Depo to Patch - Condoms for a month?!
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| Mon, 10-11-2004 - 9:12am |
My Depo shot is due today so I went to our good ole local HD to get my usual dose of hormones. I haven`t been very pleased with the way Depo has affected my love life lately, so I asked to switch to OrthoEvra (they, unfortunately, don`t carry NuvaRing). The woman, who had already gotten out the box containing the Depo was kind of crabby to change horses midstream but started the process of the paperwork for OrthoEvra. I was really excited about switching. She then informed me that I would have to use condoms for a MONTH, the entire first cycle, in order to not get pregnant while my body adjusts to the hormones. This really shocked me. My beau and I aren`t wild about using condoms - that`s why I started BC in the first place. So, rather dejectedly, I opted to go for Depo - all because of a roll of Lifestyles condoms that she still made me take, probably because she was angry at me for changing my mind again. ugh...
If I make the switch next time, will we really need to use condoms for a month? Everything I`ve read here has recommended a week, and that`s to be on the safe side while switching. While I understand that a month is probably a good idea, it seems a little like overkill to me. Any ideas?
Lena
Who will now be having outrageous headaches for the next three days, thank you Depo.


Any other thoughts? Anyone in public health perhaps that can tell me why a health department representative - ideally very educated in the ins-and-outs of BC - would tell me this? Is there something I`m missing?
Lena
Even though I don't need to, I've used backup for every pill switch, sometimes for a week, sometimes for a month. It makes _me_ feel better to not worry about it. If you're cool with a week, it's not like Nurse Ratchet is going to be in your bedroom making you use those condoms! ;)
As far as I know, if you go with the patient information, you should be good, but if you're more comfortable erring on the side of extra caution, that would seem reasonable to me too.
Good luck!
Co-cl for Birth Control