The Morning After Pill

boardsie08

Hey girlies,

I recently got myself into a bit of bother and needed to get the Morning After pill.. Just wondering if any of you ladies have any experience of this?

Kinda need to put my mind at ease at the moment.. have you had any experience/ever heard of it failing?

Kinad worried about it all atm, so need some girly advice! x

themadchef

Hi Boardsie08, firstly...try not to worry


I took it once (years ago, in college). If i remember correctly, it brought my period on pretty quickly. I was mid cycle and worried sick when condom burst that i was going to get pregnant (i didint), I can imagine youre worried sick.

Not sure what the stats are, but i think it's very effective. Must be taken within a certain period of time after sex though, sooner the better to be most effective. Again, i'm going on memory. Also i know a few who have taken it, it worked for them also. Nothing is 100 % though.

Best of luck!

boardsie08

Thanks darling!

I've taken it well within 24 hours, and I know it's most effective when taken within the first 24 hours.. obviously because it's not 100% there's always gonna be that niggling doubt in the back of your mind.. Here's hoping it does the trick though! x

mollybird

ya i taken it once or twice. once you take it within the 24 hours it's fine. never failed on me.

LadyJ

I think once you take it within 72 hours it's ok, though the sooner the better of course. At least that's what I was told, that was a few years back though. Don't worry OP, you'd have to be really unlucky for it not to work. Anyone I've ever known who has taken it didn't become pregnant. Relax.

Maybe consider going on the pill after this though, just to put your mind at ease in the future. Keep using condoms as well though.

Gillybean72

boardsie08 wrote: »

Thanks darling!

I've taken it well within 24 hours, and I know it's most effective when taken within the first 24 hours.. obviously because it's not 100% there's always gonna be that niggling doubt in the back of your mind.. Here's hoping it does the trick though! x

I have taken it a couple of times and had diff symptoms each time. Once my period came early with heavy cramping, another it came on time and no diff and another I was a bit late, but had mild cramps for a week prior. I had the sore boobs and other things too and was worried it had failed....

As long as you werent sick you should be grand

Quality

I'd say you were fine, If you got there within 24 hours...

nikki 122

How many times can you take it only happened me once but just in case

Lux23

I took it three times. The first was when it was two pills and it made me puke my ring so no good. But the the last two times was just the one pill and it was fine, just took it and forgot about it.

To be honest I was never at risk that much but felt I was better off safe then sorry.

Its not recommended to take it all that often but I don't think there is a limit on how much you take it.

Sanerah

I've taken it i think 5 times now, it obviously works very well, I'm not pregnant!!
Some of my friends have taken it and experienced heavy bleeding immediately, myth has it that it was the actual embryo that was bleeding out... dunno if that's true!

Nevyn

5 times ?

It's like 6 months of the horrormoans in the normal pill all at once.
Have you not considered another standard type of contraception if you current one keeps failing ?

I took it once like 12 years ago and it worked.

Sanerah

I know, 5 times but over the space of like 10 years... so it isn't too bad.
i changed my contraception after the last time I needed one. I'm now on the patch its much better than having to remember to take the oral pill everyday! But patch isn't exactly attractive!

LadyJ

Sanerah wrote: »

IBut patch isn't exactly attractive!

Thus making it the best form of contraception!

Peared

Be warned that you may feel sick after taking it and if you actually vomit you may need to take another dose. Cant remember what the time frame for this is.

You will probably get an anti nausea tablet with it. In my experience this made no difference and I felt as sick as a dog but maybe you will be luckier.

Def get contraception sorted, morning after messes with your cycle, your hormones and your stomach.

StandnDeliver

i found when i took it i had 2 periods within the month so dont be alarmed if it happens.

dudara

Good to hear you got it sorted. But don't take it more than a couple of times in your life. It's a big dose of hormones and it's generally not recommended to take it multiple times.

boardsie08

Thanks for all the info guys and sharing your experiences, greatly appreciated!

does it really contain 6 months worth of the hormones that taking a regular contraceptive pill would contain?? That's pretty hardcore on your body!!

