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Conference turris::womannotes-v2

Title:	ARCHIVE-- Topics of Interest to Women, Volume 2 --ARCHIVE
Notice:	V2 is closed. TURRIS::WOMANNOTES-V5 is open.
Moderator:	REGENT::BROOMHEAD

Created:	Thu Jan 30 1986
Last Modified:	Fri Jun 30 1995
Last Successful Update:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:	1105
Total number of notes:	36379

753.0. "notes"Sugar" Pills Good for You?" by JAIMES::RAIKUNEN () Fri Aug 18 1989 17:20

    Does anyone know if the non-hormone containing "sugar pills" given
    in a packet of birth control pills in the last week of the cycle
    have any value at all.  I heard somewhere that they contain vitamins.
    I am most concerned about the triphasil.  Do they contain anything
    such as iron, B vitamins, etc. that would be beneficial?

T.R	Title	User	Personal Name	Date	Lines
753.1		DECSIM::HALL	Dale	`Fri Aug 18 1989 17:49`	7
	Your doctor should know (or be able to find out) the content of your birth control pills. I believe that the sole function of the sugar pills is to keep you in the habit of taking a pill every day. I would be surprised to learn that a drug company was going out of its way to make birth control pills "good for you". Dale
753.2		HYDRA::ECKERT	Jerry Eckert	`Fri Aug 18 1989 22:36`	4
	According to the Physician's Desk Reference, the light green tablets in Triphasil-28 are inert. The USP Drug Information guide notes that the placebo tablets in a few products (it doesn't state which ones) contain 75 mg. of ferrous fumarate (iron).
753.3	Quite alot of iron	SONATA::VIOLETTE		`Mon Aug 21 1989 11:46`	7
	>contain 75 mg. of ferrous fumarate This 75 mg would be alot, by the way, since the US RDA is around 20 mg. There's probably no harm in taking 75 mg, except some women would find in constipating. Briana Walker
753.4	No proven benefit	ULTRA::WITTENBERG	Secure Systems for Insecure People	`Mon Aug 21 1989 12:03`	6
	I read the package insert for some contaceptive pills (I no longer remember which brand), and it said that the placebos contained iron, but noted that there was no evidence that the iron helped. It seems like it might help, so they add it. --David
753.5	Doctor said No Value in green pills	DELREY::WEYER_JI		`Mon Aug 21 1989 20:06`	9
	Your request is timely - I had just asked my doctor about the placebos in Triphasil. I've been taking Triphasil for about 3 years, and about 6 months ago my pharmacy supplied me with Triphasil which did not have the little green pills. I questioned the pharmacist and he assured me the birth control pills were the same, just without the additional green ones. So I asked my doctor, and he said there is no value whatsoever in the green pills except it may help someone remember to take the pills daily. Personally, I just use the stick-on day strip provided in the package to keep me on track.