Patch this.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/HEALTH/11/10/patch.warning.ap.ap/index.html

Gotta say, this really ticks me off. I switched from depo provera to the patch about two years ago. Told my doc I was sick of the acne side-effects of depo and wanted to go on the pill instead. She convinced me to give the patch a try instead of the pill. I was on it for about a month when I started having very severe abdominal pain. I can remember sitting in traffic on 66 and thinking that if I couldn't get over to the side of the road I was going to get in an accident. The pain usually lasted anywhere from 5 - 10 minutes and then went away like nothing happened. When it first started, I didn't associate it with the patch at all. But that was the only thing that had changed recently as far as medication or lifestyle. The last time I experienced the pain it was so bad I couldn't walk and ended up laying down on the floor in our dining room. My husband was beside himself so he called the emergency after-hours number for the gyno. A few minutes later she called back and after explaining what was going on she had no explanation except that it couldn't possibly be the patch. Her only suggestion was to call the next morning to schedule an appointment and if it came back go to the emergency room. I told her I was taking it off just to be on the safeside and you know what her response was? In a very condescinding tone, "You know you aren't protected against pregnancy now?" What the fuck? You don't say? Well geez lady, I guess I can manage to use a condom if it means I'm not going to double over in pain.

After a lot of bitching on my end, they manage to find a way to work me in the next day to see the nurse practitioner. She finds nothing wrong with me - surprise, surprise. But still assures me it isn't the patch and that its perfectly safe. I'm not convinced, so I switch to some variation of the pill. I've not had a problem since I took off that goddamn patch. And I've not been back to that sorry excuse for a doctor or clinic. Wonder what would have happened if I had listened to the trained professionals and stayed on the patch.