Birth Control Warning... for the girls!

Hi Everyone, I just wanted to write you all a quick note about birth control and being extra careful. Pre-op I was taking Ortho-Tricyclin Lo. I stopped the pill when I had surgery, and then went back on it after about 6 months being post-op. WELL about a three weeks ago, I found out that I was pregnant... which to say the least was quite a surprise. I hadn't missed a pill or anything. I hadn't decided what I wanted to do but about a week and a half ago, I had a misscarriage. I am doing fine since this was not planned anyway... I had a WLS support group meeting today, and spoke to the bariatric coordinator about the situation.... I just wanted to let you all know, to be really careful, if you are not already... the LOW levels of hormones, don't get absorbed properly with our bypass and often times OB-GYNs don't know that. The nurse said that the best option for us is to use the patch, the ring or use an IUD. The nurse also mentioned that since hormones are stored in fat, when we are losing weight, all those hormones are released and that can over power the hormones in the pill that stop you from ovulating. SO, I just thought I would let you all know about what I happened to me and what I found out... Please let me know if anyone has any questions... This was a bad situation for me to be in, and i just wanted to put the warning out there... Bridget 286/166/140

Not discounting anything you had to say... but I just spoke to my surgeon on Thursday about this and he said there hasnt been any studies to say if oral BC is or isnt absorbed differently. He said the only cases he heard of his patients getting preggers on the pill is because they were not taking it properly. Who knows... everybody is different! I know personally I am going to stick to the deposhot for a while longer then possibly switch to the patch instead.... Im not taking any chances!

Every surgeon and OBGYN says something different. My surgeon and OBGYN told me that everyone differs. Some people don't have problems absorbing the BC, others do. I use the patch and I haven't had any problems. My doctors told me to take extra precautions, like using a condom. I just thought I would share my experience. ~Carla

I too had problems with absorbtion after surgery. I would have break-thru bleeding and became slighlty irregular. I also have pcos, so my dr. switched me to the ortho-evra patch, it has worked great.

my friend had her surgery nov 2003. and her baby came april 2005 she got pregnant july 2004. 8 month post op. she was mortified. baby is fine and a year old now

I have an IUD, and no problems. I won't do the patch, that's how I ended up with a 2 year old, who is a year younger than my oldest daughter. I won't EVER do the deprovera shot again. That's how I gained 85 pounds. Gained 35 of it the first 3 months!