Any feedback on using the patch? I’m looking into it…
thanks,
karol
Well, I got a script for it last fall, and then fell preggy while I was waiting for my period to start so I could slap one on. Ooops. 
FWIW, I gave my starter kit to my little sis, since I had no need for it and she was less than enthusiastic about them. She said they got all grimey and dirty around the edges within a day (you wear the same one for a week), and she had problems with skin irritation when she removed them.
FWIW, all of my women friends as well as my girl friend all detest the patch. More and more of them are going to the Nuva-ring (?SP) and are more than happy with that. Also my girl friend doesn’t have to worry about taking a pill or the patch falling off. That is all I know in these womanly issues.
My experience with it? I wanted to try the patch but my doctor said I was borderline on weight. Apparently it works less effectively above certain weights, and I hadn’t laid off the ice cream enough to make it work.
So I went with the Nuvaring and am quite happy with it. You shove the ring up your coochie and leave it there. Three weeks or so later, you fish it out again and give your body a week off. Easy, simple, effective.
wha… wha… wha… what!!!
Dear Lord,
I once again thank you I am a man.
I’ve been looking at the Nuvaring (currently on Depo-Provera, but extremely unhappy with the side effects). Just out of curiosity, and venturing into TMI territory, does it interefere with sexual intercourse? I would think that one’s partner would be able to feel the ring, and possible it fall out during intercourse. Is this not the case?
LOVE the ring. Started it four days ago and it is GREAT thus far. Sex is no problem. 
My husband claims he cannot feel it. It seems impossible, but that’s what the literature says, too. It’s a flexible ring, and apparently when you shove it up there it just makes itself scarce, pressed up against your vaginal walls.
If your partner does feel it, however, it’s perfectly safe to take it out. As long as you don’t have it out for more than three hours at a time, it is still effective. If your partner knocked it right out of you with his talented, vigorous lovemaking, you’d be fine. At least from the birth control standpoint.
It is not like a diaphragm–it doesn’t have to fit over the cervix or anything. It just needs to be up there. I’ve never felt it move or shift or get ideas of its own. And I don’t feel it, either. The first time I wore it, I felt pressure for a day or so, like the thing was pressing against my innards, but that went away and the next month I didn’t feel anything.
It looks big–bigger than I thought it would be. But like I said, it just finds a place to hang out and stays there.
I thought you had to change rings each week?
Huh. This is good stuff to know, because I hate my pill, and was considering trying the patch, as soon as I get around to calling my GYN to get an appointment!
Now I think I’ll ask about the Nuvaring instead!
But if I may pry a little further, Cranky . . . how difficult is it to get out? I’ve had some bad experiences with removal of coochie apparatus . . .
I love the patch. Yes, it gets kinda dirty, in the same way a band-aid does, but aside from that and some side effects at the start of the first week, I’m good to go and I don’t have any worries or problems.
Is the ring and the path basically the same thing as the pill, except in ring/path form? Do these have fewer side effects, or is it just the appeal of not having to remember to take a pill every day?
I was on Depo-Provera for 4 1/2 years, and switched to the patch in February. I’ve had no problems with it at all. Yes, it gets band-aid dirty, but I haven’t had one fall off. For me, I feel much better (emotionally) on the patch than on Depo, and I was able to switch straight over - no waiting for a period or anything. My only “complaint” was that my nipples were SO SENSITIVE for the first week that my bra made me want to cry.
I have periods that last for about 72 hours. Nice and light, with just a little cramping.
About the weight thing - they just told me that if you were over 190 (and I’m close!) not to put the patch on your butt because the excess fat can interfere with absorption. So I put it on up fairly high on the back - more like where my pelvic girdle is. Or you can use your arm, shoulder or lower abdomen.
The Nuva ring idea really appeals to me, but its taken me a long time to find a formulation that works for me, and sadly I know that the progesterones in it would affect me badly.
(Have any long term studies been done on it in relation to increased infections or TSS?)
As it is, in over a year on the pill I havn’t forgotten once…not even for a few hours…8am every day.
Another reason that the pill is good for me is that I’m not tempted to relapse with bulimia…need to keep that pill IN my stomach!
Irishgirl, bless your heart. My nearly-adopted daughter suffered from bulimia, and…long story, but just know I’m rooting for you, okay?
The nuvaring, hmmm. Now there’s a possibility, I suppose. Cranky, may I email you with an impossibly TMI question? Or you can email me, if you like. Or you can run screaming from the thread at the very idea…
(It’s not bad, just marginally embarrassing.)
Thanks for the input so far…it’s very helpful to hear first-hand experiences.
I don’t think there is any risk of TSS with the Nuvaring, because it doesn’t cover your servix or close up your vagina. It’s also pretty low-dose. Apparently it can be lower because it’s not going through your digestive tract. But check with your doc, of course.
And no, it’s good for three weeks. I cheat and go four weeks; any longer and I think I’d be pushing it in terms of effectiveness.
I’ve never had problems finding it to get it out. It’s not small, and it’s generally sort of vertical in your vagina. Catching the lower part of it to pull it out is no problemo. Now, if you had stubby fingers and a vagina 12" deep, it’d be another story. And I’ll bet you’d have other, good eye-popping stories to tell too…
I don’t mind the TMI questions. I think it’s an awesome innovation. I was the first patient my doctor prescribed it to, and clearly one of the first to order it at my pharmacy. But it’s really taking off.
Is your doctor with U of M hospitals? And what did your insurance think of covering the prescription?
I’m definitely intrigued.
My experiences EXACTLY. I just went back on the pill; it’s just as effective and cheaper for me anyway.
I always throught that as a marketing ploy they should make the patch very pretty and eye catching. Perhaps with some glitter. It could be marketed to singles that want to ‘advertise’ that they are ready and that a paternity suite down the line isn’t likely. I think it’d quickly become a fashion statement.