Plan B, or ‘Morning After’ Pill Side Effects Show Need for Facts

The pattern is predictable: a woman on a medical blog asks whether the abdominal pain she feels after taking the Plan B pill means that anything is wrong. The woman, speaking anonymously, complains that she has had nausea for a week, then diarrhea, and now feels “a constant dull ache on my right side.”

Two weeks later another woman answers her and tells her to get help right away because her abdominal pain might mean that she has a fallopian pregnancy, in which the embryo wrongly implants itself in the tube leading to the womb. The possibility is very unlikely, according the woman claims, but she advises, “You MUST go to the hospital, tell the doctor you took Plan B…”

Released in 2006, the morning after pill, also called the “next day” pill, is sold under the brand name Plan B, which is produced by Duramed Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Duramed admits on its website that the product could cause nausea, abdominal pain, fatigue, headache, changes in one’s period, dizziness, and breast tenderness. It adds, “If you have severe abdominal pain, you may have an ectopic pregnancy [outside the womb], and should get immediate medical attention.”

The pill, which is taken twice after intercourse, contains a very high dose of the hormone progestin, found in many birth control pills. Critics call the amount of hormone an overdose of the drug, and point to its dosage as a possible cause of its side effects.

Women in Berwyn, Cicero, North Riverside, Forest Park and surrounding Illinois communities should call WomanCare Services of Berwyn at 708-795-6000 to learn more about the risks of Plan B, or the morning after pill before they take it.

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Sources:

SteadyHealth.com blog: “Plan B side effects - cramps, bleeding, fatigue”
Plan B website, side effects
Emergency contraception website of Princeton University
Women.EMedTV.com Plan B Side Effects
Plan B Patient Insert, Food and Drug Administration

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