Plan B doesnt work if you weigh more than 165

[CallmeChaCha]

Coleslaw, I was able to get a copy of the article as well. The main points I took, as a layperson*, it may not really be related to BMI (1), and it didn't say that double dosing would not work. It also didn't say it would work, just that they needed more data to "support such practice."

(1) There's a sentence that mentions that even a tall woman (with low BMI) that weighs 70 kg (~155 kg) should be advised that she may be at greater risk of Plan B failing. Did I read that correctly? It sounds to me like it's not so much BMI-related, as it is weight-related.

*I'm not in the medical field, nor do I pretend to be. Feel free to correct me.

[Rita]

Anecdata: I talked to a nurse who works with college students and staff, and she has not heard about this article. Thank you, Coleslaw. She's going to look it up tomorrow. Side note, she says that some of the women she sees who request EC, have a birth control pill already and are just that terrified.

[Coconut Flan]

This was a news segment on Anderson Cooper 360 today so word is maybe getting out.

[Chicken bones]

Just saw a preview commercial for a local news show that had this story "coming up." It's the DFW area, so hopefully a large amount of people will see it.

Having fertility issues, this product has never been in my medicine cabinet, but I would be willing to be a large amount that more detail was put into the efficacy studies done on Viagra, hair restoration products, and testosterone gels combined than on this.

[Ariel]

Kind of a side note, but this reminds me of the amazingly awesome OB/GYN I had during college at the University health center.

I went in for a regular check-up and to go off birth control because I didn't need it. At the end of the check up she says: "I'm going to write you a prescription for plan-B just in case-I do it for all the girls who come in without birth control." With the University Health Plan, this made Plan B cost $10 instead of $70 something. It was really comforting knowing it was there and that if I ever needed it there would be 100% no hassle (money issues included) in getting access to the meds.

I really appreciated the gesture and I haven't found an OB/GYN as awesome as her since then.

[boxerlover24]

Well luckily at least you don't need a prescription now!! (Or is that only in some states?) When I got mine just had to ask the pharmacist for it.

I view plan b as a crapshoot...mainly cause it didn't work for me and I took it within 24 hours.

I think it may have been a chemical pregnancy because a miscarried really early (i think?) but who knows.

This is also the reason I get very heated about abortion and planned parenthood. If the pregnancy stuck and I didn't have access to an cheap, easy abortion my life would have been ruined at 20.

[Ariel]

Well luckily at least you don't need a prescription now!! (Or is that only in some states?) When I got mine just had to ask the pharmacist for it.

I view plan b as a crapshoot...mainly cause it didn't work for me and I took it within 24 hours.

I think it may have been a chemical pregnancy because a miscarried really early (i think?) but who knows.

This is also the reason I get very heated about abortion and planned parenthood. If the pregnancy stuck and I didn't have access to an cheap, easy abortion my life would have been ruined at 20.

You don't need a prescription, but as far as I know (this may have changed with the free birth control whatnot) it's still extremely cheaper with a prescription.

[chissprincess]

Ugh, this is pretty sickening. Look, I don't care what you views on overweight people are -- i.e. I don't care if you think that we're all unhealthy awful slobs who should just go away already, or whatever -- but the simple fact of the matter is that there are now and, at least for the foreseeable, there always will be, and we are just as deserving of adequate medical care as everyone else. In this case, that means a morning-after pill that has the same chance of working for us as it does for people who weigh less...and it also means that, until such a pill has been invented, we have the right to know that it might not work as well for us so we can make other plans accordingly.

[RosyDaisy]

I've just got to say this. I smell a rat. The timing on this just happens to be around the same time that employers are howling about a birth control mandate? Interesting.

[thekate]

I've just got to say this. I smell a rat. The timing on this just happens to be around the same time that employers are howling about a birth control mandate? Interesting.

I highly doubt European medical researchers care about American birth control mandate politics.

[treemom]

Watching hln in the morning and they said this is the us OTC plan b.

[OkToBeTakei]

I don't really get the problem. (Well I do obviously....just not some comments.)

I certainly don't get the link between 'fat' thing and discrimination.

There are many drugs that need to be titrated to weight. Look at babies versus children etc.

I am a bit concerned that the titration dose was not an issue they factored into this. No attempt to take this into consideration. They do not appear to be addressing this and it appears it is a problem. This drug is an over the counter drug in my country. Anybody can walk into a pharmacy and request it. There' s legislation for safety that pharmacists adhere to, all our pharmacies have wee consulting rooms. I wonder if this is discussed..

A pharmaceutical company has basically said that titration v weight is an issue. That is the case for a lot of medication. I do not see why this seems to be an issue. I certainly do not see it as some weight discrimination thing. When a drug is OTC it can make this type of issue difficult to regulate and advise efficacy.

I am more concerned they took this long to realise it.

[DarkAnts]

Sadly the researchers used BMI as their measurement, despite it not being accurate. I wish they had taken the time to do the study using % body fat as that's what the study seems to be implying. However, modern medicine has sadly decided BMI is a close-enough approximation of body fat.

I agree, I am overweight according to my BMI. But, my measurements and percent body fat are within the healthy range. I am a muscular person and BMI has nothing to account for that.

