contraceptives - S&D, POX, C/D, etc.

Have you thought about the patch? Kind of halfway btw DP and a pill. Put a fresh one on each week.

though if you don't want horomonal diaphragm, condom or tubal ligation are pretty much yr only choices.

Destroy: Basically everything else.

It is really ridiculous that the sponge is still off the market.

be aware that IUDs have low levels of hormones as well.

The sponge is my number one choice. I've gone through spells when I've imported them from Canada. Good choice if you can afford them (go to www.birthcontrol.com) I've never had any trouble with them.

Had the troubles with DP mentioned.

have you experiemented with different types of pills? There's lots of low-hormone ones available which you may like better.

my brother dodged the birth control pill *and* a period and still made it out alive.

Middle ground (ie 'they suck, but when you've got no other choice...'): abortion, morning-after-pill. (these things should only be used as a last-ditch effort)

Destroy: IUD, hormone implants, the standard 'one-type-of-pill' pill.

Indeed. It's not a very pleasant experience. (although recent improvements in some formulas have made it much better) I can't imagine how anybody would ever use it regularly.

Oof, Andrew, it always seemed to me like that should be done for medical reasons only, not as birth control. Removing an organ!

used correctly it is more effective than a condom by itself.

Indeed. It's not a very pleasant experience. (although recent improvements in some formulas have made it much better) I can't imagine how anybody would ever use it regularly.

And you know this how Andrew? My experiences with Morning-After pills have been completely problem free. No big deal, no voluminous bleeding or cramping, nothing. It's just like taking a handful of birth control pills all at once.

But then I also found an abortion to be no big deal either. . .

Search to the extreme: vasoctomies. . .

Oh yeah? Well, I dodged a tubal ligation to get here. I meant business.

My partner and I have been together 5 years...

My experiences with Morning-After pills have been completely problem free.

You're most fortunate. As I said, the formulation of the morning-after pills has improved greatly over the past few years reducing many of the problems experienced by some women. The most recent case where my GF used the morning after pill was almost completely uneventful.

It's just like taking a handful of birth control pills all at once.

And this is no big deal? There are many women whose bodies react quite badly to a normal course of birth control pills, let alone a handful in one go!

My point was that it's not something you want to have to do. It throws your hormones all out of whack, which is never a good thing no matter how small the effects are. Sure, I advocate its use when necessary, but I thought my point was clear as being that you should always use it as a secondary form of contraception.

Well I don't even have one myself! It can't be that bad! ;-)

At least I can be an active participant in assuring that condoms are used correctly. I don't feel comfortable relying on my partner to take care of contraception. (esp if it's a one-off thing)

Every woman acts differently to hormones indeed but I worry when people tell scare stories that it will keep others from trying all the options themselves. You won't know if you're one of the ones it affects badly unless you try. Most women don't suffer many serious side effects from hormonal contraceptives.

(stolen bus, try taking a B6 supplement, this can help. I have had a few that have caused depression but there are so many out there, you can find some that don't affect you so much.)

I hope they put the morning after pill OTC here. There are many months where I would rather spend the money on that than wait on pins and needles for ol' Aunt Flo.

although I heard Flinstone's chewable multi-vitamins are 99% effective.

disclaimer: i am joking.

stolenbus, what do you have against condoms? (just out of interest) Normally it's men who are against condoms, but I thought for most women it doesn't make much difference? They don't bother me much...

andrew, I wasn't trying to be so pointed. I just bristle, honestly, anytime someone who's not a woman speaks as if from personal experience. I don't think your partner's experience counts as your own.

It's as close as I can ever get as a male to understanding this. I apologise for my sex. If you honestly felt irked by my tone then you should probably evaluate why that is. (hint: it's not to do with me)

You won't know if you're one of the ones it affects badly unless you try. Most women don't suffer many serious side effects from hormonal contraceptives.

The words "most", "many", and "serious" in that sentence are basically my point.

I wasn't irked by your point in particular. It's just the way I am. Reproductive rights are one of the few things I would say I'm near-militant about. I won't go into anymore b/c I have no desire to bring the level-headed males of ILX down upon my head and turn this into a feminism c or d thread.

Condoms irritate me and sometimes give me yeast infections.

x-post w/ sam.

