# For women: Have you ever taken Plan B?



## bromide (Nov 28, 2011)

I've taken it 3 times over the past 10 years. I've always had a little bit of cramping and once some spotting, but no bebes for me so I call good on it.


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## Fizz (Nov 13, 2010)

Audrey said:


> I'm glad to hear that you were self-sufficient and responsible. A lot of young women aren't, and young pregnancy has become noticeably more common. Even if you can already afford contraception the women's clinics are great though. They offer a bunch of free services like STD testing, pap smears, general exams, condoms, etc. It's nice to know that women are taken care of, despite the news recently blowing this issue out of proportion.


The thing is, places like those free clinics have been under attack for years. Recently Susan G. Komen foundation had pulled funding to Planned Parenthood based on intimidation by conservative pro-life groups. Later after some furor by the public, Susan G. Komen foundation continued funding to Planned Parenthood, ignoring the conservative groups. The conservative groups are misinformed assuming that free clinics are handing out abortions like candy.

Ignorant conservative groups is why schools in the US have had to use abstinence-only sex education. It's been proven time and time again to be useless. Students of comprehensive sex education are more likely to postpone sex and use condoms during first intercourse than those who are taught abstinence-only.


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## reletative (Dec 17, 2010)

i believe very firmly in comprehensive sex-education.

both me and my sister were taught abstinence-only, and we both ended up with unplanned pregnancies. i'm not saying our choices were perfect, but ignorance played a huge factor. especially in my sister.


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## Fizz (Nov 13, 2010)

Khys said:


> i believe very firmly in comprehensive sex-education.
> 
> both me and my sister were taught abstinence-only, and we both ended up with unplanned pregnancies. i'm not saying our choices were perfect, but ignorance played a huge factor. especially in my sister.


Abstinence-only aka Ignorance-only. 

During sex education one of my classmates asked what a "condom" was and the instructor told him to just ask his parents (we were all 12-14 and it was puberty time then, there were sexually active kids at the school). The only thing they would tell us was the biology and how people got pregnant. They refuses to teach us about healthy relationships, homosexuality, sexual intercourse, and all that jazz. I only learned that males got erections because a classmate told me their penises got hard. That freaked me out for a while, it would have been a great implement in abstinence-only. Just scare the little girls with threats of the male companions' hard penises.


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## Audrey (Dec 26, 2011)

Fizz said:


> The thing is, places like those free clinics have been under attack for years. Recently Susan G. Komen foundation had pulled funding to Planned Parenthood based on intimidation by conservative pro-life groups. Later after some furor by the public, Susan G. Komen foundation continued funding to Planned Parenthood, ignoring the conservative groups. The conservative groups are misinformed assuming that free clinics are handing out abortions like candy.
> 
> Ignorant conservative groups is why schools in the US have had to use abstinence-only sex education. It's been proven time and time again to be useless. Students of comprehensive sex education are more likely to postpone sex and use condoms during first intercourse than those who are taught abstinence-only.


This approach is just asking for teen pregnancy and overpopulation. I don't understand that pattern of thought these people have... they think that if you don't teach children about sex then they won't have sex? And if your child does have sex, wouldn't you rather them know what birth control is? It makes no sense to me.


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## Fizz (Nov 13, 2010)

Audrey said:


> This approach is just asking for teen pregnancy and overpopulation. I don't understand that pattern of thought these people have... they think that if you don't teach children about sex then they won't have sex? And if your child does have sex, wouldn't you rather them know what birth control is? It makes no sense to me.


Anything that happens to them, be it an STI or unintended pregnancy, I believe they want them punished for having premarital sex. They being whatever assholes who want abstinence-only taught. They don't care about people who already exist and have their own lives. They put more value on the pre-conceived and unborn than they do on the living. After the child is born, they don't give a fuck. They don't want to pay to support the child and mother if they're on welfare.

It would better our society if people were actually taught how to take care of themselves. We can't just rely upon our parents to teach us everything because who was there to teach them in the first place? It's better to be enriched by different people rather than just having one source.


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## LotusBlossom (Apr 2, 2011)

I used to live in the UK and that's actually where I heard of Plan B, because, you know, I actually think it's important to, UH, take precautions *rolls eyes* therefore I bothered to do the research.

and no.