[linnea27]

That is scary. I have taken Plan B twice, both times because of condom breakage with my husband (once exactly nine months before our wedding and I was not digging the idea of being pregnant at my wedding, and the other was just a few months after our youngest was born and I could NOT handle the idea of having another baby already). The second time I was still carrying baby weight and would have been above the magic weight cut off.

The first time I didn't need a prescription, but I did need to consult with the pharmacist. The second time it was on the shelf next to the condoms and lube and I could help myself.

[argypargy]

Which is especially ridiculous when you consider that when we studied BMI in my high school health class, a significant number of the athletes scored as obese, even though they clearly weren't.

This. I am overweight according to my BMI. I am an elite level triathlete and wear a size 4 or 6. I carry a lot of muscle in my thighs and arms (cycling and swimming will do that). I once had a nurse tell me that I was overweight and needed to lose x amount of pounds. Obviously, she was blind.

That's why I hate BMI. It's not an accurate representation. The best method for calculating whether one's overwight/obese would be body fat % done hydrostatically.

[julie paradox]

...Don't doctors write your dosage for hormonal bc based on your weight?

um... no? I get a packet of diddly little pills and take one a day, as does every other Pill user I know.

Are you talking of some other form of hormonal birth control that I know nothing about? (implants, injections and so forth... they didn't have them when I learnt about contraceptive methods!)

Why would plan B be any different?

... and this I don't argue with ;)

[flyawaystray]

BMI was meant to gauge the health of the general population. It is obviously different for athletes. Muscle and fat weigh the same but muscle takes up less space. So yes, of course you're going to weigh more on a scale if you have more muscle.

Most people find that BMI is accurate enough. Is it the best thing? no. I think measuring body fat percent (like with calipers) is a better idea. But it's more time consuming so a scale is easier.

[flubber]

BMI was meant to gauge the health of the general population. It is obviously different for athletes. Muscle and fat weigh the same but muscle takes up less space. So yes, of course you're going to weigh more on a scale if you have more muscle.

Most people find that BMI is accurate enough. Is it the best thing? no. I think measuring body fat percent (like with calipers) is a better idea. But it's more time consuming so a scale is easier.

It's not just athletes that BMI doesn't work for. At my smallest I am still bordering on overweight going by my BMI, but my body fat is 20%. I carry a lot of muscle (from training and weights)

[dawbs]

um... no? I get a packet of diddly little pills and take one a day, as does every other Pill user I know.

Are you talking of some other form of hormonal birth control that I know nothing about? (implants, injections and so forth... they didn't have them when I learnt about contraceptive methods!)

... and this I don't argue with ;)

FWIW, I've been on injectables (depo) it it comes as a pre-filled syringe. My weight wasn't taken into consideration when determining the dosage (my weight has fluxed a lot over the years, the amt that came in my little shot didn't)

[Rachel333]

I actually don't have a problem with BMI as long as you don't take it too seriously, as it really can be helpful as a general tool for comparison, but another BMI issue people don't realize is that it's not very good for especially tall or short people. If you're very tall then your bmi will seem higher than it should be, while if you're short it might seem higher. This means that a very tall person with a normal bmi might actually be underweight, while a very short person with a normal bmi might actually be overweight. The issue is because bmi squares measurements instead of cubes them, while people exist in three dimensions, not two.

[keen23]

I actually don't have a problem with BMI as long as you don't take it too seriously, as it really can be helpful as a general tool for comparison, but another BMI issue people don't realize is that it's not very good for especially tall or short people. If you're very tall then your bmi will seem higher than it should be, while if you're short it might seem higher. This means that a very tall person with a normal bmi might actually be underweight, while a very short person with a normal bmi might actually be overweight. The issue is because bmi squares measurements instead of cubes them, while people exist in three dimensions, not two.

Seriously, my mind is blown. I could never figure out why BMI numbers didn't make sense when you get to the ends of the size spectrum (either end, short or tall). That one sentence clears up years of confusion! Thank you Rachel333

[Sydney Fox]

I actually don't have a problem with BMI as long as you don't take it too seriously, as it really can be helpful as a general tool for comparison, but another BMI issue people don't realize is that it's not very good for especially tall or short people. If you're very tall then your bmi will seem higher than it should be, while if you're short it might seem higher. This means that a very tall person with a normal bmi might actually be underweight, while a very short person with a normal bmi might actually be overweight. The issue is because bmi squares measurements instead of cubes them, while people exist in three dimensions, not two.

Thank you for this. I'm tall (5' 11") and weigh around 200 lbs. If I were to use BMI I would be considered nearly obese, but I comfortably weigh a size 14 and look pretty average in weight. I guess I'm not as fat as I thought I was!

[flyawaystray]

It's not just athletes that BMI doesn't work for. At my smallest I am still bordering on overweight going by my BMI, but my body fat is 20%. I carry a lot of muscle (from training and weights)

Yeah, I didn't mean just athletes. Anyone who carries a lot of muscle will have that problem. That is why I said body calipers are better, but more time consuming vs. stepping on a scale for a second.

[Kailash]

This is why I have my youngest nephew. My 5'10 muscular sister took plan B after her husband's condom broke, but it obviously didn't work and she had a 4.5 year old, a 2 year old, and a newborn all at once. It's amazing to me that she has one shred of sanity left. I don't think she has had a decent night of sleep in 6 years.

Not necessarily true. If implantation had already occurred, Plan B wouldn't have worked.

[boxerlover24]

Nevermind.