everybody knows what RU-486 is. I want to know if anyone has used and does work? Are there any side effects? Are there any future possiblities of having a hard time getting pregnant later on? I know what the media is saying about this drug. But I want to know what you dopers out there have to say about it. Tell me if you have used it, known someone who has used it, if you have worked with it, or you have anything good or bad to say about it.
Being male, I’ve not used it, but I can say that it’s been successfully used for over a decade in Europe (including France, where it originated).
My guesses to your questions:
Yes (obviously), yes (cramping and bleeding, I believe), I can’t imagine why this would affect future pregnancies.
Now, the real question is: Does Manny move this to IMHO or GD?
Let’s just say I was an impartial observer for the final phase of testing. You are brought in for consultation. A sonogram is given, showing proof of pregnancy. Your options are clearly given. In this particular case, it was stated that the embryo was underdeveloped for the expected time of insemination, leaving a high probability that the embryo would self-abort. The process was decided upon anyway.
Two sets of medication were prescribed: pill x, to be taken orally twice a day for five days (I think). I presume this was the 486. The second was a substance that would induce menstruation. Very strict instructions were given to minimize intake of folic acid, which is apparently very important for embryonic development. Folic acid seems to be present in every single f—ing food that is worth eating–and beer, so it’s the nuts and berries diet for Yogi. Actually, I think both of those are off the list, as well. And sympathy diets suck, too.
Nothing much happens until the menstuation inducers are taken, then it’s cramp time. I mean serious, narcotic pain-killer time, with no moving around except to go to the bathroom and bleed. Haemorrage must be closely watched for, and the subject was awakened and checked every six hours to make sure nothing went wrong. It’s miserable, as best I can tell, and I seriously doubt someone could fake it at a serious job. This can go on for anything up to ten days. A consultation was required if the bleeding persisted past seven days, I think. I don’t remember exactly.
Then, another sonogram is administered. If it shows clear, great. If it doesn’t, don’t know.
All I can say is that post-sonogram dinner was the best goddamn Outback steak I ever had. And Foster’s? It’s great, too. I didn’t go through it, but I saw it, and it sucked. I can tell you this, though: it ain’t no morning after pill.
As of right now, this is a General Question. Depending on which way it goes, I can very easily see it turning into a Great Debate, but abortion is a controvertial enough issue that it’s not likely to end up in IMHO.
No, the “morning after pill” is something completely different, which is, I believe, akin to taking a buncha birth control pills all at once, to prevent a possibly-fertilized egg from attaching to the uteris.
A thought: RU-486 was introduced in the late-1980s, I believe, right around the time Intel introduced the 80486 processor. Shouldn’t the RU-Pentium IV be in testing at the FDA right about now? 
(Sorry.)
Most of y’all know my opinion on abortion. So I’ll skip that.
A few weeks back, one of my school’s newspapers did a point-counterpoint set of articles on RU-486.
Several women who helped test the drug reported a LOT of bleeding, serious cramps, vomiting, etc. IOW, not fun stuff.
In general, abortion can really mess a woman up physically (ignoring everything else). It’s sometimes not much better for the man to take.
In the case I witnessed, the bleeding was prodigious, the cramping was extensive, and nausea was present, but did not lead to vomiting.
I wasn’t taking notes but I think the menstrual cycle was thrown off somewhat, but resumed regularity on a different, regular, schedule.
Could you clarify that last comment? I sort of want to laugh at myself for not making it clear: I only tried the narcotics.
More than “akin to” - it’s exactly equivalent. Before a single pill of this type was available, women were advised to take several pills (I don’t remember how many, three perhaps?) from a standard pack of birth control pills if they needed “emergency” contraception. The combination of hormones is identical. This supresses ovulation, so that if a woman hasn’t already ovulated there will be no fertilized egg to speak of, and it reduces the likelihood of implantation if the egg has been fertilized. It’s only effective if taken within 3 days (I think) after having unprotected sex. If the egg has already implanted in the woman’s uterus, this will have no effect - completely different from RU486.
Incidentally, most women who miscarry report heavy bleeding and cramping, so it would be rather odd if an abortion pill didn’t produce the same symptoms, no?