The pill should be anywhere from 12-35 a box (1 box per month), depending on the brand, what your doctor prescribes. Since you have a pre-existing medical reason, your parents' insurance should cover all, if not part, of the prescription. Your doctor might give you 2-3 months worth of samples, to make sure it's okay before she (or he) writes a prescription. If you're going to college in the fall (depending on the school, of course!), your school might distribute them for much less than what you'd pay in the pharmacy.

What brands do they normally prescribe for cramping? I know that doctors usually prescribe some brands for heavy bleeding, severe acne, endometriosis. Does anyone know?

The pill is the best thing I have ever taken for cramps.

I used to be deathly afraid of tampons, because of a bad experience I had with them when I was like, 12. Until the day I ran out of pads and couldn't get to the drugstore. I had to go to the school's mini-mart and all they had were tampons. Now, I swear by them...

Not to mention, summertime in Louisiana + pads is a pretty nasty combination! I'll spare the details http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/wink.gif

I like playtex, they just fit better. Tampax seem to be a bit on the long side...just my personal preference.

try a heating pad...always seems to help me... http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/wink.gif

A doctor will usually prescribe OrthoTriCyclen for cramps and severe acne. It's supposed to be better because its a 'triphasic' pill, which means that the pills have varying amounts of hormone in them depending on where you are in your monthly cycle. Its been a godsend for me.

Side effects can vary from person to person. I'm on Alesse which has the lowest estrogen dosage, but when I first started I was so nauseated that I couldn't eat for four days! I think that was just me though, so don't let that scare you! The lower the dosage, the less likely you are to experience side effects... and if you decide to go on the pill, the doctor will most likely start you off on a low dosage.

I actually don't mind the cardboard ones. They're not so yucky anymore. They're super smooth. I just use plain 'ol tampax regulars. Nothing fancy. But when I started out i used the ones with the round top. They're easier to get in for some reason.

Really, once you go to tampons, you won't love your pads quite so much anymore. Getting hot and sticky with a pad on is horrible. And you don't even realize how yucky and dirty they are during the heavier times (sorry for the graphic image)until you have a nice clean tampon keeping the flow from flowing, if you know what i mean. I used to shower twice a day during my period just to feel clean.

Ortho Tri-Cyclin is great... but be warned. They do come with some side-effects. They say that your system takes three months to adjust. I got really dizzy every once in a while for the first little bit. But I've been on it for years and I LOVE it. I can tell you, to the hour and day when my 'visitor' will arrive. Such a nice thing to know http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif.

There's my 12 cents. Good luck Newbie. Let us know what the doctor says!

Leslie

[This message has been edited by gphi2k (edited June 22, 2001).]

Well, I was on ortho tricyclen for a bit and I dumped it cause it actually made my skin worse! http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/frown.gif So much for that.

THANKS so much girls!!! http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/biggrin.gif http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/biggrin.gif http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/biggrin.gif http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/biggrin.gif

My appt is in about 4 hours!! Hopefully it goes OK. My cramps are completely gone now!! I wonder if the dr. will still prescribe me something even if right now I have no symptoms (i.e., how can he tell that I have really bad cramps, now?)??

Hopefullly he does!!! My acne is very slight, sometimes it's moderate (during period time)...hopefully birth control pills wouldn't make it worse!!

I"m so sorry, Amy http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/frown.gif. Did your skin get better when you got off the Ortho Tri-Cyclen?

thanks again everybody!!! I will keep you all posted, hopefully all goes well!! http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/biggrin.gif http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/biggrin.gif

OOoh, also, forgot to add...maybe I'll ask my dad to bring me to Walgreens after the appt so I can buy the tampons...i don't know if he knows the differences between tampons and pads http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif!

(As said earlier, my mom's deathly afraid of tampons and doesn't like me trying them!)

[This message has been edited by newbie (edited June 22, 2001).]

Hey Car-
\Yes, once I went off the tricyclen my face cleared right back up. http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif
GL at the doctor!

this is off the subject but oh well. i bet guys ARE reading this, BUT they just aren't posting. what do you all think?

LOL Liz. I do think that guys are reading this, too, but i bet you that the majority couldn't stomach it after a few lines...LOL. Props to those who can stomach this so far, though, that's great!!!

Ok, well here's the deal--I went to the doctor today (as you al know lol). WELL, I ended up getting all these allergy medicines (supposedly I have a really BAD case of allergies) and also some stuff for the bad cramps. But, immediately after taking the medicine, I zonked out!! (Allergy medicine) The dr. only prescribed Motrin for the bad cramps http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/frown.gif http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/frown.gif http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/frown.gif. I asked him about Ortho Tricyclen (MUCH TO MY DAD"S DISMAY http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/eek.gif ) LOL. But the dr. said he wanted to start me off with 2 Motrins/cramp, and see if I feel better. If no luck--he will prescrie the birth control pills in the future. He just said he didn't want to do it now b/c of the side effects, which he felt outweighed the positives for my body. http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/frown.gif

So no Ortho Tricyclen http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/frown.gif. BUT...on to other things http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/wink.gif! Tampons!!!!! I got them today!!! Playtex Slimfits!!! LOL, I'm so happy that you guys introduced me to tampons...I can't even believe that I managed to wear pads my whole life!!! LOLLOLOLOL. It hurt at first (b/c I was sooo scared), but it went in like a dream after a few minutes http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/biggrin.gif http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/biggrin.gif http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/biggrin.gif http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/biggrin.gif!!!!!

Thank you guys SOOOO very much http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/biggrin.gif http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/biggrin.gif http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/biggrin.gif!!!! YOU GIRLS ARE THE BEST...what a wonderful support group we all have, LOL!!

Oh, also...how about we keep this thread alive in the future, so any womanly troubles (lol) that we have, we can all discuss!!!

[This message has been edited by newbie (edited June 23, 2001).]

Yes, we should keep it alive. I was thinking about how I really don't discuss this stuff with my female friends, when I really want to. I don't have too many female friends, and there's a certain limit as to what you can discuss with male friends.

As for the BCP thing...I did Mircette for a while...which I loved...except I would get horribly depressed during the last 5 days. The doctor switched it to Alesse, which is good. I heard Ortho can make people gain weight.

Hey AlphaChiGirl!!

Yes, that's right! My doctor told me that Ortho TriCyclen can make a person gain weight. Also--he just said that it has many dangers and risks http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/frown.gif. so he said that he wants me to start off low, and if no improvements--then he'll see about the Pill.

Also, yes, all my really good friends that are female are away right now http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/frown.gif. A couple of them are at cheerleading camp, one's in Spain, and a few others are at volleyball camp!! So this is a great place to get info http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif.

I was wondering, is it supposed to hurt when you take a tampon out? http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/frown.gif I took it out, and it kinda hurt http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/frown.gif.


[This message has been edited by newbie (edited June 23, 2001).]