Plan B

[hiii_837372]

Hii! This is just a genuine question i’ve been thinking about and doing some research about, but I keep seeing different answers. I know the symptoms,risks, and when to take the plan B but, i’ve recently found that apparently it does not work if you are over 165+ lbs and I was just wondering if that was true or not and want to learn more about it! I’ve also wondered if it works at anytime during the cycle or is it just before or after ovulation.

[amber]

Hi!

For emergency contraception there are a couple different options, most of which we tend to always refer to as "Plan B". Plan B is really just a brand of medication. It is true that this medication has been seen to be less effective in folks who weigh over 165. Ella, which is a brand of another medication for emergency contraception, is less effective for folks who weigh over 195.

It seems that pregnancy risk is something that has caused you a lot of stress in the past looking at your posts on the boards. Was there something that caused you to start doing this research? I know it can be very anxiety inducing for me to comb through sexual health misinformation!

[hiii_837372]

Haha yes i have had to deal with stress about pregnancy scares. What made me research is me and my boyfriend were talking about how to do safe sex and then we came on the topic of the pull out method which i told him I wasn’t a big fan of that at all. Then I kept asking myself the what ifs and looked at plan B and started doing research. Is it also true that people who take 2 of the standard emergency contraceptives pills who are over 165 lbs? I’ve read that people even over 200 lbs have done that and it has worked.

[Latha]

Hi Hiii,

I've heard about taking a double dose at higher BMIs before, and my understanding is that this suggestion is largely theoretical, and not supported by the evidence we have now. Keep in mind that a single dose of Plan B doesn't stop working for people who weigh about 165/200 lbs. As Amber noted, we just have some evidence that it may be less effective for them. Some protection is better than none, so it is still recommended that they take it if they need emergency contraception.

Does that make sense? Do you feel like you have a good plan for having safe sex with your boyfriend? We're happy to answer more questions if you're looking to learn about how contraception works.