taking a break from the patch

[imnotyourstarx.livejournal.com]

WARNING: i am wordy and feel its necessary to tell a long story before asking a simple question. :)


hello! i am 17, boston born and bred, in a long term relationship with a adorable boy for about a year and a half. i am on ortho evra (the patch) and im freaking in love with it. i have been on it for about 7(ish?) months. i am due to get my period tomorrow around 12 PM. (reason #1 why i love the patch: i can predict when ill get my period down to the hour.)

on june 27 my boy will be boarding a plane for israel. he will return mid-august.
on june 29 i will be boarding a plane to texas to go visit my family. (boo...) i will return mid-august.
so, we will be apart for 6 weeks or so. thus, no bangin' will take place.

i was thinking during this 6 weeks (it would be starting now, since im on my period week) i would like to take a break from the patch. the 2 reasons are 1) im not totally ok with being on hormones and this would be the only time i would be able to take a break. i just want to do it. and 2) its hot in texas. much hotter than the boston weather im used to. my parents have a pool that i pretty much live in or around when i visit them. people are bound to see it. my bathing suits are lower than the patch; its hard to hide. my parental unit #1 (mother) knows about the patch, boy, the hot sweaty bangin, etc, etc. shes pretty cool. parental unit #2, on the other hand, if he saw my little birth control patch, would load a shotgun, catch a plane to israel, and hunt.boy.down. i just dont want to be on it while down there. its not necessary.

*exhale* i told you i was wordy.

ok. so, here the question: will i totally wig out if i stop? will the adjustment coming off and then going back on it in late august be hard? i had no weird side effects when i started the patch, but since ive been on it for so long, might that change when i restart? any thoughts/comments that are even remotely related are super cool. :)

Comments

[3-black-cats.livejournal.com]

I've never been on the patch, so I don't know if my experience is relevant... but I've taken occasional "breaks" from HBC for a variety of reasons, and other than my period being irregular when I first go off the hormones, there were no other side effects for me. Good luck with whatever you decide. :)

[imnotyourstarx.livejournal.com]

sounds good. im hoping its like that. thanks.

[meaningrequired.livejournal.com]

Perhaps your father could be informed its for other reasons and womens stuff, not necessarily birth control?

[imnotyourstarx.livejournal.com]

parental unit #2 is a secondary reason. the main reason i want to take a break is because i just want to take a break. hormones, no matter how great my experience on this patch has been, kinda freak me out.

[meaningrequired.livejournal.com]

yeah thats understandable :)

[auraesque.livejournal.com]

You might feel side effects, and you might not. It's different for every woman. I think you've already made your decision, though.

When you are back in Boston, will you have a few weeks to recoup and deal with any side effects?

Talk to your doctor about your decision and see what she says.

Oh, and Boston wins. =)

[imnotyourstarx.livejournal.com]

yeah, ill have a few weeks before school starts. im just going to cross my fingers and do it, i think.

and boston totally wins.

[queenofdelosers.livejournal.com]

I can't really help with your questions, sorry. But I just wanted to take the opportunity to pimp the NuvaRing. It's basically the most secret form of birth control ever. My mom knows that I'm on it, cause I told her. But no one else in my family does. I don't have to remember to take a pill or change the patch weekly. It never comes off cause I've gone swimming or sweated so much (I know the patch isn't supposed to, but for a lot of my friends it did).

It's also almost impossible for the man involved with my "downtheres" to know about it. Even when he's using his hands! I swear, I love the ring.

[imnotyourstarx.livejournal.com]

haha i love people who pimp their bc and assorted things. i pimp the patch and instead cups like crazy.

i know aaaalllll about the ring. i work at a womens clinic and i get to hand them out all day. they are nifty little things, ill admit, but im prone to yeasties and what not and so id rather not tempt fate. :)

my patch doesnt fall off or anything. i really think my relationship with me and my patch is better and more solid than my relationship with any people in my live. im seriously freaking in love with it. prior to it i had tried many other pills (i wanna say 3), all of which had various horrible side effects such as make me a crazy biznatch and making my hair fall out in chunks... that was a fun month before storming back to the doctor in tears... yeah...

Maybe try a different spot?

[sarah-mae13.livejournal.com]

I am on the patch as well and I would suggest wearing it on your butt. That way no one can see it. (unless you're naked)

I have only gone without HBC for a month in the almost 9 years that I have been on it and didn't have any really noticeable effects but that was the pill.

When I switched to the patch I definitely noticed a difference with the 24/7 influx of hormones. I had kind of a medicine-head-like feeling for a week or so until I got used to it, so taking a break might be more noticeable? Just a thought.

[tinydancer7.livejournal.com]

i have no answer. i just wanted to say (as an english major etc) that i really like your writing style.
that is all.

[loonylupinlover.livejournal.com]

Have you tried the butt area, as mentioned above? That was where I always put mine after the first week, where tight jeans made the patch on the hip lift up and wrinkle, freaking me way out. Since then I've gotten some wrinkles on the ass patches, but they've only fallen off twice (and in nine months that ain't bad). And no one can see but my boyfriend and me. :)

[adrianna-faery.livejournal.com]

I'm in a similar situation as you are. My bf moved to Vegas a few weeks ago, so no sex until I visit again in July. I've been taking a break from the patch too. I've been on it non-stop since last Sept so I felt like I could use a little break. I've also taken a 3 month break when I was previously on it with no problems at all. I did have side effects again, mostly just slight headaches and breast pain. I was thinking about starting it again with this next period or waiting another month. Anyway, I think taking a break would be fine...but you might want to pass it by your doc first just to get the official ok.

[justreadmyspine.livejournal.com]

A couple months ago, I took a break from the patch...and had the most horrible period of my life. It came a week late, and I was in SO much pain I couldn't get out of bed, I couldn't eat, etc. This is not to say this happens to everyone. This is just my experience. But if you've never taken a break from the patch, you don't know how your body will react, so just be prepared.

If you wear the patch on your butt, like I do, a bathing suit should hide it, just like underwear does.

[bit-bit.livejournal.com]

I stopped using my patch for about nine weeks while I was living in Alaska last summer (with my fiance home in Virginia). I had no ill effects, other than returning to my naturally long and irregular cycle (I had only one period at the end of that nine weeks, but that's how my body is). I did not get reprieve from the long term side effects of the hormones (weight gain and depression) as I had hoped, but they also did not get worse when I went back onto it. So overall, there were no real effects to stopping and starting again.

Just remember that when you start again, it'll be just like you never had used the patch before in terms of effectiveness. You need to either restart at the beginning of your period or use a backup method until you are fully covered (I think that's one week, but double check with the patch's info packet).

Another option would be to place the patch in a way that your father won't see it. I've heard of some people using the middle of a bum cheek, which would be covered by almost any bathing suit.