# What hormone is in "the morning after pll?" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 14, 2004, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-hormone-is-in-the-morning-after-pll/229211 "2004-02-14T15:03:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![grettle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/aeb1de/32.png) [@grettle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grettle)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2004, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-hormone-is-in-the-morning-after-pll/229211/1 "2004-02-14T15:03:21Z")
My friend took it and she said that it was simply ten birth control pills taken in two equal doses 12 hours apart. She doesn’t remember what kind of birthcontrol pills they were except for that they were all the same (i.e. not a tri-cycline package). I was just curious which hormone it was. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2004, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-hormone-is-in-the-morning-after-pll/229211/2 "2004-02-14T15:25:32Z")
They can use one of several brands. See [here](http://www.plannedparenthoodlouisiana.org/pp/medical/emergency_contraception.html) for a list – scroll down a bit. ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2004, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-hormone-is-in-the-morning-after-pll/229211/3 "2004-02-14T15:34:54Z")
I just realized I answered a different question than you asked. The pills in question are just your normal BCPs, but in high doses. I’m on Ortho-Cyclen, which is the same pill through the whole cycle, and they’ve got estrogen and progestin. The doses vary among brands of pills, but I don’t think the hormones themselves do. ---
**Author:** ![talking\_head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a8b319/32.png) [@talking\_head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/talking_head)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2004, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-hormone-is-in-the-morning-after-pll/229211/4 "2004-02-14T18:57:26Z")
Yes, whiterabbit is absolutely correct. The morning after pill is made of very high doses of estrogen and progestin. It’s not correctly named because it can be taken up to 72 hours after the “blessed event”. It may cause nausea, vomiting and the whole gamut of ugly afflictions. It’s about 80% effective and what it does is cause an very early term abortion. Within about two weeks, the fertilized egg is flushed out of your system. I did hear recently that someone died after taking these pill (two doses per treatment), am I correct or not? I’d rather use three condoms, spermicide, a diaphragm and anything else available than this-better than a body bag. Please be careful, hon and only as a very last resort. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2004, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-hormone-is-in-the-morning-after-pll/229211/5 "2004-02-14T19:01:46Z")
The hormones might vary, since many of them have side effects and/or are patented in such a way that differing companies have to discover their own molecules. Off the top of my head (and not knowing which brand names they belong to) I can think of orgestrel, levonorgestrel, ethinyl estradiol, progestin, norethindrone, norethindrone acetate, norgestrel, ethinodiol diacetate, norgestimate… all of these are molecularly differernt. Many birth control pills are a combination of these (often one of these, paired with ethinyl estradiol). Watson Pharmaceuticals and Wyeth-Ayerst are two of the major birth control producers, so a look at their websites might be useful. ---
**Author:** ![talking\_head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a8b319/32.png) [@talking\_head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/talking_head)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2004, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-hormone-is-in-the-morning-after-pll/229211/6 "2004-02-14T19:04:50Z")
Oh and by the way, I didn’t notice your screen name before. Too cute and how is Hansel? Tell him to double up, after all, it’s your life that’s at stake! After all, you may give birth to the next president someday! ---
**Author:** ![Innanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecd19e/32.png) [@Innanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Innanna)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2004, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-hormone-is-in-the-morning-after-pll/229211/7 "2004-02-14T19:59:44Z")
**talking head** , the OP is talking about her(?) friend, not her. OP is just curious about a med, not taking it herself. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2004, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-hormone-is-in-the-morning-after-pll/229211/8 "2004-02-14T20:58:05Z")
> [@talking head](#): > > …Within about two weeks, the fertilized egg is flushed out of your system… According to the FDA, “EC pills … act by delaying or inhibiting ovulation, and/or altering tubal transport of sperm and/or ova (thereby inhibiting fertilization), and/or altering the endometrium (thereby inhibiting implantation).” (FDA, Federal Register Notice, Vol. 62, No. 37, Feb. 25, 1997). ---
**Author:** ![Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harriet_the_Spry)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2004, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-hormone-is-in-the-morning-after-pll/229211/9 "2004-02-14T21:04:48Z")
Talkinghead, I am pretty sure the death you are actually talking about is associated with RU-486, the chemical abortion. That is a completely different medication (mifepristone) than the OP is referring to, which has correctly been described as regular birth control pill hormones, which act by preventing implantation of a fertilized egg if there is one. This (not particularly unbiased) article describes the death from mifepristone. [http://www.nrlc.org/news/2003/NRL11/coroner.htm](http://www.nrlc.org/news/2003/NRL11/coroner.htm) If you have a link describing a death from the morning after pill, feel free to post it.