One brand of morning after pill not effective in women over 12.5 stone

_Whimsical_

I found this article in the Indo very surprising this morning.The manufacturer of the morning after pill brand Levonelle which is popular in the UK( I don't know if it is in Ireland) has admitted that this treatment is not effective in women over 12.5 stone and becomes increasingly less effective in women over 11stone. Packaging of these tablets will now be changed to reflect this. That's pretty important information for women, I'm surprised its buried in the paper where lots of people won't see it .
Other brands have a different active ingredient and are not affected by this news.
http://www.independent.ie/world-news/europe/women-over-80kg-warned-on-morning-after-pill-29787305.html

hedgehog2

Sure cant people not buy it if they are overweight.
Obviously it should state this,maybe their test subjects were entirely made up of wafes and they figured right it works so.

hedgehog2

hedgehog2 wrote: »

Sure cant people not buy it if they are overweight.

Well obviously they don't know it doesn't work if they're 11 stone + which is not overweight for a lot of women

hedgehog2

bluewolf wrote: »

Well obviously they don't know it doesn't work if they're 11 stone + which is not overweight for a lot of women

Ahh come on 11+ stone is overweight and headin in the wrong direction.

Chattastrophe!

hedgehog2 wrote: »

Ahh come on 11+ stone is overweight and headin in the wrong direction.

Depends totally on the height and build of the woman.

_Whimsical_

hedgehog2 wrote: »

Sure cant people not buy it if they are overweight.

Well not if they don't know about it they can't. It's something people need to be aware of.

hedgehog2 wrote: »

Ahh come on 11+ stone is overweight and headin in the wrong direction.

According to the article 11 stone is the average weight for women of child bearing age. For people over 5ft4 and of average heght it's probably size 12-14 in terms that are easier to grasp. It's not by any stretch of the imagination unusually heavy,or even "heavy" in my opinion.

rainbow kirby

hedgehog2 wrote: »

Ahh come on 11+ stone is overweight and headin in the wrong direction.

11 stone is in the healthy BMI range for anyone over 5'6", which isn't particularly tall.

Would be really nice if this could be discussed without large helpings of drive-by fat shaming.

pwurple

For those of us who never got the swing of imperial measurements, 11 stone is 70kg.

sammyjo90

It will lead to a horric experience having to be asked if you suit the weight requirements when you're crapping a brick already about needing the pill in the first place!

Mod

hedgehog2 if you have nothing to add on the topic at hand, please refrain from posting.

BonsaiKitten

sammyjo90 wrote: »

It will lead to a horric experience having to be asked if you suit the weight requirements when you're crapping a brick already about needing the pill in the first place!

A much less horrific experience than not having it work because of weight requirements you didn't know about, in fairness.
The lesser of two evils.

XxMCRxBabyxX

hedgehog2 wrote: »

Ahh come on 11+ stone is overweight and headin in the wrong direction.

I'm around 11 stone and a size 10/12. I personally wouldn't consider that to be overweight.

Neyite

sammyjo90 wrote: »

It will lead to a horric experience having to be asked if you suit the weight requirements when you're crapping a brick already about needing the pill in the first place!

Better that than the alternative to be honest. I got grilled on why I wanted Neurofen Plus in Boots a couple of months ago. And had to say it was for miscarriage. Not pleasant, especially when I still had to wait anway while the sales clerk went and had a lovely big chat to the pharmacist to see if I really needed N+ or not. :rolleyes:

I do think that sales assistants (like my one above) should not be the one to ask the questions about your medical condition or your personal information. They do not have the training or the expertise. But a pharmacist? grand in my book.

sammyjo90

oh dont talk to me about waiting for things in chemists, i needed an inhaler in london the other day, practically dying on the floor while the woman dilly dallies on the computer looking stuff up!
I know its better than the alternative but its still a pain

Most pharmacies have pharmacy technicians, not sales clerks. They are not quite as qualified as a pharmacist of course, but they have more training than just using a till and usually know a huge amount about the drugs which they are selling.

pampootie

Neyite wrote: »

I do think that sales assistants (like my one above) should not be the one to ask the questions about your medical condition or your personal information. They do not have the training or the expertise. But a pharmacist? grand in my book.

Then why not just ask to speak to the pharmacist? The people you deal with on the counter are trained in healthcare sales and otc medicines but if you don't want to deal with them just ask to speak directly to the pharmacist.

Neyite

pampootie wrote: »

Then why not just ask to speak to the pharmacist? The people you deal with on the counter are trained in healthcare sales and otc medicines but if you don't want to deal with them just ask to speak directly to the pharmacist.

