You should read the book Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler. Even if you don’t end up using the method described in the book (Fertility Awareness Method/Natural Family Planning), you will learn SO MUCH about your body and the way all that stuff down there works. I wish they’d teach us this stuff in high school!
I’m planning to go off the pill next month and use FAM. We’ll start with using condoms during fertile days (neither my husband nor I have ever used one), and if we don’t like that I’ll look into the Femcap or the Lea’s Shield. Or, if it doesn’t work out for us, I’ll go back on the pill (I haven’t had many complications).
y’all have talked me into it. any experience shared on the actual implantation and removal procedures is much appreciated. was it uncomfortable? painful? didnt even know they were doing it? any experience with fertility after removal?
also: puns! hee!
I have been looking for this book EVERYWHERE. I’m about to break down and get it off of Amazon - I was hoping just to find it in a local bookstore. We are planning on pregnancy in September or so, but I’ve been on BC pills that I absolutely HATE for three months. They’re progesterine-based, because I get migraines and my doctor didn’t want to put me on estrogen BC due to the possibility of stroke.
I’m going to see a different OB-GYN soon, and I swear to God, if they don’t put me back on the pills I was taking for four years without a problem, I’m going to hurt someone. I’ve been spotting on these Micronor, plus I’ve had two periods in two weeks. Fun, huh? I finally quit taking them.
We’re going to try NFP - scares the sh*t out of my husband, but I’m going to try to keep track of my cycles, and we’ll use backup methods (spermicides, whatever I can find - except condoms - they hurt me too much).
I’ve considered asking my doctor about a diaphragm. Has anyone used one? Is it decent BC?
I’m going to go against the prevailing opinion here. I’ve been on Ortho-Tri-Cyclen for 3 years this month and I love it. No weight gain, no mood swings, lighter than previous periods, and much less acne.
Also, I really like condoms. Using two kinds of birth control make me feel more reassured about the whole thing. Plus, it makes my bf, um, last longer and cleanup is SOOO much easier. I hate the post sex ick feeling without a condom. (Yes, I know it’s natural and all that, but still… ick. If I can have sex without the mess, why not??)
I was on various pills for three years. Each one was worse then the last, making me emotional, killing my labido, and gaining ten pounds each time I tried something new. I went off the pill for a few months and used condoms, but I am allergic to latex and non-latex condoms are freakin’ expensive, not to mention other previously mentionned issues with condoms.
I have recently started the ring (a couple of weeks ago). So far, I feel a little emotional, but not nearly as much as when I was on the pill. Neither me or my SO can feel it, so that is nice. It is wonderful to not have to remember the pill because I had problems with that. However, it does seem to slip down a lot and needs to be shoved back into place every couple of days.
Actually, every woman (and frankly, everybody who has to intimately relate to a woman) should read Our Bodies Ourselves, which goes into detail on all those things that go on in that mystereous world of interior plumbing and the female metabolism.
Wait a minute! I’m a dude! I’m not supposed to know about that! :eek: :o :smack:
Anyway, I guess, or at least hope, that sex and physical development classes are better taught than when I was in school, though there seem to be plenty of women who lack even the basic information about how stuff works. I remember our health teacher, a phys. ed. coach (who used to walk around with his hand down his pants all the time, including while he was supervising the showers–whatinthehellisthatabout?) telling us that masterbation could be “dangerous”, especially for women. The school couldn’t find a text that was “appropriate” (presumably any text with actual information about and pictures of real bodies was harmful to our education) and so our study materials consisted of blurry mimegraphs and (I kid you not) stick figure drawings.
It was a good study hall, though.
On another note, sadly academic for me at this point, but what is the general experience with the female non-latex condoms? I’ve heard and read of a few complaints but don’t know what weight to accord to them. Any experiences, good or bad?
Admitting I skimmed, rather than read every word of, most of these posts: I had a Mirena IUD implanted last December, and I love it. I don’t need to worry about getting pregnant for the next five years, I won’t get my period for the next five years (YAYYY!!) and I don’t need to remember to take a pill every morning. And my insurance (Tufts, at the time) paid for every penny of it, and they don’t even cover the full cost of pills!
It’s recommended more for women who’ve given birth vaginally, because that stretches out the opening of the uterus and makes insertion of the IUD less painful. There’s no medical reason that you can’t get it if you haven’t had children, but know this: yes, it’s about the diameter of a drinking straw, but don’t let that fool you. IT HURTS. But it only hurts really bad when it’s being inserted, and that only takes a minute or two. After that comes cramping, as the uterus is all like, “WTF is this thing doing here?” I took ibuprofen and the cramping went away within a couple hours, with mild cramps for the next week or so. And I am one of those women who has terrible cramping during my period if I’m not on hormonal BC. Mirena delivers hormones via a small bit of plastic around the base of it IUD. Because they’re delivered locally, you get a much smaller dose of hormones than you do through pills. And because it’s delivered locally in much smaller doses, the hormones have fewer side effects than taking pills. I was concerned about getting cramps once I switched to the Mirena, but in fact I’ve only had one period since it was inserted, and that was very light. There is an IUD that doesn’t have any hormones, but those can cause more cramping, so for me that wasn’t an option.
