MAP please give advice/experiences/reassurance

[bratnav]

OK, I was a very silly girl and DP and I had unprotected sex on Friday night, bloody wine!

I got the earliest appointment I could and went to the GP today. He gave me 2 MAPs and said that as it was 4 days and not 3 or less I needed to take them both. I am sitting here feeling dreadfully sick and also panicking in case it doesn't work.

Ant input gratefully received

errrr I took the MAP she is now 11????? I did not feel ill at all after taking the MAP so if you do perhaps that is a god sign that it is working?

Aaaargh cargirl, but thanks anyway!

someone I house shared with got pregnant the same week as me also despite using the MAP...............mind you we both had very high metabolisms at the time (think stick thin rakes that ate like horses and still lost weight)

Oh god, I am sweating this badly. It would be a complete disaster. I had enough difficulty in taking the MAP in the first place

err ditto, only took it because I really didn't think I could be pregnant (my period was virtually due) but didn't want to worry about it during my finals..........

Faaark

Which brand of MAP? I assume Levonelle. If taken 4 days after intercourse, it is less than 50% effective (sorry).

If you are absolutely sure you don't want an accidental pregnancy, you can have an emergency coil fitted up to 5 days after intercourse which is more effective. Contact your local FPC immediately if you are interested.

Out of interest, why the delay in obtaining MAP?

with the statistics what I could never get around is they don't know how many people just wouldn't have been pregnant anyway so how do they know how many pregnancies it has stopped IYSWIM

emma-they said that they couldn't fit a copper coils as I am waiting for a mirena one to be fitted (not entirely sure why). Apparently the mirena coil can't be used for emergency contraception purposes. The GP gave me 2 MAPs as I was late taking it so it would be more effective. Yes it was levonelle

Cargirl-agree, how do they work out the effectiveness stats, how would they know if someone would have become pg anyway?

emma-they said that they couldn't fit a copper coils as I am waiting for a mirena one to be fitted (not entirely sure why). Apparently the mirena coil can't be used for emergency contraception purposes. The GP gave me 2 MAPs as I was late taking it so it would be more effective. Yes it was levonelle

Cargirl-agree, how do they work out the effectiveness stats, how would they know if someone would have become pg anyway?

oh, delay as I couldn't get an appointment any earlier with GP, and didn't have £25 for over the counter. A&E told me basically to bugger off over the phone

There are very few people who can't have a copper coil fitted on medical grounds, although often you need to go to a FPC or GP who is specially-trained. If you don't want it long-term, it can easily be removed or swapped for a mirena at a later date. If you explained the situation to your local FPC, they would see you as an emergency. I personally wouldn't rely on the efficacy of the MAP alone 4 days after sex if a pregnancy would be considered a disaster. Also, there is no such thing as a 'safe' time in your cycle when you absolutely can't get pregnant!

I'm really disappointed that you couldn't get help sooner. Most A&Es will usually give MAP, GP out of hours deffo will and a lot of FPCs do sessions on a weekend. Its a personal bugbear of mine that people have difficulty accessing emergency contraception- I'm a GP with a specialist interest in FP!

I hope all goes well for you. x

Sorry Mirena can be used as emergency contraception - been there done that

Bloody GP appears to be talking out of his arse then

Emma-can I possibly ask you a rough estimate on the likelihood I would be pg anyway?

Stopped taking combined pill 2 weeks ago as I was having MAJOR mood swings, had a small bleed for 2-3 das after, but would have no clue as to when my next period would be due now?

Bratnav

if a pregnancy weould truly be disastrous then please please somehow get yourself s coil fitted in the next few days. A very close friend of mine took the MAP (within 12 hrs, exactly as instructed etc etc) and disastrously found she was pregnant. The doctor who she saw said at the time that she would always recommend a coil if preg would be a disaster, but at the time my friend did not want to go down this route.

When she went for her TP (unfortunately she did not feel contimuing was viable) she met 4 other women in the waiting room whp had also taken the MAP.

Personally I have taken it twice in my life but luckily have not had an unwanted preg (can't same the same for the persona monitor but thats another story- am looking at my 17mo DS as I type lol!) but as previous post-ers have said it is really hard to predict who will and who won't get preg. From what you said about last bleed etc I would say you may well have been fertile (but of course i am not an expert in fertility).

Really hope you end the month as un-pregnant as you started! Good luck.

Ok, sorry for the delay- really slow internet connection.

A typical fertile woman has an approx 1/3 chance of conceiving during each menstrual cycle with no contraception used at all- the most fertile time being around ovulation. If you stopped the pill 2 weeks ago, I'm afraid you probably had sex around the beginning of a possible ovulation time (and bear in mind that sperm hang around for a couple of days). If the MAP is only around 50% effective after 4 days- your odds of conceiving are roughly 1/5 to 1/6 this cycle.

Considering the timing of sex and when you finsihed the pill, I would consider you highish-risk for a MAP failure and would recommend a coil first line if you really didn't want a pregnancy. Of course MAP is better than nothing!

BTW mirena isn't licenced for emergency contraception purposes.

Please contact your local FPC if you want more advice- they may be able to see you this evening or tomorrow.

Thanks all-much appreciated advice, I am searching out my nearest FPC now

Faaaaaark

Called FPA as soon as they opened this morning, they said that it is too late to have an IUD fitted so I will just have to wait and sweat it out.

I quoted you emma, and they said you were spot on you clever thing you

I have called my GP surgery and asked them to call me back with an explanation as to why the 2 MAPs (as FPA woman said it would make no difference) and not an IUD yesterday as they could have just waited for my AF then swapped it over for an IUS.

I am so and that my GP has given such bad advice which may end up with a disastrous outcome

Thanks WTS, I supose I just need not to worry about the potential outcome too much or my period will be late causing even more stress

Thanks for the replies, I guess I will just have to sit it out...

I am very nervous, I am sure it is just the worry, but I really feel that I may well be PG, does this make sense? It is the same feeling I had after conceiving DD2, oh bloody hell