When to start patch?

Avatar for missourigrl
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
When to start patch?
2
Sat, 03-06-2004 - 7:32pm
Hello. I posted a while back about when I could start my patch...the day of my period or the Sunday after. I was confused by what the doctor said and what the directions for the patch said. Anyway, I decided to start it the Sunday after my period (which I got last week by the way :). I posted below about being worried about possibly being pregnant). My question is if I choose to put my patch on tomorrow morning, when I change it for the next week, do I have to put the new one on in the morning at the same time? Can I put it on in the evening before I go to bed? I guess what I'm wondering is if I have to change my patch the same time every week, kind of like taking the pill at the same time every day or it won't be effective.

Thanks!

Kristen

 

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-30-2003
Sat, 03-06-2004 - 8:31pm
Hi missourigrl,

On the Ortho Evra site http://www.orthoevra.com/index.html

See the FAQs: "What if I forget to change my patch?" The answer to that question suggests that the time of day you change the patch on your patch-change day isn’t particularly important. But you must apply a new one immediately upon removing the old one. However, if I were you, I would establish a change time and stick to it. The more habit you can get into the less likely you are to forget.

Good luck

      Jill

    

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-01-2003
Sun, 03-07-2004 - 4:20am
I agree. I think the patch is good for two days beyond the 7 days that you are supposed to change it, so in theory it wouldn't matter what time of day you change it. As long as you change it. With sunday start you can in theory start the patch 6 days after your period started so with me, I didn't want to wait a whole month before my period started again, and I ended up starting my patch on a Tuesday which was 6 days after my period started. They just pick sunday starts because they think its easier for people to rmeember that day of the week and also so that people won't have their period on the weekend (in theory). To me none of that matters.