The Patch: Testimonials

I’m Dominican, so I grew up – you know, it’s a big family, and we like to go dancing and have fun. That’s pretty much it. And spend time with my siblings. I’m on the patch. That’s the birth control method I chose. I found out about it, honestly, by TV, an ad. And the reason why I looked into it, it was because my life is very busy. For me to remember to take a pill every day is going to be impossible. Unless I have a reminder on my phone, and even with a reminder, I can’t do it like right that second. What I like about it is that I just use it once a week, and I just – you know, you put it – I put it here just because it’s easier for me, I guess, and I see it, so I’m like, “Yeah, I put it on!” Sundays are – I call them my “me day.” I do my pedicure, my manicure. It’s my days to get my hair done. And so it’s just like, hey, I need to take care of that, too! (Laughs) So that’s why it’s easy for me just to include it in my Sunday routine. I used to get really bad cramps, and actually I don’t get them as often as I used to. My cramps were really bad. I used to take prescriptions for – for them. And since my period has been regulated and I’ve been on it – I do get them if – not like every month. Like sometimes I can – just maybe the first day, and then I’m – I’m good to go. But before, I used to be like from the day that I got my period to that last day that it ended, I used to be like in chronic pain. And that doesn’t happen anymore. I like the patch because it’s – I just wear it once a week. It stays on. I can see it that it’s on, so it reminds me that it’s on. Even though the color, it’s very light on my skin tone, still it’s like a neutral color. It’s discreet. It’s not like neon. I still use condoms. It’s just because, you know, the birth control protects you against pregnancy, but there’s still a lot of other things out there that you just need to protect yourself from. So double protected can never hurt. (Laughs) My name’s Angela. I’m 24, and I use the patch.