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## reletative (Dec 17, 2010)

i'm 10 years older than my sister, and i was HORRIFIED when i started talking to her about sex after learning she was sexually active, and found out she didn't know what ovulation was, didn't know what STDs were out there, didn't know she could get pregnant after having sex once, didn't know how a condom worked, etc. i tried my best to explain everything, but she found out she was already pregnant 2 weeks later. 17 years old.


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## knittigan (Sep 2, 2011)

Khys said:


> i'm 10 years older than my sister, and i was HORRIFIED when i started talking to her about sex after learning she was sexually active, and found out she didn't know what ovulation was, didn't know what STDs were out there, didn't know she could get pregnant after having sex once, didn't know how a condom worked, etc. i tried my best to explain everything, but she found out she was already pregnant 2 weeks later. 17 years old.


That must have been very upsetting. I'm Canadian, so it's hard for me to even wrap my head around how that is possible. Just, wow.


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## reletative (Dec 17, 2010)

knittigan said:


> That must have been very upsetting. I'm Canadian, so it's hard for me to even wrap my head around how that is possible. Just, wow.


you can thank ultra-conservative religion for that one.


apparently teaching a young woman how her body works will make her "impure"


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## knittigan (Sep 2, 2011)

Khys said:


> you can thank ultra-conservative religion for that one.
> 
> apparently teaching a young woman how her body works will make her "impure"


We've got our fair share of people like that here, too... I guess the difference is that we shame them to the moon and back when they start bringing their religious beliefs into the political arena. It's very strange to me that American politicians get away with that to the extent that they do.


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## La Li Lu Le Lo (Aug 15, 2011)

Fizz said:


> The thing is, places like those free clinics have been under attack for years. Recently Susan G. Komen foundation had pulled funding to Planned Parenthood based on intimidation by conservative pro-life groups. Later after some furor by the public, Susan G. Komen foundation continued funding to Planned Parenthood, ignoring the conservative groups. The conservative groups are misinformed assuming that free clinics are handing out abortions like candy.


But if they _are_ giving abortions, wouldn't they be justified in opposing it?


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## sleepyhead (Nov 14, 2011)

LaLiLuLeLo said:


> But if they _are_ giving abortions, wouldn't they be justified in opposing it?


No, because they support a woman's right to choose. The pressure was coming from outside groups.


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## Fleetfoot (May 9, 2011)

I haven't taken it, but I know it's hella expensive and you really shouldn't take it more than five times in a lifetime or it can permanently fuck up your body chemistry. 

Which is why you should really have a solid Plan A, or at least have a number of plans in-between.


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## killerB (Jan 14, 2010)

I have never had to take it, but I had a friend who has. She said it made her queezy, and crampy a bit, but not much more than her regular period. She was so relieved to take it, so it was a good option.


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## Spades (Aug 31, 2011)

I've taken it twice. I would avoid it unless absolutely necessary. If I recall, I was told its effectiveness drops off with use, but I'm not sure about this (a quick google search might answer the question but I'm lazy).

Something I found very strange, is right after the second time I took it, two things occurred:
a) I began to get frequent yeast infections (never had them before).
b) My periods became more regular?!

The first one, I suspect has to do with exposure to that partner, but I'm pretty baffled. I've decided to stay away from hormones anyway, and maybe get an IUD.


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## Laney (Feb 20, 2012)

IUD's are pretty sweet. I have Paragard, the one without hormones.


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## Drewbie (Apr 28, 2010)

I've taken it once. The next day I was an emotional wreck, though whether that was hormones or the pregnancy scare is up for debate, and my period the next month was all out of whack but it only effected that month. It was very worth it.

I want an IUD but every time I've inquired I've been shot down because I haven't given birth. Bastards. :dry:


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## knittigan (Sep 2, 2011)

Fitz Cabbage said:


> I've taken it once. The next day I was an emotional wreck, though whether that was hormones or the pregnancy scare is up for debate, and my period the next month was all out of whack but it only effected that month. It was very worth it.
> 
> *I want an IUD but every time I've inquired I've been shot down because I haven't given birth.* Bastards. :dry:


That's very strange to hear... one of my friends actually said something similar to me the other day and apparently it's pretty standard rhetoric, but it surprised me because the doctors at our university clinic are really pushing IUDs instead of birth control. I have a friend who went in to renew a birth control prescription and ended up deciding to get an IUD because the doctor convinced her it was safer/better and I had the exact same experience (although I obviously decided against it).


