CENTCHROMAN -- seeking info about this ovulation-timing-related BC method, marketed in India

[numbersnletters.livejournal.com]

EDIT: I have learned the name of the method! It is called Centchroman.

Centchroman has been available in India since around 1990, and is marketed there under the brand names Centron® and Saheli®. Most women I know have never heard of it. As far as I know, it works by causing ovulation to occur asynchronously with the development of the uterine lining, thus impeding implantation.

If you have information about Centchroman, know of related resources, or have tried Centchroman yourself, I would really appreciate hearing from you. My body does not tolerate hormonal birth control, so I want to explore other methods. Thank you!

Thanks to mmmmhmmm for the link to this Centchroman bulletin board. Click on the second topic, Centchroman FAQ for a basic overview.

Comments

[scien.livejournal.com]

If you're talking about what I think you are, it's not a product that has been tested as safe or effective by the FDA (or for that matter health authories in Europe). I hear lots of claims such as 'no hormones! thus no side effects! 100% effective!', which seem to originate from the sites that are selling it.

[numbersnletters.livejournal.com]

The FDA refuses to test all sorts of beneficial things, like stevia (http://www.stevia.net/fda.htm), for example.

Like many women, I cannot physically tolerate hormonal birth control. I always keep a lookout for new forms of non-hormonal birth control, as currently, I have no easy options.

[laughing-dreams.livejournal.com]

i see stevia sold all the time in the U.S. i worked for a vitamin and health supplement company that sold it

[numbersnletters.livejournal.com]

It's legal as a food supplement but not as a food additive. You can buy it in a singular pill, powder or liquid form, but you cannot add any of those to food and then sell the food.

The FDA will not release it as a food additive, which would allow for legal stevia-sweetened bottled drinks, baked goods, candy bars, etc, which would, presumably, put a big dent into the profits of Splenda, Nutrasweet, etc.

You can patent and sell a chemical sweetener like Splenda, and you can even do the same with a genetically engineered plant, but you cannot patent and profit from a natural, non-GMO plant... hence the threat of stevia.

[scien.livejournal.com]

I have a plant of Stevia in my kitchen. I use the leaves in tea. That's one thing, but relying on something to keep you from getting pregnant is another.

I live in the UK, btw, and the drug you mention is not available here either. The only info I can find on pubmed is of one very small study (a couple of hundred women) and lots on rats. This would not be enough for me to put my faith in a contraceptive method, particularly when the sites selling it seem to be claiming impossible things (no side effects? that's simply not physically possible).

In addition, should you run in to any health issues or side effects while on it, your doctors will not be very familiar with the medication.

[kuni-bob.livejournal.com]

You know, I seem to recall hearing a lot about this when I was researching birth control methods less than a year ago, and now I can't seem to dig up ANYTHING on it. How odd...

[numbersnletters.livejournal.com]

More info in the original post, now.

[kuni-bob.livejournal.com]

Cheers for that!

[mmmmhmmm.livejournal.com]

Big bulletin board about it here:

http://www.aphroditewomenshealth.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?/forum/4.html

But note that one woman just posted something entitled "I am pregnant."

Just saying. No BC is foolproof, but this seems like an unnecessary gamble. And I think The Pill is the work of Satan, and will never take it again...but I wouldn't take this either.

[kiteless.livejournal.com]

There really is no way that this would ever be approved in the US, at least currently. The way it works is that it kinda screws up your cycle a little so IF you get pregnant you uterus isn't in the correct stage for it to implant. It does NOT stop ovulation OR prevent you from getting what many pro-life folks would call pregnant. So, considering the current political climate, I can't see that they would even bother testing this over here. I'd feel a little more comfortable with US or European testing. I'm not really comfortable with the mechanism behind it either. It is a SERM and those are for treating things like tumours and breast cancer. It changes how your body reacts to estrogen... Kinda scary.

[shakidaisy.livejournal.com]

This is pretty intersting. All of the users seem like they've worked hard to research the drug. From what I've read and learned from asking my biomedical engineer boyfriend, Centchroman is an SERM, meaning that while it's non-hormonal, it still acts on what you could call "hormonal pathways". So you could experience some similar side effects. It seems like hot flashes and delayed periods are common. The only BC methods that do not effect hormones in your body at all are condoms, diaphrams, cervical caps, the copper IUD and the fertility awareness method. Good luck! :)