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Have you ever taken a Plan B and wondered how it works? The goal of this blog is to help you understand how it works and why knowing your body is so important if you are relying on it to prevent pregnancy. Knowing how plan B works is an important step to knowing whether or not you “need it” or if you need to run out and get a pregnancy test.
According to the FDA, Plan B One-Step works by preventing or delaying the release of the egg from the ovary. How Plan B works is by using a higher dose of levonorgestrel than used in birth control pills. Levonorgestrel is a synthetic hormone similar to progesterone.
However, it is important to know that although Plan B does not have a weight limit on the box, some studies have shown that it is less effective for women who weigh over 155lbs or have a BMI of 30 or greater. Just sayin, here in the U.S, the average weight of an adult woman is over 170 lbs, well above the ideal weight for Plan B to be most effective.
The KEY to understanding how Plan B works is to know your body, and more specifically, to know your ovulation cycle. If you use an app to track your period, you may have noticed it also tells you your ovulation window. It is during your ovulation window that you are MOST likely to get pregnant if you have unprotected sex.
If you have already ovulated, Plan B will not work. Although most of the literature states you should take Plan B anytime you have unprotected sex, if you’ve already ovulated, buying a pill that won’t work is a waste of your money.
Generally, it costs $50 every time Plan B is purchased. That is a lot of money when you consider some women use it multiple times in one month. Why not just get on birth control? Even if you don’t have insurance, birth control has to be cheaper than almost $50 a pill, right?
Back to how Plan B works. The average cycle length for most women is 28 days. That means that approximately 14 days before you get your period, one of your ovaries releases an egg.
Breakdown:
Ovulation occurs 14 days before your period. The ovulation window is approximately 7 days which includes:
According to the literature, how Plan B works is by preventing ovulation, so if you are already in your ovulation window, it likely won’t work. Another claim made about Plan B is that it is effective up to 72 hours after sex, but if you look at the stats below from Lloyds Pharmacy you can see that the effectiveness lessens greatly after the first 12 hours.
Levonorgestrel (Plan B) is thought to prevent:
When reality sets in and you realize you just had unprotected sex, Plan B may be your go to in the hopes that it might prevent an unplanned pregnancy. But is it really all that effective? These limitations are why it is so important to know this information before you “need it”.
We all know that sex can lead to pregnancy, so if you want to be 100% sure you don’t get pregnant, don’t have sex! However, if you know that is not going to work for you, consider talking to your doctor about methods you can use to prevent pregnancy.
Plan B is NOT birth control, is not intended to be used as birth control, and should not be used as such. It puts a large amount of a hormone in your body all at one time; there are much better options out there. So, once again, I suggest you consider a more consistent alternative method that is much more effective.
The other thing about how Plan B works is that, for many women, it changes the timing of their ovulation cycle. It can come early or even delay it for a week. If you have taken Plan B and have not gotten your period after 3 weeks, you should take a pregnancy test.
If you’re frustrated because you didn’t understand how Plan B works and now your pregnancy test is positive, know we are here for you. Come see us. Here at Alcove Health Women’s Clinic, all our services are free and confidential. Our goal is to be available for women who are facing an unplanned pregnancy. You are why we exist.
Also, let’s say you dodged the swimmers (sperm) this time and you’re not pregnant; remember that Plan B does not protect you against STIs. So, if you are concerned about that, we provide free STI testing for gonorrhea, chlamydia and trich so you can have peace of mind and protect your reproductive health.
We want to be the first call you make so you can come in and discuss your options, get important medical services, and plan your next step. Call or click here to schedule your appointment today.
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