I've been doing some research and can't figure out which birth control to use... I used to take the pill (Yaz) to regulate my menstrual cycle but I had shitty side effects and heard that stuff is terrible for you.. So I've been looking into other methods - shot, ring, IUD, etc... hoping to have a "regular period" again... and of course for the added comfort of knowing if a condom ever breaks I'm probably ok... What are your experiences? I'm mostly interested in hearing about the ring or the IUD because it would be nice to not have to worry about remembering taking a pill every day or changing a patch every week (and having a gunky patch on me to begin with)
i have an IUD and i LOVE it, its absolutely perfect for me. here all all my positives -lasts 5 to 10 years - just as effective as getting your tubes tied -you can't feel it, - it doesnt have to contain hormones, copper(which is what i have) is just as effective, and causes no side effects like the hormones would like mood changes, weight gain, acne and all that(it can cause a heavier period but mine is still 3 days, so nothing change over here lol) theres sooo much good about it its amazing, right when i get mine taken out im getting a new one LOL. this is kinda weird but if you have sex often or alot, this is great for you. im very spontanious, im the type of person who will want it in the kitchen making breakfast at 11am, BUT you cannot have multiple partners with an iud unlessss he, and i guess since the dawning of female condoms WEARS A CONDOM. because if theres ANY risk you can get an std you're fucked. you could get a very very very serious infection, and many doctors will not give an iud to anyone without a child so its tougher to get unless you have a longterm partner. anyways im babling. im ripped lol
DO NOT get the Implant they inject into your arm. My friend tried it out a few years ago and got a bruise the size of a dinner plate that covered her entire upper arm, It took a couple of weeks to disapear, and went shades of purple and green before it was gone (craziest bruise ive ever seen) It wasnt very sexeh and worked as a contraceptive for all the wrong reasons
i've been using Ortho Evra (the patch) for almost 3 years now. it has worked really well, it helped regulate my period and largely reduced my severe cramp pain. it isn't actually that bad to wear, its nice to only have to deal with it once a week, and you can put it on your lower abdomen so nobody really ever sees it unless i'm at the beach. it gets a little gross around the edges, but not bad since i change it once a week anyway. it's also nice to know exactly when my period will start... i dont know if you get that with a pill. buuuut my health dept says they are not going to carry the patch anymore as nobody uses it (woo southwest va, way to suck at everything) and it is apparently not as safe/tested as other birth control medications. they almost have me convinced to use nuva ring... but that three-periods-a-year pill sounds pretty damn good to me.
I was a horrible bitch when I was on BC pills. No sex drive, depressed & moody all the time.. it sucked. The patch worked better for me, but like you said, it's gross having a patch on you all the time.. plus it falls off a lot in the shower/water. Also, it gets fuzzies from your clothes attatched to the outer edge of it and when you take it off you have a nice little sticky square to scrub off. OHH, and this girl came in to the store I work at the other day, wearing super low rise Tara Reid jeans and a shirt that bared her hips..... kinda trashy to let your BC patch hang out Anyway, I guess I don't really have any advice because all the BC I've tried has sucked pretty bad. I'm not on any now because I hate messing with my hormones & don't have any issues with irregularity. If I were to try one though, it would probably be Seasonale or whatever it's called- my friend takes it and says it's awesome only having a period 3X a year
I am on seasonique. Its the one pill where you get your period 4 times a year, which is pretty much awesome. I have never noticed any bad side effects from it.
My girl uses this, and I agree. Nothing to complain about here. She seemed pretty alright with it also.
Yaz is HORRIBLE. It is not in any way natural to only have your period 4 times a year. You ladies should really think about that, I know it's convenient but Yaz and the Seasonique have huge side effects. IMO it's not worth those for the convenience of not having to change a tampon for 4 days every month or every other month if you choose. I've had a hard time on progesterone only methods - the shot turned me into a basket case, as did the progesterone only pill, and because of that I will not even consider the Implanon [which, by the way, gives you your period for something like six months when you first get it]. I take the lowest dose mixed hormone pill that is out there and it's a dream. I have had no side effects, I get my period when I decide and I can skip it or get it later if I want. Because it's mixed hormone you don't have to worry so much about taking the pill at the EXACT same time every day [but taking it around the same time is important, I just take it when I get up]. My roommate had the patch and hated it, it always got gross and dirty looking. One of my friends also has an IUD and it's caused her a good amount of pain. There are two kinds, one with progesterone and the other is without. Before you get it I would STRONGLY SUGGEST you find out how you react to progesterone only.
DO NOT get the copper IUD. This is the one without hormones, which sounds great, but itsn't. I got this a few years ago, hoping to be on bc w/o hormones, and it was horrible... seriously, I won't go into details, but it was like a horror movie that lasted for 2 months until I had it removed. I recommend Ortho Tri Cyclen. It worked great for me. No spotting, no acne, no hair falling out, no weight gain.
I agree with this advice. I know that for me, I became very sensitive to silver after I handled too many photography chemicals with my bare hands. With prolonged exposure to metal you can become allergic to it, and you don't want to be allergic to something that is in your body. Not fun.
