WHen they ran it here I noticed that the women who died was a smoker. To me, that skews the conclusion that the patch has a higher rate of clotting. DO NOT SMOKE IF YOU ARE ON THE PILL OR THE PATCH. They stress that all the time and people do nto lsiten. It makes a difference and increases your risk of clots. Just don't do it.

I was wondering if this case had to do with smoking. I know a girl who smoked and was on the pill who had a stroke at 24. She is fine now because she caught it early.

I have a co-worker who got blood clots in her legs and she was taken off the pill immediately. She is 40 and a non-smoker, but has a problem with Factor 5, a blood clotting issue, which was exacerbated by the pill too. Sometimes there are other pre-existing conditions that have to be taken into consideration. Whether she was on the pill or not, she probably would have had clots at some point, but they took her off the pill right away.

Another co-worker has been having migraines with visual auras. She was told that if she has another one, she'll be taken off the pill because of the increased risk of stroke if you have these types of migraines and are on the pill. Her husband is now scheduled for what we call The Big V.

Dee

I used to get headaches almost every month when I was on the pill. Wow, I actually forgot about that until you mentioned it.

How do you convince a guy that The Big V is a great idea? They're so protective of their...stuff. I really should've had a tubal when I still had insurance that covered it. I'm so sick of there being NO birth control that doesn't suck one way or another.

You know... that you all mention it, I seem to be getting migranes more often than not. I've always attributed it to having my blood sugars drop down low and then 2 hours later is my "hangover" from the low. (At least that is what my endo said.)

I guess I'll have to keep an eye on it.

does it hurt when you breath? can you take a breath when it strikes? cuz i had it on my left side right around my heart, but my brother (who is a doctor) said it was probably the muscle between my ribs due to the fact that when the pain would start, i couldn't take a breath. but definately keep an eye on it and see.

shelley j
sigma k

okay OUCH. Definately V for him. Waaaaaaaaaaay less invasive.

Two of my co-workers convinced their hubbies to get the Big V. Both of them had two kids already and had to go off the pill for medical reasons. When presented with either condoms, more day care bills or the Big V, they both chose the V. My ex was scheduled for the Big V but we had been fighting constantly and I told him the morning before he was scheduled that he might want to cancel it because he might want kids with his next wife since I knew I couldn't deal with the marriage anymore. He cancelled his appointment. He had agreed to it for the same reasons as my co-worker's husbands. I had gotten pregnant on the pill in the past (but miscarried) and we were condoms and foam when we conceived my daughter. We conceived our son the ONE time we had unprotected sex. We were just too darn fertile to take any chances and knew we didn't want more kids. It gives you some leverage when you can say "I went through child birth twice, you can do this". It also helped that most of his friends had them and survived just fine. In fact, they talked about how much better their sex lives were because there were no more worries about getting pregnant. Find some friends of his who've had them and get them talking!

Dee

ETA: My friend with the migraines was told specifically that the ones with visual auras are the higher risk ones and have a high correlation to strokes, hence the problem with the pill.

Yeah, the problem is that I've never gone through childbirth, so I can't use that as leverage. I suppose I could argue that I have to deal with cramps and carrying the boobs around all the time. That should count for something.

He also doesn't mind condoms. I mean, he doesn't love them, but he doesn't mind.

I was on Depo for years. Absolutely loved it because I would never get a period. (YES). But in March I needed to get my shot and my doctors office claimed it had been pulled off the market. Turns out they in fact lied to me because the generic form is still on the market (thanks to the lovely pharmacist for telling me this).

So because I'm so irregular I'm on Ortho Tri Cyclin. I'm so bad at taking pills. If I were sexually active right now (which I'm not) I'd be knocked up. I'm horrible. I don't take them at the same time each day. Sometimes the morning, then afternoon or evening. I'm so bad.

I think I'm going to go to a different doctor and try to get on Depo again or try the patch. I think the patch would be easier for me to remember than a pill daily.

I've been on the pill off and on for almost 6 years. I was on for 3 years straight, took a year off, and then went back on. I've only used Desogen, and it works great for me.

I went on the pill because my mom told me I was being irresponsible. "You can't use just condoms!":eek:

I personally don't trust the patch. A few of my friends were on it, and they said that it would come off a lot when they were changing and stuff.