Fair enough. I just hate it when my opinion is discarded simply because of my sex. I am of the opinion that women have absolute rights over their own reproductive processes, and it too irritates me when people argue otherwise. I don't think anything I've said here really denounces the morning-after pill or abortion - I'm just an advocate of education and caution.

Condoms irritate me and sometimes give me yeast infections.

Yech. That sucks.

don't really care for them as they always end up being awkward and not quite as comfortable (for me) i guess. then again, i'm in a relationship where i don't need to worry about things that condoms are good for (aside from the pregnant thing).

Yah, I was in a similar position until my partner stopped taking the pill. She was originally worried that condoms would stifle the sex, but since then it's been better than ever before. Aparrently the pill in some cases supresses the libido somewhat.

Some states are exploring the idea of making morning-after pills available from pharmacists, but opponents to these proposals are evoking just those sorts of images.

Advocates also suggest asking your doctor in advance for a prescription for morning-after contraception, to have on hand in advance in case the condom breaks or whatever. Ask For Samantha, could you ask your doctor or Planned Parenthood for such a prescription?

But that involves a trip to an office, a visit, etc. before you even get the script to take to the pharmacy. When time is of an essence this is a pain. especially if you work etc. So much easier to be able to skip the office visit and just go to the pharmacy.

That was because I thought I was being terminated and didn't care. Now it looks like I won't be (see: contract continued, pay through summer) so maybe I won't.

I suck.

That's another method. Boom tish.

It's available over the counter in the UK now, with a nice lilac-coloured ad campaign on the Tube and everything. So that's kind of comforting for habitual condom users.

Haha that OMG hysteria is amusing: if a teenage girl is organised enough to have a stock of the morning-after pill, then she sure as shit will be taking the regular pill anyway. I mean WTF?

(oh, i've been on the pill for about 8 years, absolutely happy with it. i've changed formulas a few times. once when they went to the tri-phasic one at my university health centre, and once when i went back to the monophase one when i moved to england. didn't notice any difference. am interested in the new one that you can take for 3 months in a row and skip periods officially rather than self-medicating to do the same thing)

new one that you can take for 3 months in a row and skip periods officially rather than self-medicating to do the same thing)

this is one of the primary reasons why I want back on the pill. my gyno just put me an ortho-novum generic, which is fine I already spend too much on scripts, but I always skip my periods on the pill. love it.

They may bring the sponge back to the states:
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/nation/2480090

I remember using the sponge when it was still available in the US, and the week of agonizing itchiness that followed...a lovely way to discover a spermicide allergy.

I have never tried the pill because I had a violent reaction when I took the morning after pill once. Perhaps I wrote it off too quickly, but the possiblity of side effects still scares me.

So I'm all about condoms. They're not great, but hey, you're still getting some. I would be very curious to hear vasectomy stories if any ilxors/partners have had one.

Cuz I can imagine that monthly trips to the doctor might have something to do with its unpopularity.

I really think its unpopularity is due to the fact that its home is the vagina and one is expected to place it there themselves. When I suggest it to girls and say "you insert it in your vagina ev--" they cut me off just there.

I use applicator-less tampons and when someone bums one it's almost always met with a "oh. . ." Yeah YOU GOTTA STICK YOUR FINGER IN!!

I too get highly angry at those people who oppose Planned Parenthood, you know, the people who usually picket the place. I belong to a rather conservative parish and they will occasionally have scheduled protests in front of a nearby Planned Parenthood, and I've been toying with the idea of passing along the information to someone who can in turn organize a counter-protest during those days. Dude, if you expect a female to be old enough to be able to handle childbirth, you should expect this female to also be old enough to be able to handle the decision of whether or not she actually WANTS to go through with the process!

The inequity of the health insurance policy to cover fucking VIAGRA and not the infinitely more useful birth control pills (unless prescribed for conditions such as mine) also angers me.

I do think it might be a case of putting it in incorrectly, though. Am so used to dealing with pads that the other way is just so alien to me that even with the package directions, the whole process seems so complicated to me. Eh. Only real reason I was trying it out was because I got some as free samples from the bookstore and was trying to figure out if I could actually use them instead of what I normally use.

pads feel like diapers.

(it also helps if you just lay around in bed and put yr fingers up and around there, get to know the bends of the path, expect where you're going to meet yr cervix, etc.)