I'm feeling sort of crampy today, generally unwell, pains etc.. Convincing myself now that I am pregnant! Agggh!!

I wish I could keep away from google too I keep coming across posts from people who've taken the morning after pill and went on to become pregnant afterwards, God I hope it doesn't fail me!

Gah *stress*

Ginny

The cramping will be the morning after pill.
As far as I remember its actually a conc. of a weeks worth of the normal pill, now I can't remember which version of the pill its supposed to be though, the combined or progestogen only..
Its really really not meant to be taken more then once maybe twice, its not good for your system and throws everything out of whack for a few months after, anyone how has to take it a second time really needs to sort out whats going wrong in the first place.

neuro-praxis

I am not passing judgement, but just to let you know that it is an abortifacient and therefore requires an element of moral choice when taking it. I only include this information because I believe family planning clinics etc. can be slow to mention this. Many women do not know that if their sexual encounter has actually resulted in pregnancy that the morning after pill may bring the pregnancy to an end, rather than simply preventing one from taking place in the first place.

Of course, the same risk exists with the typical daily pill (as in, if you become unknowingly pregnant while on the pill you may accidentally harm or destroy the foetus by continuing to take the pill) so it is certainly not a clear-cut issue, but one worthy of note.

Nevyn

It is not an abortifacient.
An abortifacient ends a pregnacy.

A woman is not pregnant until the embro implants in the womb, this is how is it is medically described.
The morning after pill prevents this from happening it is a possible post conception contraceptive.

The morning after pill is not to be mixed up with the medical abortion pill,
the medical abortion pill which ends a pregnancy is an abortifacient is not available or legal in this country.

po0k

neuro - there's too many of us.
Moral choice indeed.

neuro-praxis

Thaedydal wrote: »

It is not an abortifacient.
An abortifacient ends a pregnacy.

Ok, I am truly not trying to start a debate. This is my understanding of how it works. During sex, an egg may be fertilised. This egg will take 6-14 days to be implanted in the womb lining. Taking the morning after pill will mean it cannot be implanted. Effectively the influx of hormones bucks the internal system and the fertilised egg (if it exists) is washed out.

A woman is not pregnant until the embro implants in the womb, this is how is it is medically described.
The morning after pill prevents this from happening it is a possible post conception contraceptive.

Again, I am not arguing for the sake of it. However, there is much debate as to whether pregnancy is the period from conception to birth when a woman carries a developing embryo in her body, or whether pregnancy is that period from embryo implantation onwards. It is not cut and dried.

The morning after pill is not to be mixed up with the medical abortion pill,
the medical abortion pill which ends a pregnancy is an abortifacient is not available or legal in this country.

I am not mixing it up.

I am simply trying to make it clear that the morning after pill will bring to an end the first stage of pregnancy - conception (if it has, in fact, occurred at all) rather than preventing conception in the first place. You cannot disagree that the first stage of pregnancy is conception. Implantation is the second.

embee

"Pregnancy" doesn't happen until implantation of a fertilised egg occurs, which happens anywhere between 7-10 days post-conception. Conception does not equal pregnancy.

A close family member of mine took the MAP, without success. She took it about 18 hours after she'd had unprotected sex. She became pregnant, but travelled to the UK and had a termination.

Donegal Lass

I am simply trying to make it clear that the morning after pill will bring to an end the first stage of pregnancy - conception (if it has, in fact, occurred at all) rather than preventing conception in the first place. You cannot disagree that the first stage of pregnancy is conception. Implantation is the second.

It doesnt really matter about the stages, or about anyones personal thoughts on if a person should/shouldnt take the morning after pill.

The OP was asking people who have had experienced the same thing that she has done, not for a biology lesson!

neuro-praxis

I am not trying to win a cause here ladies, I am trying to make it clear what the morning after pill does, so that users can be aware. Please don't shout down the reality that when successful, it brings any conception to an end. That is its purpose and function.

