I just wanted to post this because I think this misconception is still widespread. You do not need to be a female to purchase Plan B. Men over 18 can purchase Plan B over the counter too! Go to The FDA Web site and look at Question 7B.
I'm sure there are some 16-year-olds with 18-year-old partners that may find themselves in need of Plan B. They can just print that page out and show it to the pharmacist if he/she tries to argue that men aren't allowed to purchase it.
I've taken both the one and two-dose versions, and had the incredible nausea from both about equally.
BC-related nausea is so strange-- I get queasy a lot but BC is the only thing that makes me run to the toilet with numerous vomit-false-alarms. If I didn't know better, I'd swear the Plan B side effects are an extra punishment for not being careful enough. I'm glad it exists, but knowing how sick I get makes me even more protection-paranoid
@scarletwine: You know, I always hear about how awful the side-effects are. I took Plan B once and just want to put it out there that I had virtually no side effects. I respond well to BC too so perhaps that's why.
Ha, not bragging, just saying it to remind women side effects vary! Don't be afraid to take it because it might make you sick! It might, but it might not.
@HeatherNumber1: You know, I really think somebody should put together a nice interactive map of all the pharmacies that people have bought Plan B at and their experiences. I have a few places I've gone to that were quite professional about it and others that were iffy and it sounds like so have most people.
Exciting! But why isn't it OTC for all ages too? I suppose because taking it in one dose is more hormones at once?
Frustrating because I feel like younger women, who may need the protection more, are exactly the ones who may be less likely to see a doctor or less likely remember to take the two pills at the appropriate times.
@cait98: Since this is an FDA decision, the FDA must have determined that there is a greater risk associated with Plan B than with other OTC drugs. Granted, the risk could be the consequences of unprotected sex (STDs) rather than a side effect and a fear that younger teenagers may not have the reasoning skills.
@cait98: That's what's so great about the age requirement. I don't think it has anything to do with teens' health, we just need to make sure girls won't be taking care of their own bodies behind their parents' backs.
@cait98: I recently needed Plan B and asked the pharmacist why it isn't readily available for women under 17. He simply said it was a fear that younger women/girls would use it as their only method of birth control, which actually reduces its effectiveness. Seemed somewhat reasonable to me, but at the same time, PP offers regular BC easily.
@AtomiClash: humanitarian misanthrope: Wait, ALL Plan B not available OTC for women under age 17? Oh, I should have known that, but got confused because I thought the article was saying this is a special requirement of the one-dose pill.
Well, I guess at least the age requirement is consistent...
@JessicaLovejoy: Laughing, riding, cornholing!: I have an image of your pantry - Plan B boxes, tonic water (for malaria, obvs), and a stockpile of H1N1 vaccines. Preventative medicine 101.
But nooo! If women only have to swallow one pill, that leaves them time to swallow other things! Whorish things! Things prohibited in the Bible! They'll never learn the consequences of their actions this way!
Would there be any other benefit to taking this one-pill version instead of the two-pill version other than it's just one fewer pill? Are the side effects any different?
@dripdrop:The single dose pill has been available here in the UK for a while (not sure how long) and it was single dose last time I took it.
I found there were fewer side effects (and I am the most nauseous person in the world!) Plus it is easier to take later in the day, no more of that setting your alarm for the middle of the night to get your second dose in 12 hours later!
@dripdrop: I think a lot of women have a hard time remember to take the second pill at exactly the right time... or the "right" time is the middle of the night or whatever. (I only think this because I spend way too much time on LJ and vaginapagina and a LOT of people forget about the second pill, for whatever reason.) And missing the second pill makes it less effective.
I'm guessing the thinking behind this is that it further reduces user error by eliminating the chance that the second dose could be taken off-schedule. I'm wondering, however, if an all-at-once dose will increase the possibility of becoming nauseous and puking it back up?
@Flackette Goes Retro: i was wondering that too, as a friend of mine took plan B and spent an entire day nauseous/vomiting. also, question for medical field jezzies-- i've heard that plan B is essentially a large dose of birth control and a tylenol...is this true?
@Flackette Goes Retro: I took it once and the nurse told me just to swallow both pills at the same time because otherwise I would have had to wake up in the middle of the night to take the second one, and yeah I was basically dying
@Flackette Goes Retro: It seems like it would have to. I remember the planned parenthood I ended up going to, to get some had 2 methods one where you could take them as one dose and that was the risk on that one.
I actually just had to run back home from the mall because I'm on pills for a dog bite that make me nauseous. Fun times. And for the record it was the vile stench coming from A&F that did it.
