Day after pill

[ange117 93]

Even with birth control or the morning after pill, your chances of a blood clot are quite low. They just don't want us to compound our risks because surgery itself increases the risk of blood clots. Take a deep breath and try to relax yourself. Call your doctor in the morning. If you get any distressing symptoms in the meantime, obviously call a 24/7 line or go to the ER like you normally would, but chances are you're going to be just fine.

[AvaFern 3,516]

Relax, you're fine. You're two weeks out from surgery, the risk of blood clot is slim to none. They take you off birth control before surgery to avoid any potential issues with blood clots- weeks after surgery is not the same issue. Also, taking someone off birth control before a surgery is a luxury. Think of all of the people in the world who need emergency surgery...does the doctor say, ok so you're going to need to stop your oral contraceptives and then we can fix your heart/brain/spine? No. Oral contraceptives just give you a higher score for a potential clot and it is rated before surgery, not two weeks after. You develop clots when you aren't moving around- like on a really long flight or in the days after a major surgery when you can't walk much. That's why they put those things on your legs that massage your calves, so that it somewhat duplicates the effect of simple walking. At this point you're getting laid, so obviously you aren't bedridden and you're moving around like normal. A high dose birth control pill is not going to give you a clot this far past surgery, especially given your mobility.In terms of absorption, also probably fine, but worst case, failing to be fully absorbed really isn't going to hurt you it's just not going to make the pill as effective.

On another note though, why didn't you call your doctor originally? I gave you the benefit of the doubt that you would run it past your surgeon and/or OB and not just listen to the people who post on here. It's natural to be freaked out after surgery, but pay attention to your body. Is anything really wrong? No difficulty breathing or sudden fatigue? None of your extremities feel or look any different? (heat, redness, pain, swelling, etc) Then you're fine. Your anxiety is going to kill you before the pill has a chance to.

[4MRB4PHOTO 3,900]

I will start this off as saying I am a RN. You really need to talk with your MD. It isn't necessarily the issues of absorption, but the reason we have to be off birth control is the due to increased risk of blood clots. The morning after pill is a high concentration of birth control which increases your risk of blood clot even more. Talk to your doctor PLEASE!!

This is exactly why someone with a medical background should be consulted (surgeon, PCP, specialist, nurse, pharmacist, etc.).

Even though people who are not healthcare professionals may be able to provide very sound advice, important side effects or taking/not taking prescription and OTC medicines may not be known. Also, people may have specific health concerns that need to be taken into account.

Edited April 19, 2016 by 4MRB4PHOTO

[AvaFern 3,516]

@@4MRB4PHOTO

It also demonstrates how people who are working in the medical field are not always accurate. Oral contraceptives are not contraindicated two weeks after surgery, even a high dose like the morning after pill. The poster was not wrong- oral contraceptives slightly increase your risk for clots, however it is only relevant before and immediately after surgery because you aren't mobile. Not a full two weeks post-op when the patient is active enough to be having sex.

[2goldengirl 2,076]

I think folks may be missing the point of the OP's concern here - I think she was worried that the morning after pill may not have worked because she wasn't having symptoms that she's had previously. Evidently this isn't the first time she's taken it.

Edited April 19, 2016 by 2goldengirl

[KristenLe 5,980]

Since weight loss can increase fertility - I would strongly encourage you to find another birth control method.

[4MRB4PHOTO 3,900]

@@AvaFern

Exactly. Nobody should have blind faith with health care professionals either. People should be their own advocate and research so they can at least have knowledge of the diagnosis and be able to ask informed questions.

I would like to believe that people would not take medical advice offered over the internet as gospel, but that is not the case.

[Valentina 2,642]

Holy Mother!! She just needed to call her MD!!!!

She says that she is old enough to decide to have WLS, and to have sex, then she is old enough to pick up the phone and call her MD for ANY and ALL medical concerns. I believe this is a "put on (or pull up) your big girl panties and TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF", young lady.

We are all here to give you all the support in the world, but medical advice is for your MD and NO one else.

Please do keep us up to date on your well being. Just because we can not give you medical advice does not mean that we don't care. WE DO CARE!!!

Prayers going up for you.

​PS: A woman doesn't have to necessarily an "active" participant to have sex.---only the lucky ones! She can be rather still and even dormant--sad to say.

[ocgirl15 667]

Call your doctor ASAP! We all know your not suppose to get pregnant this soon after surgery but only your doctor will know the day after pill is a safe option.

[ocgirl15 667]

Most surgeons have an "on call" number for after business hours.... did you check if yours does?

[KeepCalm 223]

In regards to the other post discussing what people should and shouldn't be saying in forums, as I originally said, call your doctor, but the information I provided is based upon being a licensed medical professional, so I didn't just pull it out of my butt. Sometimes people on forums actually know more about specifics of certain diseases than do doctors who are specialized. As an example, my surgeon didn't realize that the depo shot was not contraindicated in the same way that the pill is. Given the few people who take depo compared to oral contraceptives and the fact that he is a bariatric surgeon and not an OB/GYN really doesn't make it a big deal that his patient knew more about a drug than he did. Asking questions in online forums can give you a huge variety of answers that let you better research the issue and discuss it in an educated capacity with your physician. Should you rely 100% on something posted here? Of course not, but this is still a valuable source of information especially given that plenty of people on here are actually people who work in healthcare.

Please explain - Does having the the depo shot cause problems with the surgery? I'm due for my next shot end of May, hopefully will either be scheduled for surgery by then or have had it. Yes, I'm still going to ask my SA about it - however, I seem to understand it better when I read it on here and compare to what they tell me.

[AvaFern 3,516]

@

No, depo is not contraindicated before surgery. The clot risk only applies to oral contraceptives, because they generally have estrogen, while depo is progesterone based. The risk also applies if you're on estrogen replacement therapy. Also, to be fair, the clot risk is not huge with estrogen, but the goal is to avoid placing you under any more of a risk than necessary. Most patients who are obese are not very mobile, their weight places them at a higher risk for clots, and they are generally a higher risk patient. If the doctor can knock out one potential cause of a clot by taking the patient off estrogen before surgery, it's just safer to do so.

Since I feel like I need to add a disclaimer, make sure your doctor knows you're on depo. He should know it isn't contraindicated, but worst case he can google, lol.

Also, if your doctor isn't talking to you at a level you understand, tell him. He's had to take classes on health literacy and he should be making sure that you're understanding what he's telling you. Sometimes doctors are so used to talking to other doctors that they forget that most people don't have the same background and don't use the same jargon. His job is to make the care about you and to make sure you are 100% informed on what is going on and what you need to to. If this isn't the case, let him know that you're "concerned about being able to provide informed consent because you feel as if this has not been a very patient-centered experience". "Informed consent" is a big keyword, as is "patient-centered care"...drop either of them when someone is talking over your head and they will quickly start doing a better job in their healthcare communications.