Spermicidal Condoms only for me. Experimented with various other things in my early 20s, but they weren't for me for various reasons. As someone with slight manic depressive tendencies, The Pill fucks with my moodswings to an unacceptible degree.

I've been told that there are varying dosages of pills with differing effects, but honestly, it's just not worth 28 days of destabilised hell to find out.

I've never been able to use tampons, either, due to discomfort. People who try to tell me "Oh you're just not doing it right" I just shrug and tell them they don't have my vagina or my nerve endings. Maybe it's different if you've been using them since an early age. Just not for me.

xpost

If the pill was the same price as other prescriptions I'd be mad as all hell, because that would be like being told that being sexually active and not wanting a baby is being ill all the freaking time.

oh, xpost. PP said it more concisely and less mentally than I did.

I don't follow this at all but whatever. . .

wish we could get free contraceptives. You can from Planned Parenthood if your earnings are low enough. Unfortunately mine arne't and with all my other presprictions I *must* take I haven't been able to afford them for a couple of years. The pill-worthy boy as agreed to chip in though so now I'm back with the program, yay!

Many of my kids have never ever been to a doctor.

If you miss the word "its" (like I did the first time I read this sentence), you are in for a world of confused giggles.

I prefer Durex. And I like flavored ones. yum.

i'm only just beginning to get back into normal life after being depressed (no longer on antidepressants, synthetic or otherwise -- i gather st john's wort makes the pill less effective) and i'm a bit wary of the pill because of the link, but beginning to wish i didn't have to use condoms.

(i'm glad they exist, they're so easy to get hold of and so ideal for casual use. but it'd be nice not to have to, uh, disrupt things by putting them on right before sex, not to worry about them breaking, not to have to pull out immediately after ejaculation and dispose of them, not to get paranoid -- yes, i am this paranoid, maybe unnecessarily -- about pre-cum on fingers during foreplay, etc. i find the sensation itself slightly more enjoyable without, too, but not a huge difference.)

everybody seems to have different experiences.

i knew i shouldn't have washed

My negative experiences with the pill were linked to bipolar depression, rather than the long-term depressive variety. My bipolar tendencies are exacerbated by my natural monthly cycle, especially pre-menstral tension, even under the best of times.

When I was on the pill, it was like I had PMS the entire cycle. It wasn't PMS of the mild crankiness and craving chocolate variety, it was PMS of the savage moodswings, intense depression, paranoia and suicidal impulses variety - i.e. not normal PMT at all.

I can't really tell you about the long-term effects, because the first time I tried the pill, I became so unstable I stopped taking it after 2 weeks. The second time, with a different variety, I made it almost a full month, but still experienced terrible moodswings. Both of these attempts were more then 10 years ago. Things may have changed, I'm not willing to take the risk.

Since then, I have discovered ways of controlling my bipolar tendencies and minimising the effect of PMS. I suspect that the problems were more related to PMS than to strictly "medical" depression (whatever that is.) So take that as you will.

Apropos of nothing... I actually prefer to make condom application part of foreplay. Maybe it's conditioning, but I get mildly aroused just when the box of condoms comes out. So I don't find it icky or interrupting at all.

Oh, and tampons... if the icky wad of cotton up your twat doesn't bother you, the danging, interfering STRING certainly will!

sorry :(

er the tampon isn't wet for long if, you know, you're using it for what the purpose is. whatever. Dee, and anyone else with little experience with them, keep trying before you give up completely. Most women will tell you it's worth it.

FWIW I just started the pill again after two years of not taking it. I'm bipolar as well but am not sure how that might affect it's mood side effects, if at all. If over the next couple of weeks I think it's making me wig out, I'll revive this thread. (but then again I usually attribute the wigging out to the teenagers first. . .)

Most insurance doesn't cover contraception either for bizarre reasons they can't quite articulate.

Which was all the more annoying when Viagra hit the market and many U.S. insurance plans suggested that they were going to offer at least some coverage for it. :^P

Even with insurance health care here is so expensive. Right now, working for a public school district I have the worst insurance plan I've ever had. I pay $250 a month (just for me) and $35 for office visits. I often skip doctor's visits b/c I simply can't afford the co-pay that month. Because I have to take so many medications my prescription bill is $130 per month. (of course without insurance I wouldn't be able to afford even one of these meds.) I've dropped some medications from my regime, against the advice of my doctor, just to keep this cost down.

