Just got off the phone with my sister-in-law/best friend, who is also a nurse AND has been on the medicine I'm worrying about for three months.
Her advice?
"Number one, don't read all that stuff on the Internet!"
Her case was that they are all the "squeaky wheels" -- the complainers are usually the loudest, and the ones who are doing great on it have no need to go to these sites and say how great it is. It's like when I worked at the newspaper: you rarely heard from the readers when you did your job right; but if you spelled a name or got a date wrong, you'd get twenty irate phone calls.
The other thing that came out of the conversation is that I'm already taking equivalents of both components of the pill -- the oral contraceptive and an androgen-resistant medicine -- and haven't had any (or at least minimal) side effects from them.
She has felt wonderful on this pill, but admits her one friend went on it and had trouble with cramping. Her final advice?
"You won't know until you tried it."
So now I'm really torn!
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2 comments:
I do have a small suggestion. Perhaps you can talk to your pharmacist. I know some places, the pharmacist is pretty busy but some other places, they're not.
They're the ones on the front lines who handle the prescription changes. Now, to be fair, they'll hear about the negative stuff more than the positive. I mean, who really goes up to their pharmacist and says, "This is the best birth control I've EVER had!"
But they might have some thoughts about the chemical makeup of the drug vs. what you're on now. They might validate what your s-in-law is saying to you.
You can go to the PDR and look at the official drug information for each medicine. Or to an official government site. Your s-in-law is right; the complainers are going to be the ones who talk about stuff.
Your s-in-law's friend with the cramping...was it just for one month or is it continuous? There's a difference.
And when you started your current BCP, did you have any episodes of depression or anxiety then?
If you feel uncertain, you can wait another month until things get settled down from the move and the holidays.
The last suggestion is a bit odd but if you have a Pl@nned P@renthood office in your area, perhaps you can make an appointment with someone there to discuss this. I don't see PP peddling drugs that are unsafe for women nor do I see them as Pawns of Big Pharm. (And maybe they might have a suggestion for another doctor. It's not like Yasmin just arrived in his office. He has had a lot of drug reps there.)
I hope this helps.
Lori had great advice! She really has the "touch" with medical stuff - easy to understand and nice/caring. I have considered taking that same Y-pill myself - for my peri problems - Please keep me posted.
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