Thanks for the feedback, everyone... a few of my thoughts - I wouldn't try out the implant - just not interested in that at all... - I've tried the patch before and like flowerchild said, i hate getting the fuzzies and weird shit stuck to the patch. And summer's coming up and I don't want to show off a BC patch haha Especially since you have to change the area you put the patch every time you change it. I too become a raging bitch on BC.. but was really hoping to find something that doesn't affect me like Yaz or Ortho Tri Cyclen (the only two BC pills I've taken, both with crappy side effects) - I don't think I'd go for the Seasonique... something doesn't seem right about only having my period a few times a year... just doesn't seem natural haha I also imagine there's gotta me a nice amount of hormones that would fuck me up worse than something like Yaz... If you don't mind me asking, I'm curious as to what happened... a few of my friends swear by the copper IUD because there are no hormones... and it sounded like the best bet because I could always remove it at some point and still be able to have kids.. the Ortho Tri Cyclen made me gain a crap-ton of weight when I took it before.. I know they have a low dose hormone one... but I'm trying to veer away from having to take pills because I can not remember to take them daily... I am a stoner lol Man I'd hope I don't get allergic to something like that... :/ Anyone have experience with the NuvaRing? I've been reading about that and read that you can take it out for a few hours to have sex and you're still ok.. or you can have sex with it in, but I imagine that's kind of weird... Thanks for all the replies, btw... It's all helpful!
One of my friends had the nuvaring and she hated it. If you turned into a huge bitch on BC I would really suggest trying the low hormone dose one. I've had NO side effects from it at all. And actually, even though I realize I'm in the minority here, it turns me into a complete horndog...
I've only tried Ortho Tri Cyclen lo and it made me nauseous as hell in the morning when I first started taking it. It felt like I was knocked up or something...bleh. Overall I was alright with the pill but there were days where I was an emotional wreck. Really W&B, everyone is different and you can't really ask for advice on which method you should try because it will probably work differently for you. Some people told me Yaz was awesome, others have told me it was a nightmare. You need to discuss this with your doctor and try out different forms of BC before finding the right one for you and your body. There are so many different forms of it....because again, everyone reacts differently. Tell your doctor everything and he/she will guide you into the right direction. Even if what they give you still doesn't work for you, you can continue looking until you find the right one.
Discussing it with my doctor is less helpful than asking this question on here to a bunch of females who will undoubtedly have similar experiences with birth control. Sure, everyone reacts differently - but the overall reaction is usually the same. I'm asking for people's PERSONAL EXPERIENCES with birth control so I can hear the stories and think about the possibilities of side effects, etc... I don't need the "tell your doctor" lecture.. I'm not some 14 year old using the internet as a replacement for professional medical assistance. I have an appointment at Planned Parenthood in an hour to go into all the BC stuff - but truth be told they are ENTIRELY UNHELPFUL. The doctor is usually like, "Here's what we have - what do you want?" She's not going to tell me anything about the different kinds that I don't already know from reading information on the internet. Like I said, I'm asking for personal experiences from the women on here... not a lecture.
Umm... really really really heavy bleeding. GUYS! STOP READING HERE! (You've been warned) ... Lots of bleeding, huge clots. To the point where I had to double up on iron, sip lots of hot chicken soup with salt added, and got to the point where I could not get out of bed, but was bleeding too heavy to lay there. I could barely walk across the room without my legs cramping and felt like death/flu constantly... I decided to have it removed after a road trip. It was a 45 minute drive. I put in a super tampon and a giant boat of a super maxi right before we left, and about halfway through the drive, I had completely soaked through both. I sneezed, and blood rushed up and came out through everything, including the TOP (near my belly button) of my jeans. It was horrific, and I had to sit on a towel the rest of the way back. Undies & Jeans were completely ruined. As soon as I had it removed, the flow of blood completely stopped. My doctor said that my body rejected it because of the copper, which turns my skin green anyways so I should have know. Edit: forgot to add that you can still get pregnant on the IUD... which means that one of three things has to happen. You can abort the baby, you can remove the IUD and hope it doesn't abort the pregnancy, or you can leave as is and hope the IUD doesn't puncture your uterus or the baby.
^^You poor thing. I am so sorry you went through that. Lol I wonder why I even bothered replying now...with a reply like that. Did I ever call you a 14 year old? No. Don't put words in my mouth please. Yeah, a doctor is wayyy more less helpful than someone on the internet. Good luck finding what you're looking for. I mean that.
Man that is crazy.... yeah the idea of an IUD did kinda freak me out a bit but the doctor said what I was worried about isn't something to be concerned with (how it feels, how it affects intercourse, etc..) I kinda kicked that idea to the curb after reading this, so thanks for that. I don't know why you bothered to reply when all you did was try to lecture me and clearly missed the entire point of my thread. By you telling me that "only a doctor can help me", you're assuming that I'm some kind of idiot like all the other people who post on the internet asking for medical advice only a doctor can help them with. Except in this case - I WASN'T asking for medical advice. I was asking for other women's experiences with different types of birth control. And, just as I thought - the doctor was LESS HELPFUL than the other ladies in this thread. All she did was hand with a chart with all the different types of birth control listed and told me exactly what I already knew from internet research about each of them. She couldn't tell me which would work better for me... so after hearing several stories and looking up information, I decided to try the NuvaRing. Lower hormones than Yaz and because its localized, it should cause less issues hormonally. I'll see how it works.. if I don't like it, I don't have to keep taking it... but goodness, Royksopp - I'm not an idiot. I don't ask for actual medical advice on the internet. If I had a need for medical advice, I would speak to a doctor. As for the rest of you ladies, thank you for the input. I hope this doesn't get my hormones all crazy and kill my libido! :/
good luck with NuvaRing! I thought about trying it, but when the hot guy substituting for my regular doctor suggested it and was holding it up and playing with it, it was just too weird for me.