New to BC Initial appointment on Thrus.
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New to BC Initial appointment on Thrus.
| Tue, 08-29-2006 - 12:27pm |
Hi, I'm 21 yrs. old, and I decided to get birth control pills or to get on Birth Control. I have my appointment at Planned Parenthood on Thrusday. I'm a poor college student, so I was told that Planned Parenthood will help you out if you are tight on money. What should I expect during the appointment?? Any suggestions on what to ask?? I'm kind of nervous but excited that I finally decided to schedule an appointment.
Thanks
Nikki
Thanks
Nikki

Hi Nikki, welcome!
Jill
I have never been to planned parenthood, but I imagine it's going to be similar to going to the doctor or to health services at college, and I've done both of those for birth control. When you tell them you are sexually active, they will examine you (I'm assuming you've been to the gynecologist before, but if you haven't, it's really not that bad), and talk about options with you. They'll ask if there is breast cancer in your family, and about any other hereditary diseases, if you've had blood clots, etc. They're usually pretty eager to put you on a method of birth control, so this isn't something to worry too much about, but you should have a general idea of your medical history before your appointment.
If you can't be on hormonal birth control, they may discuss other options like diaphragms, cervical caps, and iuds. If you have a certain pill in mind, or certain worries about side effects of the pill, you should tell them so they can figure out which pill might be a good start for you. According to the Planned Parenthood website, they can't tell how much appointments, ect. cost for individual centers, but I am sure you will be able to discuss cost when you go for your appointment, and it will probably be less than a copay.
If you are a college student, another thing youyou may want to consider is to check with the health services and see what their prices for certain pills are. Usually they are really cheap. At my school, for example, you can get a lot of common pills for $5/month (you have to buy them in packs of 3, so the pricing is technically "$15 for 3 months" but my insurance copay is $20/month for pills, so that is a big difference). So that may be worth investigating for price options.
Good luck at your appointment!!
Thank you to everyone for all of your information. I feel more prepared for my appointment, I am hoping it will not run too long, or that I will not have to wait long because I have class later on during the day. I'll let you all know how the appointment went.
Thanks again,
Nikki