Plan B Effective Rate

Plan B Effective Rate

all comments made to this page
new replies to my comments

Note: an email address is necessary if you wish to receive notifications. If provided, it will not be published publicly.
Note: an email address is necessary if you wish to receive notifications. If provided, it will not be published publicly.
The majority of women have heard of Plan B. It’s often simply marketed as this thing that you take any time you’ve had unprotected sex or a contraceptive failure—that is, if you don’t want to become pregnant—but how effective is Plan B really? What is Plan B, and how does it work? Are there side effects? What are they? Fewer women know the answers to these questions. Luckily, to fully understand how effective Plan B is, you need to understand what Plan B is and how it works so you learn the answers to all these questions.
Chances are, if you’re looking up Plan B effectiveness, you get that it’s a pill that helps prevent pregnancy, but to be more accurate, Plan B is a large dose of levonorgestrel . Levonorgestrel is a progestin that can prevent pregnancy primarily by preventing ovulation, but it may also prevent implantation.
Progesterone is a hormone that’s always present during your menstrual cycle. It maintains your uterine lining after ovulation. If you become pregnant, progesterone keeps you from getting a period. Plan B essentially mimics pregnancy by delivering a large dose of progesterone (levonorgestrel mentioned above) so that the body already “thinks” it’s pregnant, doesn’t ovulate, and instead continues to thicken the uterine lining. As this large dose dissipates, withdrawal bleeding occurs, which usually resembles a period.
Plan B effectiveness hinges on when you take it. The manufacture may tout it prevents 7 out 8 pregnancies, but realistically that’s likely only with perfect timing. Yes, Plan B must be taken within 72 hours, but there’s more to that story.
If Plan B is taken early in your cycle, it probably does have the suggested upwards of 89% effectiveness, but closer to mid-cycle, probably not, and after ovulation? It’s nearly a pointless measure. This is because you can’t prevent ovulation if it’s already happened.
After ovulation, all Plan B does is work to thicken the uterine lining more to prevent implantation. The later in your cycle you take it, the less effective it becomes.
The reason it’s generally recommended to take Plan B any time you’ve had unprotected sex and don’t wish to become pregnant is that not all women know when they ovulate . Honestly, if they did, they wouldn’t need Plan B because they would know if the sexual act occurred during a fertile time.
Pregnancy is actually only possible about one week out of the month. You have the viability of sperm at about 5 days, and the lifespan of an egg at around 24 hours. You can read more about your chances of pregnancy here , but long story short, in general, sex just before or just after a period is very unlikely to result in pregnancy. Sex mid-cycle has the highest chance.
Sadly, not all women ovulate mid-cycle. You can’t just assume if the sex wasn’t mid-cycle you won’t become pregnant and don’t need Plan B. It is actually possible to become pregnant from sex just after your period (when Plan B would be most effective). At mid-cycle when you’re most likely to become pregnant, Plan B will at least hinder implantation by thickening the uterine lining and subsequently causing withdrawal bleeding to thin it.
The only situation where we would say you’re probably just suffering side effects for no reason by taking Plan B is when the sex occurred in the final week before your period. Why?
First, ovulation has likely already occurred by a long shot. There probably is no chance of pregnancy, to begin with. Second, there is very little time to thicken the uterine lining. Additionally, if you are basal body temping and know when you ovulate, there is no reason to take Plan B unless you’re in a fertile period.
Side effects of plan B are basically a ramped-up version of PMS but may also mimic pregnancy symptoms. These include nausea, fatigue, feeling hot, discharge changes, bloating, cramping, and gas. This is because, as stated back there on how Plan B works, you’re creating a hormonal situation akin to pregnancy.
However, the most common Plan B side effect is irregular bleeding. Enough so you can read an entire page on this topic here.
I hope this has helped answer your questions about how effective is Plan B, but if not, we welcome comments and questions here at Life with Gremlins.
Plan B, also known as the morning after pill, is an emergency contraceptive that if taken within 72 hours of an unprotected sexual act can help dramatically reduce the chance of pregnancy. However, chances are if you are searching about bleeding after taking Plan B you already know what it…
Let’s start out by getting this out of the way: no one can tell you whether you are or are not pregnant over the Internet. I can’t. A quiz can’t. Scrutinizing timing and symptoms can’t. The only way to confirm a pregnancy is in person via examination, urine, or blood…
While for most something like a missed period seems a pretty obvious reason to take a pregnancy test, there are cases out there where pregnancy symptoms are a more significant deciding factor. Maybe you don’t have regular menses. Maybe you’re concerned you may just be experiencing early pregnancy bleeding and…
My boyfriend and I had unprotected sex around 5 in the morning on June 6th. I took an ovulation test to see if I was ovulating and it was positive. I took plan B that night around 7pm. Today it is June 7th and I went to the bathroom and wiped and I noticed fertile discharge like what happened when you’re ovualting. It was clear and stretchy. Does this mean that I’m ovualting anyway and could be pregnant now? Or could that be some sort of side effect..
An ovulation test is checking for a hormone that spikes 24-48 hours before ovulation, so seeing signs of ovulation just after a positive test would be entirely normal. So close to ovulation, Plan B would only work to thicken your lining. Of course, it also does not mean you won’t become pregnant. You’ll want to take a pregnancy test at least 14 days after the act to be sure.
Hi,I need a big help, my girlfriend thinks she’s pregnant and wants to take a test soon. I told her last month she was also late about 4-5 days so she might get it late this month. She was late because she took a plan b on the same week her period was due last month. She has a app telling her period was due already 4 days ago and we had sex last week on the 21st with a condom. But on that day I noticed she had a very creamy thick fluid around her vagina so I was … Read more »
A woman can’t have an actual period during pregnancy (because you don’t ovulate in pregnancy), but she can have period-like bleeding , and it’s difficult to tell the difference. As for the fluid, women produce cervical fluid which varies in consistency, a thick, lotion like consistency is usually non-fertile. So, yes, the fluid could have been from her. Since you did have an incident you felt needed plan B use though, it’s worth testing just to be sure.
My girl friend took the plan b pill two days before her period (12/22) Condom ripped but I pulled out but I got her the pill 1 hour later Unfortunately the condoms I got were just not the best and we had intercourse and whoop ripped again But i also pulled out, this happened after three hours she took the pill. Me and her decided since she took the pill we didn’t need another one plus her period was coming. Her peroid was due today (12/24) and still no sign and I’m really worried because of the precum. So My … Read more »
The emergency pill would cover any unprotected acts within around 48 hours (though certainly the fewer unprotected acts the better), because it works by delivering a large dose of hormones to temporarily stop ovulation (long enough to prevent pregnancy) not so much canceling out a single act. Being so close to her period, that same dose of hormones would be enough to delay her period. It, or some form of withdrawal bleeding, will likely occur within a week.
Our site contains affiliate links, including the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. These along with other advertising help make Life with Gremlins possible. You can learn more about this in our privacy disclosure . Thank you for your support!