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## Laney (Feb 20, 2012)

It's a pretty standard thing to get post birth. I had mine inserted at my post partum check up.

Edit: Now that I think about it, I don't know a single person who has gotten one that hadn't given birth already.


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## okaydrifter (Mar 15, 2012)

When I was 16 I had sex with my boyfriend and the condom broke. So the next day, Plan B it was.

I took a pill, felt kinda sick, waited however many hours i was supposed to wait until taking the next one, took that one, went to bed...
and then woke up a few hours later and puked my guts up!

it was lovely.
/not.

i never want to go through that again.


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## knittigan (Sep 2, 2011)

LovelornLark:2306650 said:


> I took plan B once, during a time when I was switching between two different dosages of birth control and the condom broke. I was informed that the effectiveness of birth control was lowered during the few transition days between the pill types, and though we normally relied on not one, but two different plan As, they both failed that time. We took it early, and yeah it cost us about $40 as well. My boyfriend was actually the one who went out and bought it for me, because he could drive and I couldn't, and the way the timing worked out he could pick it up easier, so I didn't have to deal with the pharmacist awkwardness. I honestly don't remember any significant side effects, my period was pretty regular I'm sure after that and whatever delay there was I think I can attribute to being stressed out about the whole scare. I do remember feeling extra-emotional and vulnerable, but didn't actually consider that the hormones might have attributed to that until now. lol I thought I just felt vulnerable because of the situation.


I'm sure that it's probably a bit of both. It's not exactly something you decide to do on a whim because you're bored, heh.



LovelornLark:2306650 said:


> I definately recall being extremely emotional (more than I normally am) in the first few months of being on the pill. I still don't think its bad enough (or at least, it wasn't for me) to really be a reason to not go on the pill, but of course, if you're opposed to emotional ups and downs in general, then it could be a consideration. I suppose one could compare it to the emotions after plan B.
> 
> Thats basically the same situation as I have, in terms of being close to the surface emotionally, "sensitive" on the pill. I've been on the pill for two years or so now, and on the same brand/dosage for at least a year and a half. I found that the first brand I tried was too high of a dosage for my emotions to handle, so I had to go down a couple of notches. I guess that contibutes to my caution with switching as well, there actually isn't a much lower effective dose I could be on if I had too much of a problem with this one. However, I think my situation may be a bit different because I have had mild childhood depression for basically as long as I can remember, and I've always been overemotional, sensitive and prone to crying.  So I wouldn't say the pill has changed my emotions altogether, just amplified them.


Yeah, that's kind of my issue as well. I'm not sure that there actually is a lower dosage that I could take. But I also wouldn't want to start spotting or getting acne on a different brand, either. I guess it's really just about what you're willing to trade off for. I've always been quite sensitive, so it's really not a huge change for me.


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## LovelornLark (Mar 26, 2012)

knittigan said:


> Yeah, that's kind of my issue as well. I'm not sure that there actually is a lower dosage that I could take. But I also wouldn't want to start spotting or getting acne on a different brand, either. I guess it's really just about what you're willing to trade off for. I've always been quite sensitive, so it's really not a huge change for me.


Yeah, I feel like, in theory, since I've always been overemotional it shouldn't make such a huge difference for me, but I've been thinking harder about it lately and I think it does effect my depression quite a bit; in a bad way. I've began considering non-hormonal methods of birth control, but haven't really looked too in depth yet.


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## koalaroo (Nov 25, 2011)

@knittigan - 

SS TMI full sail ahead:

I actually had my first experience with Plan B a few weeks ago. I had no emotional side effects, but after taking the pill I had severe headaches and nausea, felt severely fatigued and had really bad breast tenderness.


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## Persephone (Nov 14, 2009)

I took it last Sunday. Nothing happened, although my period is late. It's supposed to come today. Now I'm slightly worried. I have felt fatigued, but I don't know what to attribute it to, but the most obvious cause is lack of sleep. The alternative, pregnancy, I don't want to consider...


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## koalaroo (Nov 25, 2011)

Persephone said:


> I took it last Sunday. Nothing happened, although my period is late. It's supposed to come today. Now I'm slightly worried. I have felt fatigued, but I don't know what to attribute it to, but the most obvious cause is lack of sleep. The alternative, pregnancy, I don't want to consider...


