Birth Control Methods

[wonky]

@Dolores Reborn

Well, good! I wish you could have my doctor. She’s great. She actually listens, and looks you in the eye, and seems to genuinely care.

Certain things you think you’ll never have cause to say, but then you find exactly the right circumstances. So here goes nothing:

Wow, I really envy you your gynecologist!

[wonky]

@PussyCow

I have been on the pill for 14 years now. For the last 5 years I’ve been on the lowest dose pill. And I loved it! No cramps, no mood swings, no sore, swollen breasts, and I would bleed for only 4 days. About a year ago I started spotting about a week before my period should start. And my true period would last a week. So basically I was now having a 2 week period. The doctor put me on higher dose pill (Yasmin), but it’s not working except now I get the sore breasts and am moody.

It looks like Yasmin is a combination OC, so it includes estrogen. Depo is, I think, only progesterone. I think there are some OCs that are progesterone/progestin only. The Mini-Pill I think is one, though I think it’s slightly less effective than the combination pills.

If you do some reading up and see if the non-combo pills behave similarly to Depo, you might be able to discover if your body can tolerate the progesterone-only BC methods. The shot is great, but it lasts a loooong time if you’re not happy.

[irishgirl]

PussyCow, the spotting is your body’s way of telling you it wants more hormones, more progesterone, or more oestrogen, it doesn’t care which. If you’re still spotting on the Yasmin, it means that the Drospirenone (the progesterone in Yasmin) isn’t giving your body enough of what it needs.

Your best bet would be one of four things.

1. Stop all birth control, and see how that works for you, the bleeding should eventually stop (presuming you’ve had it checked out to make sure it’s not caused by anything sinister).

2. Add in a progesterone only pill (eg Noriday) to the Yasmin, and hope that balances things out.

3. Stop the Yasmin and either try a 30mcg pill with a different progesterone.

4. Try the progesterone-only pill on it’s own.

Depo and Mirena are probably not a good idea, as they might not solve your spotting, are associated with weight gain as a side effect much more strongly than Yasmin, and in the case of the Depo, take a while to wear off.

The weight gain with the hormonal birth controal is usually one of two things. Either fluid retention (unlikely with Yasmin, as drospirenone is a mild diuretic) or increased appetite (because you body is tricked into thinking you’re pregnant, and it wants you to eat for two).

[PussyCow]

Wow irishgirl! Thanks! Why can’t my friggin’s doctor make it clear like that?

[Cyros]

@irishgirl

PussyCow.

Depo and Mirena are probably not a good idea, as they might not solve your spotting, are associated with weight gain as a side effect much more strongly than Yasmin, and in the case of the Depo, take a while to wear off.

Crap! Then Mirena is out for me too!

[monica]

@jsgoddess

Dolores! You’ve given me hope.

My doctor says I’m too old to stay on Depo. I’m 33. You’re 46. You’re on Depo. I want to be you!

I have horrifying cramping when I’m not on Depo. He keeps insisting that I should have my tubes tied because I don’t want children, but that doesn’t do anything for the life-ruining cramping that I suffered through for 15 years before discovering Depo. I don’t want to go back to that. I get anxiety attacks when I think about going back to that.

I’m surprised no one’s said this yet (unless I missed it), but it sounds like you should get a different doctor. You need a doctor who will listen to you.

[OhFace]

Well I went and saw my doctor this morning and talked to her about Mirena. She said she thinks it is an excellent birth control, and that it sounds like I would be a very good match for it (I don’t want kids in the next five years, and I want a birth control that I don’t have to worry about every day). Unfortunately the clinic at my school doesn’t do IUD’s, but she used to insert them at her last job, so she does have experience in the area. So I decided to go check out Planned Parenthood, since my insurance through school doesn’t cover any of the cost. (Which we both think is ridiculous. They cover abortion, but not prevention. :mad: ) So I give Planned Parenthood a call, and yay they have Minera. BUT they refuse to give it to me because I have no children. They say that I would have a high risk of rejecting it, but my doctor says it would be great for me. So now I’m not sure what the real deal is with it. I’m probably just going to go back to my doctor and get a referral to an OB/GYN who will let me have the Minera IUD.

[CrazyCatLady]

I think that’s just a weirdness of your particular PP, hon. I got my first pap after we moved down here at the local PP, and they were the first ones to talk to me about Mirena. Women who haven’t had kids are at somewhat higher risk for expulsion, but IIRC it’s still not especially high.

My former FP refused to even discuss IUDs with me since I haven’t had kids. She wasn’t worried about rejection, but was convinced it would impair my fertility because of some old, badly done studies. Of course, this is the same woman who I told that I didn’t really see any need for a gyno referral since I have no complicating issues and wouldn’t be having children, and her response was, “We can do your annuals and your birth control for you, and in a year or two when you decide it’s time for a baby, we’ll get you an OB/GYN referral then.”

[Cyros]

@CrazyCatLady

…
Of course, this is the same woman who I told that I didn’t really see any need for a gyno referral since I have no complicating issues and wouldn’t be having children, and her response was, “We can do your annuals and your birth control for you, and in a year or two when you decide it’s time for a baby, we’ll get you an OB/GYN referral then.”

What a cow!

[OhFace]

I called two Planned Parenthood’s and they both told me the same thing. I guess they used to do it, but supposedly they had too many people coming in who were rejecting it so they stopped. They told me it’s now a national PP requirement. I’m going to try calling a couple more, but I may just have to pay more money and go to an OB/GYN.