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Is Plan B Effective For Obese Women?
Question: it's true that Plan B doesn't work at all on women over 176 pounds??
Brief Answer:
plan b may not work in obese women.
Detailed Answer:
Hello,
Thanks for the query to hcm,
This fact is not substantiated by any evidence but in clinical trials of women using EC( emergency contraception) pills (progestin-only, such as Plan B One-Step or Next Choice, or ulipristal acetate, such as ella) obese women (with a body mass index, or BMI, of 30 or greater) became pregnant over 3 times more often than non-obese women.
However, ulipristal acetate (ella) may be more effective for overweight or obese women than progestin-only EC (Plan B One-Step, Next Choice). EC appears to decline in efficacy as BMI increases; in fact, for women with a BMI of 26 or over who used progestin-only EC, pregnancy rates were no different than would be expected if they hadn't used EC at all. Ulipristal acetate (ella) appeared to lose effectiveness at a higher BMI threshold of 35.1, 2 Increasing the dose of EC for overweight or obese women has not been studied and is not currently recommended.
The most effective choice for emergency contraception for overweight or obese women is the copper IUD. The effectiveness of the copper IUD used as EC is greater than 99%, no matter how much you weigh (and it provides at least 10 years of excellent ongoing contraception).
Regards
plan b may not work in obese women.
Detailed Answer:
Hello,
Thanks for the query to hcm,
This fact is not substantiated by any evidence but in clinical trials of women using EC( emergency contraception) pills (progestin-only, such as Plan B One-Step or Next Choice, or ulipristal acetate, such as ella) obese women (with a body mass index, or BMI, of 30 or greater) became pregnant over 3 times more often than non-obese women.
However, ulipristal acetate (ella) may be more effective for overweight or obese women than progestin-only EC (Plan B One-Step, Next Choice). EC appears to decline in efficacy as BMI increases; in fact, for women with a BMI of 26 or over who used progestin-only EC, pregnancy rates were no different than would be expected if they hadn't used EC at all. Ulipristal acetate (ella) appeared to lose effectiveness at a higher BMI threshold of 35.1, 2 Increasing the dose of EC for overweight or obese women has not been studied and is not currently recommended.
The most effective choice for emergency contraception for overweight or obese women is the copper IUD. The effectiveness of the copper IUD used as EC is greater than 99%, no matter how much you weigh (and it provides at least 10 years of excellent ongoing contraception).
Regards
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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