From what I understand from the literature it's like:
7 days <- regular period day -> 7 days

After taking Plan B, my period was about 2 days late.


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## Mulberries (Feb 17, 2011)

I've taken it about 6 times in the past 10 years. Once I didn't really need to take it. The other times were broken condoms.

All I can remember is it always made my boobs hurt a lot.


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## milti (Feb 8, 2012)

Sex education does not exist in most Indian schools.
In my school, when we were in class 8, they brought in counsellors and "life skills coaches" to explain what was happening wwith our bodies. All I remember of that was a blushing young lady standing in front of a classroom full of wide eyed kids... She was holding a poster with a cartoon of 3 naked men all of different sizes, and the poster said "people come in all sizes and shapes, skinny, thin, fat" - and we all giggled at the picture of the overweight one. :/ She stumbled through telling us about changes at puberty and then invited questions, and one of the boys asked her why he felt weird down there when he saw pictures of models, and we all giggled some more and she was all flustered and didn't answer.

In class 10, they got in an amazing counsellor who really walked us through the whole deal - intercourse, pregnancy, childbirth. She was embarrassingly honest. But she spoke of abstinence and then passed around a small bottle with an aborted foetus in it. One boy burst into tears and promised he would never make any girl pregnant.

In my Catholic college they divided the men and women and priests warned us earnestly that we should study hard and not look to all these temptations and nonsense.


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## ohmyitschels (Apr 12, 2012)

Ah! Plan B. I have taken it on more than one occasion. I always use a condom but sometimes it would break. SO, I would go to my local CVS and get it (cost about $50) and take it in my car. After about a week, I would get a light period and feel kinda tired and hormonal. Then, after a few days it would stop. Then, after that, my normal period would come and I knew for sure I was safe. The success rate is no joke. Just don't make it a habit because it's not a birth control. That one little pill packs a punch and I doubt you want to feel out of whack all the time.


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## chip (Oct 12, 2011)

I've never taken it. I never even knew it existed until I had two abortions. Also, don't attack me because I just admitted that. Thanks.


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## knittigan (Sep 2, 2011)

chip said:


> I've never taken it. *I never even knew it existed until I had two abortions. Also, don't attack me because I just admitted that.* Thanks.


Wouldn't dream of it. Thanks for sharing


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## chip (Oct 12, 2011)

knittigan said:


> Wouldn't dream of it. Thanks for sharing


No prob. I thought of the pill and felt nervous about it, assuming I would possibly cramp far too much and my hormones are already screwed up as it is.


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## Curiously (Nov 7, 2011)

I have. I did not experience any adverse effects from taking it.


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## Wellsy (Oct 24, 2011)

* *


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## Oleas (Jul 22, 2010)

Just took Plan B yesterday. First time.

It was $55 at Duane Reade (US). The fuck?

No symptoms so far.. Waiting for my period.. Usually comes around the 20th so I guess we'll see?


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## frozenmusic (Aug 12, 2014)

Call me boring, but I've never had unprotected sex nor have I ever had a 'condom malfunction', so I've never needed to take Plan B. Hope I never need to, because that's not something that I want to stress about.


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## Fern (Sep 2, 2012)

Oleas said:


> Just took Plan B yesterday. First time.
> 
> It was $55 at Duane Reade (US). The fuck?
> 
> No symptoms so far.. Waiting for my period.. Usually comes around the 20th so I guess we'll see?


It's times such as those when I wouldn't fault a person for shoplifting.

But I imagine it would be difficult to sneak away with...


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## Courtalort (Jun 29, 2013)

Well this thread is 3 years ago-but I have taken it twice. One time the condom broke and one time it slipped off. I didn't get too sick from it, but I took care to lay down all day and rest. 

PS: It does NOT cause an abortion.


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## 172354 (Oct 21, 2014)

I've taken it. Had every side effect imaginable. Sucked, but way better than being pregnant.


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## Oleas (Jul 22, 2010)

Fern said:


> It's times such as those when I wouldn't fault a person for shoplifting.
> 
> But I imagine it would be difficult to sneak away with...




Agreed. It's a perfect case of highway robbery.

They know you desperately need it if you're buying it, so they have no shame charging you the most ridiculous amount for it.

I'm also scared it might be a deterrent for younger/poorer people to actually get it, resulting in unwanted/teenage pregnancies. It's so fucked up.


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