I would like to point out that a woman with an ectopic pregnancy, i.e., an embryo that has implanted itself on any tissue outside of the uterus, will indeed gets readings of being pregnant and for a time, the embryo will stuntedly develop. It would not be true to say that because the embryo did not implant itself in her uterus she was not pregnant.

neuro-praxis

Donegal Lass wrote: »

It doesnt really matter about the stages, or about anyones personal thoughts on if a person should/shouldnt take the morning after pill. The OP was asking people who have had experienced the same thing that she has done, not for a biology lesson!

What an ignorant response. Nothing was said about who should/shouldn't take the morning after pill. What was said was how it works which is something that should be known. I believe that if anyone is going to take the morning after pill they should be fully aware of what's going on. That seems pretty sensible to me actually.

I actually need to add that I have not even presented my personal opinion the issue...other than that I think anyone taking it should be informed.

LadyJ

neuro-praxis wrote: »

IPlease don't shout down the reality that when successful, it brings any conception to an end. That is its purpose and function.

Good. When I took it that is exactly the outcome I was hoping for! Didn't really care about the finer details tbh, though I did read up on it. However, mostly I was just thinking, "Ok, let's sort this out now so I don't have to go to England!"

Donegal Lass

neuro-praxis wrote: »

What an ignorant response. Nothing was said about who should/shouldn't take the morning after pill. What was said was how it works which is something that should be known. I believe that if anyone is going to take the morning after pill they should be fully aware of what's going on. That seems pretty sensible to me actually.

I actually need to add that I have not even presented my personal opinion the issue...other than that I think anyone taking it should be informed.

Ok, I did not mean to be ignorant at all, and im sorry if you thought so! But the OP wanted support and she has not asked for information as to when she is or isnt considered pregnant?

embee

neuro-praxis wrote: »

I would like to point out that a woman with an ectopic pregnancy, i.e., an embryo that has implanted itself on any tissue outside of the uterus, will indeed gets readings of being pregnant and for a time, the embryo will stuntedly develop. It would not be true to say that because the embryo did not implant itself in her uterus she was not pregnant.

An ectopic pregnancy has implanted into a place other than the womb. There is a world of difference between a fertilised egg and an extra-uterine pregnancy. The pregnancy hormone, hCG, will only ever be present in a womans system when a blastocyst has implanted, either in the endometrium or elsewhere. It won't happen when there is just a fertilised egg in the system.

ztoical

neuro-praxis wrote: »

What an ignorant response. Nothing was said about who should/shouldn't take the morning after pill. What was said was how it works which is something that should be known. I believe that if anyone is going to take the morning after pill they should be fully aware of what's going on. That seems pretty sensible to me actually.

Donegal Lass was trying to point out that this thread was not a discussion about taking the morning after pill and how it works - the OP asked what side effects other women on this board had suffered as a result of taking it, the implication being they [and the OP] had already taken it, no point in going on about the morality behind it at that point as it had already been taken.

If people wish to start a discussion on the moral implications of taking the morning after pill then I think it should be taken to a new thread.

neuro-praxis wrote: »

I actually need to add that I have not even presented my personal opinion the issue

I think you've pretty much made your personal opinion clear on the issue. I took the morning after pill a number of years ago and found my GP gave me all the information that I asked for. There was no moral issue involved for me so I didn't ask my doctor about it. Its up to each person to ask the questions that they need answers to from their doctor.

embee

ztoical wrote: »

I think you've pretty much made your personal opinion clear on the issue. I took the morning after pill a number of years ago and found my GP gave me all the information that I asked for. There was no moral issue involved for me so I didn't ask my doctor about it. Its up to each person to ask the questions that they need answers to from their doctor.

In fairness to neuro, she didn't at any stage make her own views on the issue clear at all. She only said that there is a moral question that needs to be asked when taking the MAP. She is right - some women do need to think about their moral standpoint on it. Some don't (like yourself). At no stage did neuro actually say "This is what I think", so there's no need for people to attack her. She raised a pertinent point.