I didnt get the chance to ask for a pharmacist.
I asked for Neurofen plus, she asked what it was for, I told her and she walked off and had a convo with the pharmacist.

I never said I don't want to deal with them. but if she was not qualified to assess my pain level, then she should have told me to wait for the pharmacist to discuss it and I would have.

Tigger99

Because when she asked for a painkiller, and got uninvited questions.

I remember being in crippling pain before and trying to explain why I needed a stupid bloody painkiller!

pampootie

Neyite wrote: »

I didnt get the chance to ask for a pharmacist.
I asked for Neurofen plus, she asked what it was for, I told her and she walked off and had a convo with the pharmacist.

I never said I don't want to deal with them. but if she was not qualified to assess my pain level, then she should have told me to wait for the pharmacist to discuss it and I would have.

They don't have the final say in codeine sales as it's up to the pharmacist's discretion. They are more than capable of gathering the information needed to make the sale though which is what happened in your case.

You said yourself you don't feel that an otc assistant should be asking you medical questions. I'm making the point that if you're happier dealing directly with a pharmacist, then go in and ask to speak to the pharmacist, you don’t have to tell anyone on the counter anything you don't want to

Sauve

Re the codeine thing, there are ways around getting the required info without sounding like a nosey busybody. A bit of cop on goes a long way in that job. (I do it myself, so have seen both sides of the coin)
Asking someone what they want nurofen plus/solpadeine for is a daft question tbh, because surprise surprise- it's for pain! Everyone, both sides of the counter knows that!
A couple of quick leading questions such as 'what type of pain is it for?', or 'have you used it before, and did it work?' are much more likely to get a customer to open up and start telling you about their gammy toe, or the fact that they plain old have a busting hangover.
In turn that leaves you in a much better position to either happily sell them what they want (once it's been ok'd by the pharmacist of course, we still need to run it by them) , or non-snottily recommend something that may actually work better. People generally know their own bodies, and working with them rather than treating them like a flea-ridden junkie is always going to be a much more pleasant experience for all involved


Now, that's this thread well and truly dragged off course, maybe we should go back to the topic at hand


If it does come out that Levonelle will be recommended to only be sold to people under 11.5 stone, I'd imagine pharmacists and doctors will have to take a no-nonsense approach and straight out tell people.
There are ways of doing it without hurting someones feelings, ie, mentioning it with all the other instructions - "take this after food, if you're ill within x number of hours you'll need a second dose, it may not work if you weigh more than x kg", etc.
I can't imagine many people will be told straight out "You're too fat for this drug to work". Not many healthcare professionals are that cruel!

I would imagine that pharmacies will begin stocking other brands if they are just as effective for everyone, regardless of weight. If the cost is the same, it would make more sense for them to do so rather than turn away patients who are over 11.5 stone.

pampootie

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I would imagine that pharmacies will begin stocking other brands if they are just as effective for everyone, regardless of weight. If the cost is the same, it would make more sense for them to do so rather than turn away patients who are over 11.5 stone.

The only otc brand is norlevo, which is affected by this. It'll be Dr referral for the most part if the patient is over the weight threshold

pwurple

Jesus Neyite, that's really awful. I snaffled neurofen out of a medicine cabinet when I needed it for the same reason and replaced it. Except I got my husband to go buy the replacement because i couldn't deal with the grilling (and I could barely walk with the pain).

There is stuff you just don't want to discuss at the fecking counter in boots.

ted1

Is it just a dosage issue? Might they not just launch a stronger version if it!

Sauve

Official word this morning states that ladies over 75kg should be referred to their GP/Family planning clinic for alternative emergency contraception.

rainbow kirby

The sooner the better alternatives come off prescription so, this could cause some very awkward delays for women who don't know about this new guideline.

Morag

pampootie wrote: »

The only otc brand is norlevo, which is affected by this. It'll be Dr referral for the most part if the patient is over the weight threshold

That is pretty much the only brand which is dispensed here.
I do think that this is scaremongering tbh.

Sauve

Morag wrote: »

That is pretty much the only brand which is dispensed here.
I do think that this is scaremongering tbh.

Scaremongering in what sense?
The evidence is obviously there that the efficacy is reduced in ladies weighing >75kg.

_Whimsical_

Morag wrote: »

That is pretty much the only brand which is dispensed here.
I do think that this is scaremongering tbh.

Companies don't involve themselves in scare mongering about their own products. This warning is coming from the company that produce this,not from anyone else.