In summary: insertion hurt like hell, removal might hurt even more, but IMHO two instances of pain in five years is easily outweighed by not having to concern myself with periods, cramps, or the possibility of pregnancy during those five years.
I would like to end this post with a shout out the wonderful women who work at Planned Parenthood of Boston, who were easy to talk to, extrememly competent, answered all my questions, and made me as comfortable as possible.
Alpha, I started a thread about my insertion, which turned into something of a three-ring circus due to factors specific to my situation. Do a search for a MPISMS thread about “fantastic plastic” around July of 2003.
Overall, it was painful but not unbearable. I cramped very badly most of the evening afterward, but I was still able to work that night and was back to normal for that stage of my period by the next morning. I’ve still got a little over three years left on this one, so it will be a while before I have a removal, but my understanding is that it’s much less of a deal than the insertion. All they have to do is nab the string and yoink it out. For my next insertion, though, I’m taking the valium if they offer it, and then I’m coming home and taking some NyQuil.
I’m going to weigh-in on Depo here. I was on it for about a year and a half. The last 6 weeks of it I bled, constantly. Full-fledge period. For. six. weeks. My mood plummeted and they tried switching me back to the pill and it never cleared up. It’s almost like my body started rejecting the hormones, or reacting very badly to them.
I haven’t been on anything hormone-related in over 5 years and my periods evened out and my mood elevated, and I spent the majority of my life pretty depressed until I stopped taking BC. My DH and I have fertility issues, severe enough to where adoption might be our only option. So birth control is not an issue at all to us. If there’s an “accident”, it will be a happy one.
I’ve been on Depo for over three years and I love it. I’m engaged and monogamous, so condoms aren’t really a necessity for me from an STD standpoint. With Depo being as effective as it is, they aren’t necessary from a birth control standpoint either. I used to get really weepy and irrational before my period, but now I am on a totally even keel. That being said, it doesn’t work for everyone, and even my sister had a not-so-happy experience with it. I am considering switching though, because Pfizer came out with a warning that it decreased bone mass. Not something you want to screw around with. Damn.
Thanks for ALL the replies. I think I’m going to look more into Mirena. I would love to not have my period, and not have to worry about birth control for five years! I’ve had a cervical biopsy (can’t remember what it’s called right now) and that hurt like hell, so if it’s comparable to that then that sucks, but it’d be worth it.
Sorry, haven’t read all the replies, but I had to post this: if you’re on the depo shot, and have been on it for more than two years, Pfizer came out in November saying, “Oops, sorry, you’ve probably lost bone mass.” Especially if you were on it from the ages of 17-23. I’ve been on it 6 years, since I was 17, and I just found out about this. I’m currently trying to find something else. My OB/GYN gave me the info on this the last time I saw her. Just wanted to give everyone a heads up. I loved it to, but not enough to risk osteoporis!
OhFace, the Mirena has to go through the cervical os, if you’ve had a cone biopsy (conisation) there may be some scarring that would make it more difficult to insert an IUD.
Alternatively, the opening in the cervix could be wider than it’s supposed to be, and insertion could be easier.
I’d like to compliment everyone who mentioned NFP (Natural Family Planning). We have been using that for the 11 years we have been married and have had wonderful success with it. We have the kids we wanted to have and she doesn’t have to worry about side effects that come with hormone treatments or the risks of surgical procedures.
The key on this method is vigilence. You have to be consistent about taking your basal body temperature and charting it. It also works better if you interpret your charts together as a couple.
I’m a non-kid IUD user. Got the Mirena and LOVE IT. I haven’t had my period for about two years. Getting it inserted was a lot of pain, and I had cramps for a few days afterwards, and I still get a little pinch now and then, but I would definitely do it again. I never have to think or worry about getting pregnant anymore, and I don’t have mood swings or massive weight gain, or relentless nausea like I did on the pill and Depo.
If your doctor doesn’t want you to have the IUD because you haven’t had children, go to a different doctor! Not all of them are stuck in the 1970s.
Count me in as another satisfied Fantastic Plastic user. I’ve had it for four years and plan to get a new one inserted next year. My experience is almost exactly the same as CrazyCatLady’s - insertion was awkward and uncomfortable, I was crampy, bleedy, and grumpy for a few weeks after, but ever since I’ve nearly forgotten I have a uterus.