Just an hour ago I had to turn down a prescription my gyno had given me for an infection b/c it wasn't on my insurance's formulary list (preferred medications) and was going to cost me $45. I can't afford that. I"m going to call my gyno monday and see if there's anything else she can prescribe for me.

i'm interested that kate mentioned pmt though; when i was on the pill, the first mood problem i noticed was that towards the end of every pack (i.e. the week before the period) i began to feel really tired and low and hate myself, whereas before pmt just made me tetchy with other people. maybe it was because that was the point in the pack where i'd been on it for the most consecutive days, but i'd go back to normal again the next week even if i ran two packs together with no week off. didn't seem to make sense at the time, since people get put on the pill to lessen their pmt.

then it began to spread so that i felt like that most of the time and going off the pill didn't help and it turned into depression itself. so that's why i'm a bit wary of the pill, though as i said it's probably unconnected. interesting thread -- thanks again.

yeah and pregnancy is a real bowl of cherries too! (i'm told.)

Kate, how does your man feel about this? If you find it arousing, does he as well? Condoms have, for my entire sexually active life, been a source of mental/psychological and sometimes physical discomfort, and the mere introduction of the box or a single packet into my line of vision usually elicits an often immediate total loss of hard-on. They're the least sexy thing on earth! There may as well be another person between us (yeah yeah, Lucky Pierre, another topic for another thread).

So I ask the simple question - how can a condom ever be sexy?

Yeah, Roxy, let us know!

of course this is much nicer with the flavored variety, but still. . .

I believe this is what's known as "rubbing it in," no pun intended

so, anyone with love/horror stories about the minipill? anything i should know before i take the plunge?

We don't have minipills at our clinic so I don't know anything about them. They sound like a nice deal. And listen, you're gonna hear horror stories about every contraceptive. Don't let them sway you in any way. Yoy just gotta try shit and see what works best for you.

The best thing we found was lunelle -- few side effects, same effectiveness as a Pill. Or so we thought. They took it off the market a few months after she started because a lot of women were getting pregnant on it.

It was shortly after that that I bit the bullet and got a vasectomy. My girlfriend doesn't want kids, and neither do I, and I was just... *tired*. Tired of dealing with it. Tired of going through some monthly scare, regsrdless of what drug was being used. Tired especially of watching my girlfriend's body and chemistry being modified in weird ways with endlessly various, endlessly unpredicatble results. Just plain tired, and sympathetic, and sorry, and kind of guilty. "If it wasn't for my damn sperm, none of this would be necessary."

Vasectomy is pretty much 100% reliable. No guessing. No worries. Better sex, more often, more relaxed, more orgasms... you can't argue with more orgasms. It doesn't get better than that.

Fuck Passanti condoms. Pack of 3 and TWO of the bastards split on me. My wife was late that month as well which wasn't fun at all but luckily she got her period eventually.

extra warmth, why????? hands up here who has a cold penis/vadge during sex

another great contraceptives slogan by ken c

xpost

I'm almost 34, I do NOT want kids - Im starting to think I might get a ligation. Tho the thought that can STILL fail freaks me out a bit.

Also, this girl has read the instructions a bit wrong:
http://www.gesundheit.com/images/kunden/nuvaring/im15020303a.jpg

Yeah, that BCs/Viagra thing has become something of an urban legend.

I still haven't found a gyno willing to give me an iud, goddamnit.

"Guess?"

"The pill?"

"No."

"The patch?"

"No."

"The capsule?"

"No."

"Not the IUD?"

"No, silly!"

"Well what is it, then?"

Then she simply pulled the ring out of, er, there, and puts it in front of my face:

"This thing!"

"Er, you needn't have been that graphic..."

Well, she is young, and I guess young people don't often use IUDs because they're more difficult than pills or patches (or rings). Or so I gather, I'm not an expert on the subject.

Looking online, the only articles I seem to find about cervical cancer are results are inconclusive, and perhaps the copper IUD prevents cancer.

"I go in your pussy!"

xposter!

"Take that, naughty sperm!"

No you don't. I can help.

Though I must admit I'm still kind of squeamish about those period cup things.

