Menstruation & diving. Okay, ladies, FDA just approved..

[DocVikingo]

..the birth-control pill Seasonale (Barr Labs).

It is designed to reduce the frequency of periods from once a month to four times a year. Packaging provides 12 straight weeks of active pills and then a week of dummy pills.

Neither the active ingredients nor menstrual suppression are new, but this drug will make suppression more convenient & I suspect more mainstream.

Not without some potential problems, but speak with your doctor if this sounds appealing.

Best regards.

DocVikingo

 

[divemistress]

thanks for the info, doc. i haven't seen anything about seasonale before. (but what a dumb name!)

cheers,

judith

 

[totalangel]

DocVikingo - any idea on how long it will take for the insurance companies to cover it? I switched to the patch at the beginning of the year and was told by my insurance company it was too new for them to cover it. I choke each month when I have to pay for it but love the convenience!

divemistress - I'm betting they tied in on the basis of the 4 season. They're always naming female stuff with goofy names!

 

[procyon]

This will be controversial.

I have been getting depo shots for 6 years & haven't had a period in that time. I'm on them for hormonal reasons, not strictly bc and it works well for me.

I know you'll hear women raving about side effects, but the literature gives warning of all them. The only one I have had is weight gain and I have gotten that under control. To me it's matter of who's in charge and I like it to be me.

I don't know that I would recommend for someone who's planning on getting pregnant in the near future but we aren't planning on kids so it's all good.

 

[chickdiver]

You are lucky if your insurance companycovers ANY form of birth control- may (including mine) don't (check it out and support legislation in congress to force them to- my pet project). Thanks, Doc, I will definitely be looking into this. I did it with Triphasil for years, and then switched to Mircette (I get those nasty "no-hormone headaches") to avoid going to the gyno every 9 months or so.

 

[Kat]

Women have been doing this for years w/out the FDA giving us the thumbs up. This was accomplished by taking the three weeks of pills & then skipping the last week in that pack. Open a new pack & start taking them f/ the fourth week, instead of the the pills in the old pack. Do check w/ your Dr. 1st, but no one I ever knew got a negative response about taking the Pill consecutively.
If your insurance covers b/c pills than no need to worry about switching to the new pill. It sounds like the only thing that is different is the way they are packaged. And, I'm sure the price will be more.

 

[aquagal]

Kat's right. My Dr. was the one who told me it was safe to keep taking the pill straight through and only have a period every few months. This 'new' pill looks like 'new' marketing to me. In fact, my Dr. thinks its better to not have periods every month. I agree.
This shouldn't affect our diving at all.

 

[procyon]

I meant that depo can be a controversial topic.

On another board I belong to it's like lighting a match to even mention depo.

As for taking packs of pills back to back, I know women in the army have done it for years. Getting your period in the field is just way to annoying. And that was on medical advice.

 

[Kat]

Sorry, thought you were referring to the new b/c pills.

I'm surprised that the Depo shot would be such a hot topic. If it is the right choice for you, than what's the problem. It's not like your buying it from a drug dealer & shooting up in some back alley. As far as side effects go, you & your Dr. have discussed this. Why would someone else give you a hard time about a medical decision that has been approved by your Dr.

 

[raviepoo]

Why in the world would anyone want to take a perfectly good, functioning body system and muck it all up with drugs? Women have menstrual periods for a reason. They aren't such a great hardship. In fact, they are part of the miracle that makes life possible.

Don't waste my insurance company's money just because you find nature's design for your reproductive system to be inconvenient. Shut up; buy a box of tampons; and be thankful for the fact that your body works the way that it should. Leave the drugs to the people who actually have something wrong with them.