Birth Control Patch Warning

Specialties Ob/Gyn

Published

Ortho McNeil maker of Ortho Evra

has finally warned the public

it's patch exposes women to

60% more estrogen and greater risks than a typical BC pill

I say finally because we have known since August

the patch is more risky than the pill

causing three times the risk of blood clots and death

I also say finally because of a 2003 internal company memo

shows the company refused to fund a comparison study

between patch and pill

because there was too high of a chance the study

might not prove a positive result for the patch.

profits over people

I just switched from the Patch to Ortho Tricylen Low. I had been on the patch for 3 yrs and my body never adjusted to it. Every time I would put a new patch on I would get sick to my stomach and get head aches. My husband works at a hospital and he told the nurses there what i was feeling and they said it was b/c the patch dishes high amounts of hormones into you constantly whereas the pill has different levels of hormones each week. and the Low pill has less hormones all together. I did like not having to think about taking the medication, but i didn't like being sick all the time. But i didn't realize all of the bad things that went along with the patch...VERY SCARY!!

Is anyone on Ortho Low? How is it working for you? Do you suffer from side effects? When do you take your pill?

Specializes in Cath Lab, OR, CPHN/SN, ER.

I too was on the patch. Then I gained a few pounds (or twenty, however you want to count it), and started bleeding mid-cycle for about two cycles. I realized if I was having that bleeding, I wasn't getting the protection I needed, and had to go on a BCP (Yasmin). I had hoped to go back on the patch whenever I lost weight, but I doubt I will now.

I had not given this study much thought at all until yesterday. I came in, got report on a young lady (30) who was being admitted for PE. Non-smoker, was on the BC patch. Made things a whole lot more realistic for me. :stone

I do the Mirena thing, and I love it! Been on it for almost two years, now, and it's been a lifesaver--No periods, no cramps, no mood-swings. And it's more effective than having your tubes tied. Only thing is, you have to have had a baby before you can get on it. Plus, I only have to think about birth control once every five years. European women have been using it for 10-15 years, but it just became available here a few years ago.

Specializes in Clinical Research, Outpt Women's Health.

They have recently approved IUD use in women without a previous pregnancy - I would get in line for a Mirena IUD if I had a uterus!

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