can birth control pills be used as a substitute for plan b pills?

Answer 1

Yes. It depends on what kind of birth control it is and it HAS to have levonorgestrel in it, which is the active drug in Plan B (the "morning after pill").

Plan B has 0.75mg of levonorgestrel in it. Certain birth control pills can contain anywhere from 0.1mg to 0.25mg of levonorgestrel in them. So, taking anywhere from 3 - 8 tablets of regular birth control pills is equivalent to taking one dose of Plan B. A woman also has to take the active pills in a birth control pack, NOT the last weeks worth of pills. These pills are basically "sugar pills" and have NO active drug in them.

I work in a hospital pharmacy and we had a woman come in as a trauma a few months ago. She had been beaten and raped and she was terrified that she might become pregnant. We were completely out of Plan B and the pharmacist recommend to the doctor that if she took 5 pills of regular birth control pills that we had, it would be equivalent to a dose of Plan B. She was then suppose to take another 5 pills in 12 hours. So, we popped out the "sugar pills" and sent up a pack of regular birth control pills.

If you are considering doing this PLEASE talk to a doctor. Taking Plan B should be the first choice and you should have no reason to not be able to get it.

Answer 2

No. Plan B is a big surge of synthetic hormones found in birth control pills but the dosage is exact without overdoing it. Plus if you were to waste your birth control pills by taking a few of them at a time you would mess of the cycle and run out and need the plan b pill anyhow later on.

Answer 3

Birth control and Plan B are not the same thing. Plan B should be used for emergencies only.

Answer 4

No. Birth control is there to prevent the whole pregnancy thing before it starts. Plan B is for use only when you may have gotten pregnant (as in you were drunk and had unprotected sex, the condom broke, etc, etc.).

Answer 5

I don't think so but not sure.