@onthecornerofparkerandwoolf: I don't know about the tylenol, but it is essentially a large dose of regular oral contraceptives. There are *some* brands of regular pills that will work the same way if you take a large number of them at once. But it's not really something I'd try to DIY, as only certain brands and dosages will do it. I do know that before Plan B, some doctors would give women a sample pack of pills and instruct them as to how many to take at once.
@serreca: Knock on wood, I haven't had to use Plan B, but a friend did in grad school and I remember that she basically spent 24 hours draped over the toilet moaning.
@Flackette Goes Retro: Any time I've taken it, the pharmacist recommended taking OTC motion sickness pills at the same time and I never had any problems. And everything else in the world makes me queasy normally...
@all: For what's it's worth, I've had to take Plan B twice and never had any problems with nausea. I was all worried the first time because I get stomach troubles at the drop of a hat, and those trepidations just added to the whole "holy shit!" feelings I was already having. But it was totally fine. I think it helps if you eat some food when you take it.
The bigger issue was taking it at like 3PM because you wanted to get started ASAP! and then realizing it meant you had to get up at 3AM for the next dose. So I think the one dose is a big improvement. Just eat some crackers.
Well I don't know about you all, but I'm going to go out right now and have indiscriminate, unprotected sex with anyone I can get my hands on, because now I can have sex consequence-free.
Something as important as pregnancy should not be devalued for profit.
Lady, tell that shit to everybody who TARGETS pregnant and new mothers and make them feel bad if they don't buy their product for themselves or for their baby.
Isn't it kind of the point to make it seem normal to go and get this pill? You know, so that the terrified woman who had an accident the night before and is freaking out over the potential fertilization going on within her doesn't also have to deal with the guilt and stigma that she's immoral?
I mean, call me crazy but it seems to me that the point of these commercials is to tell women that if her birth control fails it'll be ok because she still has another option...not "Hey go out and have unprotected sex!"
07/13/09
I'm sure there are some 16-year-olds with 18-year-old partners that may find themselves in need of Plan B. They can just print that page out and show it to the pharmacist if he/she tries to argue that men aren't allowed to purchase it.
07/13/09
BC-related nausea is so strange-- I get queasy a lot but BC is the only thing that makes me run to the toilet with numerous vomit-false-alarms. If I didn't know better, I'd swear the Plan B side effects are an extra punishment for not being careful enough. I'm glad it exists, but knowing how sick I get makes me even more protection-paranoid
07/13/09
Ha, not bragging, just saying it to remind women side effects vary! Don't be afraid to take it because it might make you sick! It might, but it might not.
07/13/09
07/13/09
07/13/09
07/13/09
Frustrating because I feel like younger women, who may need the protection more, are exactly the ones who may be less likely to see a doctor or less likely remember to take the two pills at the appropriate times.
07/13/09
07/13/09
07/13/09
07/13/09
Well, I guess at least the age requirement is consistent...
07/13/09
07/13/09
We are through the looking glass here, people.
07/13/09
(Purely as a preventative measure. I'm not irresponsible or something.)
07/13/09
07/13/09
07/13/09
07/13/09
I need to pray for the sluts now, pardon me.
07/13/09
07/13/09
07/13/09
07/13/09
07/13/09
07/13/09
07/13/09
I found there were fewer side effects (and I am the most nauseous person in the world!) Plus it is easier to take later in the day, no more of that setting your alarm for the middle of the night to get your second dose in 12 hours later!
07/13/09
07/13/09
07/13/09
07/13/09
07/13/09
07/13/09
07/13/09
I took it once in college and the second dose made me soooo sick. Miserable.
07/13/09
07/13/09
07/13/09
I actually just had to run back home from the mall because I'm on pills for a dog bite that make me nauseous. Fun times. And for the record it was the vile stench coming from A&F that did it.
07/13/09
07/13/09
07/13/09
07/13/09
07/13/09
The bigger issue was taking it at like 3PM because you wanted to get started ASAP! and then realizing it meant you had to get up at 3AM for the next dose. So I think the one dose is a big improvement. Just eat some crackers.
07/13/09
The conservatives said I'll do it, after all.
05/13/09
05/13/09
05/13/09
Lady, tell that shit to everybody who TARGETS pregnant and new mothers and make them feel bad if they don't buy their product for themselves or for their baby.
GTFOH.
05/13/09
I mean, call me crazy but it seems to me that the point of these commercials is to tell women that if her birth control fails it'll be ok because she still has another option...not "Hey go out and have unprotected sex!"