blood clots and birth control patch

Off MSN news today:

A new study shows that women using the Ortho Evra birth-control patch have double the risk of developing blood clots than those who take the pill, the Food and Drug Administration said Friday.

But the agency said the results are preliminary and do not require immediate action other than advising women to discuss the risk with their doctor.

The results of the study, and another that found no increased risk, were made public Thursday by the patch’s manufacturer.




The finding comes from one of two studies comparing the patch and pill, said Ortho Women’s Health & Urology, maker of the once-a-week patch. The Raritan, N.J.-based company is owned by Johnson & Johnson.

Last year an investigation by The Associated Press, citing federal death and injury reports, found higher rates of blood clots in women using the patch.

The first study found no increased risk of clots but the interim results from the second study suggested a twofold increase in the risk of venous thromboembolic events, or clots in the legs and lungs, in women using the patch, Ortho said.

What they should have their doctors discuss with them is how devastating a clot like these can be!

 

First of all the FDA is a fucking JOKE. They really dont give a shit about our health, it's all about what they know will sell, and make money.

The FDA knows that there are women out there, desperate enough to rely on things like this because lots of women these days do NOT want children, or they are finished having children. So they know it will market well.

[I like how the FDA approves all these drugs that have horrible side affects, but can't approve organic vitamins, which are basically HARMLESS.]

ANYWAY, but thats sort of off topic... I think it really sucks that things like this are not more thoroughly tested and examined before being put onto the market.
And when they are, no matter the results, it almost seems as if these drug companies will put them on the market anyway, with the idea that "Well, we can put all these side affects and cautions on the drug, and people can use them at their own risk" thats the feel I get from it anyway. It's not really about finding a safe drug, its just about finding something that works for that particular issue, and then whoever wants to risk taking on a new health problem, to fix their current one...is free to go for it!

It is really lame.

There are constantly drugs that are put on the market everydayyyy, and then are taken off shortly after, because "Oops! They can probably kill a person!"

It's disgusting.

 

Yes, they really do just mention these risks in passing (and you're lucky if your doctor mentions them at all, much less the possible severity of the risks). Let me tell you!, a blood clot in the leg is horrible and a blood clot in the lung, well........

 

I am coming to the conclusion that for the most part, we just shouldn't rely on western medicine or any agency to know what's in the PUBLIC's best interest. I truly believe they've all been bought out.

And another thing I'm starting to realise, especially in my case where my hormonal and chemical balances are so delicate, that anything not organic or that in anyway contains body-altering chemicals or hormones are always going to have a negative effect on us.

I mean, in the last couple of generations, where we've had more experience with hormones used in growing produce and livestock, and using chemicals and hormones in medical treatments, we've always skyrocketed the amounts of every single hormonal and chemical-related body ailment that are diagnosed. And while, yes, it might be that medical technology has advanced enough to diagnose more cases, I think we're creating the problems we're diagnosing.

Since coming to Seattle, not only have I not had as horrible a time dealing with my menstrual cycle (when I had one) but I also felt healthier and far less out of synch. I've also been eating a ton more organic foods and paying more attention to anything I put into my system.

Just my thoughts.

 

Just my own experiences with blood clots...



Blood clots are incredibly dangerous. My mother had a pulmonary embolism (blood cot in the lung) when she was pregnant with me and we both nearly died - she had to have blood thinners (essentially rat poison) for the last two weeks of her prgnancy while she was in hospital, went temporarily blind in one eye and it was a huge risk when I was born (11 days late - they induced me) because of the blood thinners as my mum could have haemorraged.

Even without the pregnancy, the blood clot could have killed my mum... All this hoo haa about blood clots from flying and this gets barely a mention...

 

Yeah, actually speaking directly on the topic of the patch....it's funny because when I went to the doctor last year and asked about birth control....I asked her about the patch because to me, it sounded like a better idea, and she actually STRONGLY ADVISED against it.... so it's like, all these doctors and what not KNEW it was dangerous all along....but yet, it's still on the market. What the fuck is that all about?!

 

What Taylor said is interesting, because being pregnant, you are at higher risk of high blood pressure and blood clots than any hormonal form of birth control. You are in higher risk of death during pregnancy than at any other time in your premenopausal life, including spending your life on hormonal BC. The only way we can avoid these hormonal dangers is to get oophorectomies (removal of the ovaries) and then live in a Convent.

Being a womyn is hard. Hormonal BC is on the market because womyn WANT it. EVERY pill, patch, ring, shot ect has an insert telling you every scary thing the drug may do to you,and ANY womyn can read this information, yet it is often preferred to having 12 or 14 kids in our lifetimes like our ancestors did. And having a risk of dying during the pregnancy or childbirth, which far outweighs any risk any hormonal BC presents us, at any time.

NO ONE is forced to use hormonal BC. Don't like it? Don't use it. I don't, and haven't for two decades. But, for many womyn, it is preferable to worrying about pregnancy every month, and for womyn whom a pregnancy may harm or kill, it is still preferable to dying for sure from a pregnancy.

