How much do you know about your reproductive system?
Written: Apr 05 '00 (Updated May 23 '01)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: I guess it would work in an emergency.
Cons: Too many people misunderstand it.
The Bottom Line: Before you make a decision, be sure you have your facts straight!
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| roger69's Full Review: Birth Control |
PREVEN. Is it an ABORTION pill? Some seem to think so. In fact, there was an epinion written here on it in which the author claims, after carefully inspecting PREVEN'S website, that it is not a contraceptive, but, in fact, a method of abortion.
I find it hard to believe that this person even looked at PREVEN'S web page. If they did, they must have been awfully confused.
I had heard about PREVEN, and when I came upon this person's opinion, it angered me, because she didn't seem to have her facts straight, but people were taking her word for it anyway. I have never used PREVEN (nor should I ever need to, for reasons I will later explain) but I would like to inform you of the facts I found on their web page, integrated with a little bit of my personal knowledge about reproduction. I am not going to cover NEARLY everything or this would be way too long. But I want to tell you about the things that seem to be confusing people the most.
I got most of my information from PREVEN'S web page; the address is at the bottom of this epinion.
Contrary to norskmom's beliefs, PREVEN is not an abortion pill. It will not work if you are already pregnant. It states this over and over again on the web page. Perhaps there was some confusion concerning time constraints. I will try to clear that up.
PREVEN can be effective for UP TO 72 hours after intercourse has taken place. Some argue that life begins at conception so at 72 hours, you are commiting an abortion. However, some people are forgetting that it can take UP TO 72 hours for the sperm to reach the egg. This is why PREVEN states that it's effectiveness lasts for UP TO 72 hours. It does not say, "no matter what, if you take this within 72 hours, you will not get pregnant." It's basically saying, "It can take you up to 72 hours to get pregnant. So, if you take this pill before the sperm reaches the egg (could be 6 hours, could be 71 hours--who knows), you should not get pregnant. (PREVEN is only 75% effective--therefore, the 'SHOULD NOT get pregnant--you may.)
PREVEN STATES: The only definitive scientific evidence indicates that birth control pills in the PREVEN Emergency Contraceptive Kit work by preventing or delaying ovulation. It has been theorized that birth control pills may also prevent fertilization of an egg, if one has been released from the ovary, or that they may produce changes in the lining of the uterus that could prevent implantation of a fertilized egg.
There may be an argument for abortion in that last sentence. However, PREVEN'S mission is not to change uterine linings to prevent implantation. Their pills work by suppressing ovulation. It has been theorized that the pills might do the other things, but they don't know. (And until they come out with a uterine/fallopian tube video camera, no one will probably know). I'm assuming that these theories came to be because that is how normal birth control pills work. They prevent ovulation and change the uterine lining. However, these changes normally take at least a month of constant pill usage to take place, so these theories regarding PREVEN do not necessarily hold true.
The other argument this woman had was that PREVEN included a pregnancy test so you could see if you were pregnant and then you could take these pills to abort it. This is not true. A pregnancy test would not detect a one-day-old pregnancy anyway. PREVEN includes the pregnancy test to make sure that you don't have an OLDER pregnancy taking place. The pills will not work on an older pregnancy and should not be taken. However, they do state that if they are taken, they will not SIGNIFICANTLY affect the pregnancy. I can only assume that SIGNIFICANTLY is the magic word here and that it may affect it slightly. Otherwise, what would it matter if you were pregnant or not?
For example, perhaps you are one month pregnant and do not know it yet. If you took these pills, it could affect the pregnancy in some way. I'm not quite sure what these ways are, but they will not cause an abortion. It's for the same reason that a doctor will recommend that if you are on the pill and want to get pregnant, you stop taking the pill for six months (and use condoms for that period of time) before you TRY to get pregnant. I am going to assume again and say that this probably has to do with hormones. Too much estrogen and little boys could end up with problems (I believe it's called fragile X syndrome, but I could be TOTALLY wrong) such as getting small breasts in adolescence.
These were the two things that people seemed to be most confused about, so I hope I cleared this up. As for why I should never need to use PREVEN...well, for one thing I'm on the pill. If you are responsible and take your pill every day at the same time, there should be no need for 'emergency contraception.' Secondly, from what I've read in other sources, your regular prescription birth control pills can also be safely used in an emergency. You take two as soon as possible (but I believe within 24 hours) and two 12 hours later. (This is not true for every prescription of pills--please talk to your doctor)
Both that method, and the PREVEN method have side effects including nausea, but you can read about that on their page. And remember, no pill protects against HIV or AIDS.
You can visit PREVEN'S website at: http://www.preven.com/home.html
I would love to hear your comments.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
roger69
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Member: Erin Davey
Location: Colorado Springs, CO
Reviews written: 57
Trusted by: 85 members
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