Taking control with birth control

A pill, a shot, a ring and a patch. They all sound different, but they are all forms of birth control.\nMany sexually active women around the world take some form of birth control, but the age old "pill" is becoming a thing of the past with other more convenient alternatives on the market.\nBirth control has been around since the early '60s. The formula has stayed the same, with a mix of estrogen and progestin.\nAnne Reese, director of Health and Wellness Education Department at the IU Health Center, said new technology has led to new ways of packaging the products.\nThe newest products have strayed away from the traditional pill format. Some women say they have a difficult time remembering to take the pill and choose to take some other form of birth control, even if they have success with the pill form. \nThe newest products give women the freedom to worry about birth control only once a month, Reese said.\nOrtho Evra, the newest form of birth control, is a one and three-fourths inch patch that can be placed on the buttocks, abdomen, upper torso or upper outer arm. The patch attaches to the skin by a protective seal, which protects the patch from damage. \nThe hormones are absorbed into the blood stream through the skin, Reese said. The patch is worn for a week and then changed for a new one weekly. The Health Center has been selling the Ortho Evra patches since August for $20 a cycle.\nAnother form of birth control on the market is NuvaRing. The ring is flexible and clear and fits easily into a woman's vagina, where it is released into the blood stream. The ring is worn for the entire month. It has been available at the Health Center since January. The ring costs $12 a cycle. \nBoth the ring and the patch contain a specific mixture of estrogen and progestin, unlike birth control pills which come in many different forms. \nDepo-Provera is a shot given every three months. Unlike the other forms of birth control, Depo-Provera has a formula made up of only progestin hormones. Depo-Provera causes women to have irregular menstrual cycles. After taking the shot for one year, women's monthly cycle may stop, according to www.depo-provera.com. Depo-Provera is offered at the Health Center for $46. \nJunior Kelsey Johnson said she first began using the pill, but switched to the Depo-Provera shot. "For me the shot was more convenient," Johnson said. "I only have to think about it once every couple of months."\nAnother type of birth control shot is Lunelle, which is given once a month. Women still have their menstrual cycles, which makes the shot more like birth control. Recently this product has been taken off the market because the balance of the hormone is not potent enough. There are studies being done to improve Lunelle.\n"The side effects are more like birth control because it is a combination of estrogen and progestin," Reese said. \nThere are a large variety of birth control pills on the market. Each brand has a different formula of estrogen and progestin. Reese recommends that women who take birth control for the first time start with the pill. \n"Women who first start on the pill start with low dosage pills with lower levels of estrogen and progestin," Reese said. "The pill will allow them to find a formula that fits their body chemistry the best." \nAll varieties of birth control pills are available at the Health Center for $8 a cycle. \nAll the alternative birth control methods have been listed as being more than 95 percent effective by various health researchers.