Suppose I’m a woman that has sex infrequently. I decide it’s not worth it to stay on the pill (or maybe I react badly to the pill) and I don’t like condoms.
Could the morning after pill ever be a viable primary source of birth control? I’ve tried reading the website for Plan B, but when it contains lines like
I’m not convinced I can judge how sever side effects are.
So, are there physical reasons not to use the morning after pill as a primary form of birth control?
Well, it’s not as effective as the pill. And, it’s made of the same components as the pill, so someone with a bad response to the pill won’t want to take Plan B lightly.
It usually makes women feel queesy, along with the other listed effects.
Notice this, from page 3 of the Prescribing Information at that site:
My girlfriend took Plan B twice in a previous life (i.e. before she met me). She said both times made her sick as a dog for at least a day and the nausa was enough to put her off sex for quite some time just in memory of it.
In her experience, at least, it would be a very unpleasant means of primary birth control.
“Just so you know, I’m going to be throwing up for the next twenty-four hours as a result of this, so it had better be WORTH IT!!” I’m not sure how many guys are going to be effectively stimulated to peak performance by that prospect (or if you’d really want to be having sex with a guy who would be).
(snerk) Ok, I so visuallized that one. Nothing like a little pressure to perform.
Plan B is absolutely not an appropriate choice as a primary method of birth control. Partly it’s just not that effective compared to just about any other legitimate method, and partly it’ll throw your cycle totally out of whack. The main way it works is by delaying ovulation, so it will alter your fertility cycle, making it much more difficult to tell what’s happening with your body. You may or may not have some bleeding but that’s not considered a “normal menstrual period” for purposes of defining the end of the fertility cycle. This means you’ll need to wait for two full weeks before taking a pregnancy test to confirm whether it worked or not, or wait a full cycle until your next normal menses for the same information. While “unprotected” sex may or may not be risky for pregnancy reasons depending on where you’re at in your fertility cycle if you’re paying attention to such things, taking Plan B will negate any useful information you’ll get from your body such as changes in cervical fluid and associated symptoms that will tell you about your infertile phases.
Additionally, it will not protect you against STDs if that’s a concern in your sexual relationships. You’re far better off choosing condoms, spermicides, fertility awareness, or any of the vaginal barrier methods for infrequent contraceptive needs.
I took it once after a broken condom and I had just started the actual pill and didn’t want to take any chances.
Lady at Planned Parenthood told me to go eat and then take the pills to reduce nausea. Had none. Don’t remember any resulting issues with my cycle either.
But I’d say get over your condom issues because it’s not like Plan B protects against STDs and if one was having sex infrequently, I’d assume they were not married and not in many relationships. If they were married, maybe sterilization should be considered unless the couple is young and wanting kids sometime. So again, I’d say get over the condom issue. They’re cheaper than Plan B anyway.
Another point to consider is that in some places, it may be difficult to obtain Plan B, since some pharmacists refuse to sell it. The ethics of this is a subject for another thread (actually, many other threads), but it is a fact that it happens.
I think there will be a number of women who use it as their primary birth control. Sadly, some women don’t like to preapre for a likely sexual encounter. Buying condoms seems “slutty” and they’d rather feel that sex was something that just happens spontaneously. The burden is put on their parnter to provide protection and if he can’t/won’t it usually isn’t something that breaks the deal. If they settled down into a relationship, they’d likely switch over to conventional birth control but while they’re still dating, they won’t admit to needing it.
The Coil and Femidoms come to mind.
I ask myself that question all the time. 