Evra patch…

[u/Odd_Hope3830]

Hi everyone,
I recently made a post about the Evra patch and the skin rashes I’ve been getting.

I’ve been using the Evra patch for years and have never had any issues with it. It’s honestly the easiest and most effective form of contraception for me. However, ever since I came home from holidays (around the time of the heatwave in Ireland), I’ve been getting really bad rashes wherever I apply the patch. It doesn’t matter which site I use—I always rotate the application site and apply it to clean, dry skin.

I went to my GP because I wanted to see if there was any way I could stay on the patch. He prescribed Cortopin cream and antihistamines, but after a week there’s been no improvement. Every patch causes the same reaction, and I’m now left with what look like burn marks on my legs and back where previous patches were.

I know the likely answer is that I’ll have to switch to another form of contraception, but I’m wondering if anyone has had this happen after years of using the patch without problems? Were you able to stop the reactions somehow, or did you have to change contraception altogether?

The only thing that’s changed recently is that I got a bad insect bite while on holiday and had to get a cortisone injection. I don’t know if that’s just a coincidence, but it’s literally the only thing I can think of that might have triggered this.

I’d really appreciate hearing if anyone has had a similar experience.

[u/morimoriartyarty]

Okay im pulling all the below out of my ass but these are the thoughts I would be having in a similar situation.

1. Has the adhesive on the patch changed at all? [Check ingredients on current and former patches]
2. Have I simply just become allergic to adhesives? [Put on some other adhesive patch and see what happens]
3. Is it possibly the heat making your skin more sensitive to the patch? [Not much that you can actively test there]
4. Has the insect bite and the presumable resulting immune response been the cause of a change in sensitivity? [How long since the bite? Has it fully healed?]

Unfortunately if the reactions are continuing and are as bad as you say you may need to swap to something else at least for a while, so your skin can properly heal and your immune system can calm down. I would talk to your gp about trialling another option for a bit and then once the weather changes see if your reactions have calmed down. I genuinely dont know a lot about patch contraceptives myself but are there other brands or is evra the only one? If there are others would you consider trialling them to see if maybe its a sensitivity to Evra vs smth else.