(no subject)

[saowin.livejournal.com]

I have a question about Ortho Evra, aka the birth control patch. I've been on it for two years, and I love it. However, I'm starting to experience pregnancy symptoms, and I want to take a test. My question is: will the hormones in the patch give me an accurate reading on a pregnancy test, without me having to take it off and wait until I get my period again to take a pregnancy test?

Any help is appreciated - the Ortho Evra website, FDA website, and Planned Parenthood have offered no answers. Their 1-800 number is also down for the weekend, and my doctor is out of town. Also, the Vag-Pag archives have nothing on this. :(

Comments

[faeryguinevere.livejournal.com]

The patch shouldn't interfere with the results of the test. You produce a special chemical in your blood when you are pregnant that birth control does not replicate. So you shouldn't need to wait to take the test, from what I know.

[lindsey-nichole.livejournal.com]

Taking bc will have absolutely no effect on accuracy of a pregnancy test.

Pregnancy tests are designed to pick up HcG, a hormone that is only produced by the placenta so it's perfectly fine to take a test while on BC and it will be completely accurate.

However, I'd wait till it's time for your period or you miss it because otherwise you probably won't have enough HcG for the test to pick up.

[moochar.livejournal.com]

BC does not effect pregnancy test.

That said, I think you should wait until you miss your period before you take a test. You need at least 14 days past conception before a test will show up pos in most cases, even those test that claim you can test several days before a missed period.