go through the PP since I work for a religious institution and their insurance won't cover anything. Not looking forward to paying for it.

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