The Pill

LegacyUser

Hi,

Me and my gf are going out a bit and thinking of starting the pill as our means of contraception. The only thing is the cost. I've heard it's about e60 a month. I don't think we could afford it. Things are tight and we haven't medical cards. Is there anywhere we could go for help? I suppose last resort we could ask the parents to help out but that could be embarrassing....

Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you in advance!

Special K

What pill is she thinking of using that costs €60 a month? I use Yasminelle, it's between €12 and €15 a month. Maybe if you include the visit to the doctor to get the prescription also, it may cost more.

PS Why not use 2 methods of contraception, i.e. pill AND condom - much safer. The pill can be unreliable if not taken 100% correctly and things like diarrhoea or antibiotics can affect it. To be honest, the price of the pill AND the condoms is much cheaper than a baby would be. Fact!

You can often get 2 for 1 deals on Durex condoms in Boots, or on the net there are some good deals. If your girlfriend gets 6 month prescriptions this would keep the doctor visits to 2 a year. And she doesn't have to pay for the 6 months upfront, can just buy 1 month at a time.

Miss Fluff

Microlite works out at about €12 a month. You will probably need to pay €60 twice a year for the doctors' consultation fee but the pill itself works out at a little over a tenner a month. The pill is only effective when taken properly so you should both read the booklet from cover to cover and ask your doctor if unclear of anything.

St James

Listening to Gerry Ryan on Friday and implant would seem another method to consider. Its put in by GP and lasts for 3 years. If you want to have a child within the three years, you can have GP take it out again.

No need to be worried about forgetting a pill ever again.

Zaph

And if you're looking for cheap condoms have a look at this thread in Bargain Alerts

dudara

I use Microlite of which I buy 6 months worth at a time. This costs in the region of €40-45 - in other words approx €7 per month.

It does however require a trip to my GP twice a year at a cost of €60 per visit. However, I can claim against the GP visit on my health insurance. Otherwise tax relief at 20% can be claimed against prescription medicine and doctor's costs that are not covered elsewhere.

If your GF is a student, then a trip to the college doctor should be free/nearly free and sometimes college doctors provide a month or two's worth of the pill for free.

Talk to a GP and find out which method of contraception will suit her best.

Novella

I take it from your post that you are your girlfriend are pretty young. If she is in college, she can visit the doctor for free to get a prescription. If not, a doctors visit is going to set you back in the region of forty to sixty euro, depending.

I see my doctor every six months for a new prescription and my Pill, Ovranette, is less than eleven euro for the whole six months. So that works out at only one something a month which is pretty much nothing!

For the Pill to be effective, your girlfriend needs to take it every day and to remember that if she's been vomiting or had diarrhoea, it is best to use a back up method of contraception, such as a condom. Also remember that the Pill does not protect you from STI's.

LegacyUser

It should work out at about 15euro a month
that said if she was on some special brand even if it was 60euro a month - it would be a lot lot lot cheaper then a child a month

lunapark

St James wrote: »

Listening to Gerry Ryan on Friday and implant would seem another method to consider. Its put in by GP and lasts for 3 years. If you want to have a child within the three years, you can have GP take it out again.

No need to be worried about forgetting a pill ever again.

what implant is this? any info?

Nevyn

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Implanon

http://www.epigee.org/guide/implanon.html

What is Implanon?
Implanon is a hormonal form of birth control that prevents pregnancy. Made of soft medical polymer, an Implanon implant is just 1.5 inches long and 0.08 inches wide. Because Implanon is placed underneath thesurface of your skin, your body receives a steady dose of progestin (specifically etonogestrel). This helps to make the contraception much more effective, as your body never misses adose. While this type of birth control is long term, your fertility will return once the implants are removed. Although Implanon is new to the U.S., about 2.5 million women have used it worldwide since 1998.

How is Implanon Implanted?
Insertion of Implanon is a fairly simple and straightforward procedure that takes about a minute and can be performed in your doctors office. First, the area on the underside of your upper arm will be sterilized and a local anesthetic may be used to numb the area. Using a special applicator, your doctor will then insert the Implanon rod into your skin. Once the rod has been implanted, you should not be able to see it. However, both you and your doctor should feel the area to make sure it has been inserted properly.

Before you receive Implanon, your doctor may have you take a pregnancy test. You will also need to read over and sign a consent form before the implant can be placed in your arm. Once the procedure is finished, your doctor will give you a User Card that states the date the implant was put in and the date at which it should come out. Although Implanon has shown to be effective for three years, you can have the implant removed anytime before this. An Implanon rod should not be left in for more than three years.

Women who are not currently using other hormonal birth control methods will likely have Implanon inserted between the first and fifth day of menstrual bleeding. If you are using the birth control pill, a birth control ring, or the birth control patch, Implanon will be inserted the first day of your seven-day hormone free period.

How Does Implanon Work?
Each Implanon rod contains 68mg of etonogestrel. This hormone is steadily released into your system while you have the implant. During the first year of use, about 60 to 70 micrograms are released into your system daily. However, this amount decreases over time until, in the third year, you are only receiving 25 micrograms a day.

Similar in function to birth control pills, the increase of hormones in your system initially works to prevent pregnancy by stopping ovulation. Implanon also protects against pregnancy by changing your cervical mucus, which may hinder sperm from reaching an egg. Additionally, Implanon appears to change the uterine lining, which may stop a fertilized egg from implanting.

http://www.droliverlynn.com/default.asp?ID=31

tfak85

there are different types of pills for a whole manner of different prices, your girlfriend needs to go to the family planning clinic rather than her regular GP, this is not only a little cheaper but also a dedicated service.. they will give her more time and information to help make her decision.
there are many side effects to the different types of pills and the implant and injection..

until your girlfriend is used to the pill she will only get three months supply, this will only be once provided the pill suits her (over the past three years i myself have been on the injection and four types of pill) i've finally found the right one for me and it costs 13e/month.

best of luck with it, taking the right pill correctly makes life alot easier!