The inserts are there. And always have been (hell I read them on my BC pillls in the 1970s.) Anyone who takes a drug without reading them is just fooling themselves. The FDA is "hiding" nothing. Some womyn just don't read the information which is provided for them, with every refill. They either don't want to know, or think it won't happen to them (and, looking at the statistics, it won't.) With almost every drug, ALL the side effects do not become known until the drug is on the market for 5-7 years. This is the price we pay for always needing the most recent advance in medicine. Did anyone really think "Oh, look. I bet that thing is safer than the Pill?" I sure as hell didn't. And I saw the same ads as anyone else. I mean, would the fact that one has a .25 percent risk of clots as opposed to the other having a .125 percent risk of clot really change ANYONE'S mind about which form of hormones they are going to take? I doubt it.

There are alternatives to hormonal BC. No one is being forced to take it, and the information about estrogen and Blood Clots has been known for more than 30 years. Womyn have the obligation to find things out, by READING THE DAMN INSERT. No one ever said the patch was ANY safer than the pill. Just "more convenient" for some. Unless your life is in danger, it is probably best to wait until a drug is on the market a few years before taking it. If it is something you need to survive, that is one thing, but really, the Patch was marketed to womyn who on the commercial said things like "Oh, I can't remember to take a pill every day! Why should I?" (DUH! should have been added.)

Yeah! Hormonal BC is dangerous. I really didn't think this was a newflash.

 

Forgive my less than empathetic attitude, but come ON. Did ANYONE here really think that this Patch thing was "safe?" It was marketed for and made record sales by people who can't "remember" to take a pill every day. Sheesh.

Womyn WANTED nearly foolproof Birth Control. There were complaints to the drug companies that there were "no new" forms of BC since the mid 70s. The oral Pill was "too hard" for some to remember to take. My God. When I was on it, I was 17 and I never missed a freaking pill, ever. There is NO plot here against womyn. (And beleive me, I KNOW a plot against womyn, when I see it. ) Just the desire for CONVENIENCE. I don't understand the "outrage" I am seeing here. Did we not KNOW that taking more estrogen than our bodies make naturally is dangerous? I think it has been know for a very long time.

 

It's a difficult subject. You're absolutely right about women doing their own research about their health. Doctor's are so stretched for time. And birth control of any kind is an incredible boon for many in this world. But I always feel a need to broadcast the dangers of clots (especially if you smoke). It is a very serious complication and there are other forms of birth control readily available, some of which helps with STD's, too.

 

I appreciate the heads up. I am sure there are womyn who just aren't aware. (Was in a bit of a pissy mood last night, sorry, it was NOT personal. I like you a lot Tara. )

The stats I gave for pregnancy and BC and their death rates was just a guess. I was wrong. (There is a similar thead I did research for about Plan B) Death rates for Hormonal Birth Control, in healthy non smoking womyn 0.03 per 100,000 womyn. This would put double that at 0.06 deaths per 100,000 womyn using the patch drug, if indeed the Patch doubles the death rate (and I think it was only the clot rate, so the death rate is probably lower than 0.06 then.)

Pregnancy death rate is about 8 deaths per 100,000 white womyn, and 33 deaths per 100,000 for black womyn. Pregnancy is still a bigger killer than any form of hormonal birth control. Most womyn who die in pregnancy die from Complications of Eclampsia (high blood presesure in pregnancy) blood clots, obstructed labor, and infection. These numbers are for the USA only, the death rates in Developing countries are MUCH higher, while countries with National Health, like Northern Europe (I know, it isn't a country, it's a region) and Iceland and Japan have much LOWER death rates.

 

I don't doubt pregnancy and giving birth kills many, especially in developing nations. I'm not saying girls should get pregnant instead, or even stop using their present method of birth control. It's just that there are other methods of birth control to consider and if they smoke, maybe they should.


And I like you, too. Good to see you back!

 

Well first of all I tried the patch when I was 17, not because I couldnt remember to take the pill, but because it seemed easier and more convienent. I stopped it because I quit having sex for a few years and didnt need them. Anyways I started using the patch again because I couldnt handle the side effects of the shot...Well when I wanted to switch to it I never had any talks with doctors or a pharmasist. I called and asked if I could, they said they would call it in, I picked it up the next day. Then like 2 weeks later I read something about it causing all these blood clots and negative side effects...I still cant belive no one even said anything to me. I just dont know..I am thinking abotu going on the pill again, but are any of the hormone methods safe? I mean are there any birth control methods besides condoms that arent gonna mess us up?

 

^The question I have for you is: Do you smoke cigarettes? Don't take the pill if you do.


Besides condoms, there's those sponges, diaphrams, IUD's (not practical if you haven't had kids before), spermicides. I would make your doctor talk over options with you. Geesh, he prescribed you something without even seeing you. Mind boggling, I think.