PCOS Messages for November, 2001: Re: birth control patch

Re: birth control patch

From: Belle (anonymous@obgyn.net)
Thu, 29 Nov 2001 11:22:59 -0600 (CST)

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In reply to: jodi: "birth control patch"

There are large numbers of women who have difficulty taking the pill every day because of a variety of reasons. Even professional women have difficulty. For example: women in the medical field can be on call for 36 - 72 hours at a stretch and it is all but impossible to keep track of the days, much less taking your BCP at the same time each day. The same thing goes for firefighters, cops, new mothers, women who have to take care of elderly or ill relatives, women who work shift work, etc. Many people are not awake at the same time day after day.

I have seen many young women come in who were pregnant because they have been unable to take the pill at the same time each day. The patch will keep a constant level of medication in the woman's system at all times during the week and does not have to be replaced at the same hour each week. It is far more likely that a busy woman will find the time to replace the patch within a 3 - 4 hour time frame on a specific day than it is that she would have the time to take a pill at 12:00 (or what ever time frame, within 30 minutes of the prior day's). This would also be more convenient if you travel frequently. You would not have to remember to pack them on short trips.

It is not that drug reps think that women are stupid, it is just that they are responding to the demands that birth control be made easier and less demanding. Many women desire a more carefree way to control birth temporarily.

While some skin irritation can be found when using the drug delivery system of a patch, the risks are slight for most people and would probably not be any greater than wearing a band-aid for a week. You should rotate the site each week and not place it in the same spot each time.

We are not like most women, we as a group are very sensitive to our hormone levels and there are a wide variety of pills that simply do not work for us or that make us as sick as dogs, but for the average woman, the most common complaint is 1) the weight gain and 2) having to take it each day.

At Thu, 29 Nov 2001, jodi wrote: >
>has anyone else seen the birth control patch? you can read the article
>at:
>
>http://www.cnn.com/2001/HEALTH/11/21/contraceptive.patch.ap/index.html
>
>ANYWAY. what do people think? I think this is one of the most
>ridiculous birth control solutions yet! It's the exact same hormones
>that are used in BCPs, so I would imagine you'd have the exact same side
>effects, with the added possibility of skin irritation. The patch is
>supposed to offer women "more freedom" because you only have to change
>it once a week rather than take a pill every day. (I find it hilarious
>that pill manufacturers think women are too stupid to remember to take
>their birth control pills if they get out of the habit during the off
>week, so they give them dummy pills... but they don't think remembering
>to change a patch once a week is beyond our capabilities. I think that
>people who say women are disastified with the current birth control
>options are missing the point... isn't it the hormonal haywire and side
>effects they cause that women are unhappy with? How is this helping?
>
>- jodi

-- Hope this helps,

Belle

Next message: Penhead: "Re: Just found out I have PCOS"
Previous message: Lori: "Re: yeah, I dont have IR"
In reply to: jodi: "birth control patch"

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