Angle down icon
An icon in the shape of an angle pointing down.

Angle down icon
An icon in the shape of an angle pointing down.

Angle down icon
An icon in the shape of an angle pointing down.

Angle down icon
An icon in the shape of an angle pointing down.

Angle down icon
An icon in the shape of an angle pointing down.

Angle down icon
An icon in the shape of an angle pointing down.

Angle down icon
An icon in the shape of an angle pointing down.

Angle down icon
An icon in the shape of an angle pointing down.

Angle down icon
An icon in the shape of an angle pointing down.

Angle down icon
An icon in the shape of an angle pointing down.

Home

Chevron icon
It indicates an expandable section or menu, or sometimes previous / next navigation options.

Health

By

Ashley Laderer

Twitter icon
A stylized bird with an open mouth, tweeting.

Twitter

Snapchat icon
A ghost.

Snapchat

Fliboard icon
A stylized letter F.

Flipboard

Pinterest icon
The letter "P" styled to look like a thumbtack pin.

Pinterest

Link icon
An image of a chain link. It symobilizes a website link url.

Copy Link

This article was medically reviewed by Lauren Demosthenes, MD, OB-GYN, senior medical director at Babyscripts .

Our stories are reviewed by medical professionals to ensure you get the most accurate and useful information about your health and wellness. For more information, visit our medical review board.

Ashley Laderer is a freelance writer from New York who specializes in health and wellness. Follow her on Twitter @ashladerer

INSIDER

Plan B: Side effects, how long they last, and how to get relief

HEALTH

7 important things to know before taking Plan B, according to OB-GYNs

HEALTH

4 unexpected health benefits of going on birth control

INSIDER

How does birth control work and which methods are most effective

Reference Library
Reproductive Health

Chevron icon
It indicates an expandable section or menu, or sometimes previous / next navigation options.

Close icon
Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. It indicates a way to close an interaction, or dismiss a notification.

Plan B has a 95% chance of preventing pregnancy if you take it within 24 hours. If you take it within 72 hours, your chances reduce to 89% .
Note: Plan B, sometimes referred to as the "morning-after pill," is an over-the-counter form of emergency contraception you can take to prevent pregnancy after having unprotected sex.
"Plan B is FDA approved for use up to 72 hours after unprotected sex. It can be used up to 120 hours after, but the further out from intercourse, the less effective it will become," Nicole M. Bender , MD, an OB-GYN at Keck School of Medicine of USC.
So, for max protection, take the pill as quickly as you can get it.
The active ingredient in Plan B that prevents pregnancy is a hormone called levonorgestrel, which is a synthetic version of progesterone.
Aileen Gariepy, MD , OB-GYN at Yale Medicine and associate professor at Yale School of Medicine says that levonorgestrel works to prevent pregnancy by:
Plan B won't work if a pregnancy has already been established, says Gariepy. The only way to know for sure if you're pregnant is to take a pregnancy test . However, you can also look out for early pregnancy symptoms like a missed period, nausea, vomiting, or sore breasts.
Note: Taking more than one dose of Plan B after an act of unprotected sex will not make it more effective, Gariepy says.
Additionally, if you've ovulated recently, some research indicates that Plan B does not work as well .
Ovulation typically occurs right in the middle of your menstrual cycle, such as on day 14 if you have a 28 day cycle. You might also notice clear and stretchy vaginal discharge. To be extra sure, you can purchase over-the-counter ovulation strips to determine if you're ovulating.
Note: Plan B is different from an abortion pill, and it will not terminate an existing pregnancy.
Plan B starts working soon after taking the pill. Peak levels of Plan B in your bloodstream will occur about 1.7 hours after taking the pill .
Depending on where you are in your cycle, Plan B will likely delay ovulation for a few days, says Gariepy. And the levonorgestrel should leave your system after about a week or so, depending on how fast your metabolism is, Gariepy says.
However, it's important to note that plan B only works for the episode of unprotected sex you have already had. If you have unprotected sex shortly after taking plan B — like later that day or the following day — then you will need to take another dose of plan B to prevent pregnancy.
Plan B may cause side effects, which Gariepy says are
Shemales Cumming While Riding
Horny Milf Porn
Rubber Bsdm

Plan B Effective Rate

Report Page