Anybody see the commercials for the new birth control pill Seasonale? Having your period only four times a year? Oh yeah, I'm going to be asking my doctor about this one for sure.
I started the pill, Ortho Tri-Cyclen, when I was about 14 (seriously evil cramps); two years ago I switched to the Ortho-Evra patch. I love the patch ... the always there and consistant dose is much better than the pill. But this four times a year thing has me calling up my doctor to see what she thinks.
I wonder if they'll come out with a Patch version of Seasonale? I'm not too keen on going back to having to remember to take a pill at the same time every day; but if it means only having to deal with THAT every four months - well - we'll see!
But then I think ... I'm probably going to want to have kids sometime in the next 2-3 years - I wonder what the "come-down" time is on Seasonale. I hear it takes a few months off the Pill and the Patch before you can get pregnant. Lots of things to think about and talk to my doctor about!
My SIL was on the pill and had to get off of it an entire year before she wanted to get pregnant. She did and it worked out great. After that she used the patch until she wanted to get pregnant with her second, it was only 6 months for the patch. But, that was her. I'm sure everyone is different!
I've been taking Seasonale for about 4 months now. While it's nice not having a period every month, it also has some downsides. I mainly take it for cramps. The first few months I felt kinda crampy off and on during the month. Not so much anymore though. And it doesn't seem to do much for cramps during my period. Oh, and the 2nd and 3rd month there was lots of random spotting, which can get really annoying. I haven't had that problem again so far, and the chances of the spotting happening are greatly reduced after the first 3 month cycle.
so yeah, that's what i think of it so far :)
maybe i'm just odd but i think it's creepy to only have your period four times a year. i mean - you get it every month for some reason right?
I work in medical advertising, and I haven't seen anything about a Seasonale-esque patch -- I read the industry information a zillion times a week -- if I see anything, I'll let you know!
What makes Seasonale different is that you get the whole 3 month prescription in 1 pack. You can do the same thing by taking your regular pills straight through, no placebos. That's all Seasonale is, three packs of pills with no placebos.
Theoretically, you could do that with the patch, too, just keep it on constantly, don't take the week off.
I just started on the patch a few months ago. I like it, and I like it that I'm merely pissed at my husband during my PMS days, as opposed to feeling like I should kill him. But the lint that collects around the edges of the patch really grosses me out. Do yours do that? I keep looking at the model in the tv ads (with such a clean patch) and thinking, why doesn't mine look like that?
Yeah the lint thing is icky. By the end of the week - it's looking pretty raggedy. Where do you put yours? I try different locations ... my upper arm seems to get the least amount of lint - while the belly gets the most. The back of my shoulders works pretty well too. But there's still lint.
Those commercials are shot like 2 seconds after the girl stuck on the patch. Because man - as soon as you put your pants on it's got stuff on it!!!
I stick it on my back, just above my butt. That's probably why mine is so linty. But that's the only place that I'm not aware of it. I tried my shoulder and it bugged the heck out of me. Maybe I'll try my upper arm...
I talked to my doctor about Seasonale. His response? "Why have a period 4 times a year when you can have none?" So I use the shot. It doesn't work for everyone, but I haven't had a period since I started using it. I suffered from excruitiating cramps for years and now they're all gone. There are some downsides, but there similar to those of Seasonale.