Calling all the ladies that are now here in the US

[mcspooky 0]

Before I left the UK I made sure I got six months supply of my contraceptive pill. I am now down to my last month and panniking! I still dont have any medical insurance and dont know what to do now. I have researched planned parenthood online and it looks like you have to pay for contraception, it looks pretty expensive too! Just wanted to know what all the ladies did? If you have insurance does it cover you for this and if I took out insurance now would it cover me? If you dont have insurance what did you do and how much did it cost? Also, I understand planned parenthood is subsidised, will this have any implications on me not becoming a 'public charge' in the US?

Thanks!

P.S - Absinence is not an option!

Look up your health departments in your local county. Phone them up as some operate on a walk-in (first come first served) basis and some on appointment. I would go with the appointment system if you can. When you get there they will ask you to fill out paperwork. Say you are not married and not working. This will make all services free. Depending on your status they may ask you to take an annual exam which is a quick internal, blood work, breast check-up etc. Also a pregnancy test prior to giving you the contraception. I have used this and have not had any problems. Alot of people talk negatively about the health centre system in US but really it is comparable to visiting a GP office in the UK. Make sure that you allow plenty of time for your appointment to. For my repeat Depo shot I waited 2 hours. Since I am waiting for EAD and AOS I figure I have all the time in the world. I would rather do this that spend $100 on doctors appointment then further $100 for the prescription. nb. you can't go back to the UK for a prescription if you have left the country for more than 3 months they delist you and it is very hard to get reinstated. Lots of luck

[Miranda&James 8]

No, that's seasonale - most doctors will tell you that off-label use of normal BCP's for up to three months is generally non-harmful, you don't actually need to have a script for Seasonale to only have 4 periods a year. Seasonale has just been put through the rigors of clinical trials. Don't trust me though, ask your doctor! Unless the seasonale rep has already gotten to your doc, in which xcase they will prescribe Seasonale

That's it! Well, my doctor said he would rather start me on some beginner normal pills before I moved to that advanced stuff He gave me a funny speech about how he doesn't think it's natural (you wouldn't only eat once a day, we're made to eat three, etc).

[canadalaura 0]

Yeah, it's probably best to see how your body reacts to the pills first if you've never taken them!

[Chrissy25 0]

geeezzz your all lucky! Was on Apri for all of a week, but man it made me cry constantly, irritable, hungrey all the fricken time, in a word AWFUL! Now my husbands insurance covers everything BUT my pill, thought $28 bucks for Apri was expensive, but went to the docs today and she prescribed me Ortho tri-cyclen lo as the other was too high in hormones, went to get it at Walgreens, just about fell through the floor, $45.99 FOR A MONTH!!! holy #######, asked how much nuva ring is.....$47 bucks......this is spendy

[Miranda&James 8]

Yeah, it's probably best to see how your body reacts to the pills first if you've never taken them!

Yep that's what he said. I'm not too worried, I just want no babies yet!!

[Steph1010 1]

I take seasonale and i like it...my doctor actually gave me 2 packs for free....i told her how empensive immigration is....and so i got 6 months of pills for free

[Miranda&James 8]

I take seasonale and i like it...my doctor actually gave me 2 packs for free....i told her how empensive immigration is....and so i got 6 months of pills for free

Oo thats nice, maybe I'll pull the soon to be married and off parents insurance card and see if I get something free, doesn't hurt to try! I just got some free sleeping medicine...but only 6 days worth I hope it works at least!

[lynamon 0]

I'm on depo.. I still have a script in canada so i get my family to fill the presciption and they take it when they come to visit.. Its about half the cost as it would be in the states... (70 here.. about 35 - 40 there..) You only need it every 3 months and i only pay about 10 bucks for the dr to inject it.. and i dont have my period anymore! which is nice... Its great because i'm terrible at taking pills...

I was on the depo shot for 7 years after my son was born until they came out with the blackbox warning stating that being on it longer than 2 years can cause irreversable osteoporosis. Because I'm over 30 (34) and a smoker (now quitting) there was no other option than an IUD (not the Merena kind). It cost $50 canadian and it's good for 5 years. Economical and better for my body

[KarenCee 3]

Tell you what girls.

I'll trade you $25 for your pills vs. $153 for Advair.

Any takers?

I second that! W/O insurance my Advair would break me...mine would cost $200 here in GA without insurance. Sigh...asthma sucks....but at least I can breathe

[Miranda&James 8]

Ok, here's a question. I REALLY don't want kids yet, I cannot wait to have them but now would not be a good time since we are so young and poor. So, do all of you rely on only one method of BC (the girl on pills, shots, etc) or do you use two just to be safe? I'm afraid I'll forget a pill and end up with a little Miranda or James before we're ready

[Aymerlu 3]

Working in the medical field I find it sad that most insurance companies do not cover birth control however they will cover Viagra. Guess that's our government for ya!

[Not Available 0]

I'm on the Nuva Ring too and it is seriously AMAZING! You dont feel it, its just as, or even more effective than the pill and has 50% less estrogen in it than the pill so the side affects are slim to none. I have three months left as my doctor gave me some before i left Canada. Can someone fill me in about this planned parenthood thing? I have never heard of it... and have been trying to figure out what the heck to do after three months are up.

[Miranda&James 8]

I'm on the Nuva Ring too and it is seriously AMAZING! You dont feel it, its just as, or even more effective than the pill and has 50% less estrogen in it than the pill so the side affects are slim to none. I have three months left as my doctor gave me some before i left Canada. Can someone fill me in about this planned parenthood thing? I have never heard of it... and have been trying to figure out what the heck to do after three months are up.

The ring sounds neat, I might ask my doctor about that as well. I think I want to just try "regular" BC (the pill) for awhile to see how I react but that sounds like a much easier option!

Here's the website for planned parenthood:

http://www.plannedparenthood.org/pp2/portal/

It's a kind of well organized clinic that can help people with all of their contraception and other feminine needs at a pretty good price. You can search on the site for a clinic near you. I've never used them but I know friends that have and they seemed to like it.

[Vipul and Jamie 0]

I take Yasmin, and I haven't had too many problems with it. My insurance covers most of the cost so that's nice. It's the only thing we use, and no kids yet. To the original poster you might want to try looking for some community services there in your city. It seems like there should be somewhere that you can get birth control at a decent price.

-Jamie

[miranda 0]

I'm on the Nuva Ring too and it is seriously AMAZING! You dont feel it, its just as, or even more effective than the pill and has 50% less estrogen in it than the pill so the side affects are slim to none. I have three months left as my doctor gave me some before i left Canada. Can someone fill me in about this planned parenthood thing? I have never heard of it... and have been trying to figure out what the heck to do after three months are up.

I had the Nuva Ring and I liked it and disliked it all at the same time. I liked it because I didn't need to remember it daily like the pill (which I constantly forgot), but then it kept feeling like it was sliding out of me. Did you have that problem? Was I doing it wrong? LOL. Also, I kept thinking (will this really work when I have sex?) I don't know, I guess I just worried that Patrick would pull it out or it would be uncomfortable for him.