99% not good enough!?!
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99% not good enough!?!
| Wed, 05-12-2004 - 1:43pm |
OK so I am new to birth control so I have some questions...I am in my late-twenties and I have not had sex yet, but I am planning on it with my boyfriend so I am going on Ortho-tricyclen as recommended by my doctor. As old as I am, I would have no excuse to not be smart about it, so I want to do everything right...I will not have sex until I have been on the pill for a month and we will use condoms, also. I want to use condoms, too, because even if you take the pill correctly, it still says it is not 100% effective and that makes me totally paranoid. Am I being too paranoid? How can you still get pregnant if you follow all the instructions(trust me I read all the info thoroughly)? I am just wondering what causes the pill to fail when taken properly, because I don't still want to be using condoms when I am married! Yes, I know I am paranoid, but I just don't want to take any chances! THanks for any advice. Oh, by the way, I got the generic version because my insurance doesn't cover birth control, and I was reading other posts about generics possibly not being as effective, so that is making me more paranoid! SHould I switch next month to the name brand?

I wish I had the answer to the generic question, but I was the one who posted the question if they are more or less effective - and unfortunately my question still has not been answered. So I really don't know about that for sure. Every doctor and pharmacist and poster here seems to tell me something different. Although if it is supposed to contain the same ACTIVE ingredients, then I imagine generics are fine.
For the pill to be effective - take it within the same time frame every day (+/- 2 hours). Some things that might effect it... if you vomit after taking the pill or if you have extreme diarrhea (I think these both need to be within about 2 hours of taking the pill), that could have an effect on the absorption of the pill and the hormones. There are other options too like the ring.
Have you heard about Nuvaring? It's a clear plastic flexible ring you insert in your vagina and, like the patch, it administers a continuous dosage for three weeks at a time. Just another thought. I tried this and didn't like it, although it was my first experience with birth control of any kind aside from condoms.
Anyways, aside from that... I can't think of anything else that would diminish the effectiveness of the pill... oh wait ANTIBIOTICS (but I am sure you already know that).
If you and your partner have both been tested, birth control is great protection... however YOU need to feel at ease and completely comfortable, and that is what matters. Maybe break yourself into the idea of it slowly. But for sex to be enjoyable you have to be completely comfortable mentally. :-)
So good luck! I hope this helped some... like I said, you would be fine without condoms but it is YOUR choice!
Nothing is 100%, that's why the pill is only 99.9% effective. Ideally though, with perfect use, no illness, no drug interactions, and no excessive weight gain, you are completely protected. I've used only the pill for years and have never had a pregnancy scare.
The ONLY method out there that is 100% accurate is *abstinence*. If you take the pill with perfect accuracy AND you use condoms properly every single time you have sex, there isnt an icicle's chance in hell that you're going to get pregnant! 99.9% efficacy is as good as it's going to get, honey. If you cant just relax and accept those odds (which are GREATLY in your favor), then you aren't mature enough for sex, regardless of age!
*MG*
99.9% is as much protection as you are gonna get, if someone still doesn't like those odds and are paroniod of being pregnant, then maybe they shouldn't be having sex because birth control is not 100% effective. You would need to be prepared to take care of your responsibility if something was to happen. Theres not much more protection you can get so either you take the chance or you don't have sex.
I understand that you don't want children right now and that you probably won't want any as soon as you are married. But hun, thats the chance you take when you have sex. Its a very slight chance when protection is used properly, but still, there's that .1%. I have a 5 year old cousin because of birth control failure. She was on the pill and they used a condom, yet the condom broke and she happened to fit into the 1% pill failure rate. Suprise Suprise they didn't think it would happen either but it did.
~Brookie
Oh, and I was told by my doctor in the past that Generic brand name pills are not less effecive as the big named ones. Hope that helps.
Edited 5/12/2004 9:46 pm ET ET by brookie84
Thanks for standing up for me while I wasnt around. I appreciate it and I'd do the same for you.
And to Michelle, Brooke is right. I wasn't saying it to be rude or inconsiderate at all. "Wanting to have safe sex" by no means makes you "not mature". I'm sorry if that's how you read into my post. By all means, good on you for wanting to be as safe as is possible; its too bad there aren't more people who actually care like you do. What I'm getting at is that there is *always* going to be a chance, slim as it may be, that both of your methods could fail. If you can't accept that fact, don't have sex.
*MG*
Hi Michelle,
Sex is never without any risk...STD's are possible, as is pregnancy when that's not what you want.
Your concerns, though unwarented, are perfectly understandable to me! I was on the pill 20 years (except for 4 years for PLANNED pregnancies) and it never failed me. I have been on several brands including generics. I have taken pills late, missed pills, accidently took two pills at one time(though I dont reccomend it! The stress isnt worth it! Just try and keep on schedule!) and worried about it, but still everything was fine. I think you will be fine. For some of us, it is natural to be concerned about things like that 1% failure. I dont think maturity has anything to do with it. Being concerned is not being immature; NOT being concerened is. Thats just my opinion.
PS the Nuvaring is a good suggestion!