That's the main reason I'm squeamish about them! The giant pool of blood! I'm v. v. clumsy and I'm horrified by the clothes-destroying, floor-covering accident that would occur if I tried to use such a thing.

xpost SO FUCKIN GROSS

I do it purely for the love.

geez. . .it's just blood people.

yes alex, you can be flowing heavily and your partner doesn't have to know it. When I use cups I usually only swap them out every 12 hours which is much more conveinet for me. but then I usually only have my period every three months so you know. . .

Haha BUT it's only blood! ;)

It's not a squeamishness towards blood per se...I mean I have sex while on my period and I used to use OB tampons and I generally just kind of go without tampons from time to time at end of period anyway. It's more the potential for ENORMOUS catastrophic mess that gives me the fear.

Anyway, sponges, eh? They're kind of pricey, that's the thing. I'm at the brink of going in to get a diaphragm (was on the pill for a long time and well, fuck it). There's something awesome and old skool 70s about the diaphragm. However, that's prob not a great reason for using it, and I may change my tune once I have it. Updates to come. (hahar, sorry.) We should have another birth control thread that's just bets re: who gets pregnant first on what form of b.c....

Diaphragm seems appealing to me...my problem with chemical-y forms of birth control is that no matter what I'm on, I seem to have the spotting issue. Pills, NuvaRing, all of it. The most successful one was the Patch, I only had occasional spotting issues--BUT that thing was so fucking irritating, it made my skin a little itchy and you know how when you leave a band aid on too long, some of the adhesive kind of leeches out and the surrounding skin gets kind of gunky? Yeahhhhhh....

I will say this again, make damn sure you are not allergic to spermicide or whatever the sponge is made of before you use it BECAUSE I FOUND OUT THE HARD WAY.

http://www.webworqs.com/users/suz/pinktri.gif

Not quite easy enough for my tastes, but thanks for the sentiment.

I don't know if I'll use the sponge again. I'm 31 and still use the pill (despite, yes, it failing once) mainly so I can skip my period like jocelyn does. don't know if I'd want to give that up. I'm also not afraid of getting pregnant now though I'm not aiming for it.

I don't fear the menses, but I look forward to her finally spilling it at her Nobel acceptance speech, maybe on a bishop.

My best friend was using one at the same time. She had one of the larger ones and the pressure of it against the back wall of her vagina to her rectum meant she couldn't shit with it in. She also got UTIs from it.

They are quite expensive ~$100 and you have to use anti-spermicidal creams with them ~$30 a tube. The concept of putting killah-creams up my snatch makes me wonder what the long term effects on the tender internal tissues is going to be.

They are uncomfortable and difficult to insert - the spermicidal cream gets everywhere. If I was not certain I was going to get lucky that night (even with steady boyf) I wouldn't want to put it in coz of clumsy, discomfort and having yukky cream up me. Also, cream taints vaginal sexy-slime so it tastes not good for boy licking you. Therefore, rules out lovely oral. So, running off to try to get it up inside you before the act of copulation kind of breaks the mood - especially if it takes you about 10 mins to get the bloody thing in and you get covered in smelly spermicide in the process.

You have to leave them in for many hours after sex - which is horrible if you find them uncomfortable (or in my friends case - need to shit!). It is not recommended that you have sex multiple times with them in, even if you re-cream urself up there.

I got pregnant when using mine and so all that inconvenience, discomfort and un-glamness didn't save me from the emotional, moral & physical trauma of having a termination anyway.

I suspect coz I have an, um, kind of... small pussy - that even with a diaphragm in, the guys penis actually goes up so far that it slips between the wall of the vagina & the diaphragm. I know this isn't meant to happen coz the diaphragm is meant to press against the walls so tightly, but, well - I dunno. It was an expensive and unpleasant experience in all for me.

I can tell you my IUD horror story another time, if you want :-)

Anyway Jeanne is OTM :-)

Yeah, I remember reading the same thing. I guess the main problem with the male pill is that, when it comes to one-night stands and casual sex, I think most women could never trust a guy who claims to be on it.

"Hold on, do you use the pill?" "Yeah, sure... Can I take your panties off now?"

For longer relationships it could work, but I think a lot of the manly men of the world would have issues with such a "girly" thing, especially with the effort of taking the pills on regular basis.

Tell the IUD horror story please? I think I've finally found a doctor willing to give me one. Is this a bad thing?

This resulted in me gritting my teeth and enduring the worst pain evah (worse than above termination), telling myself that it was okay, I was not going die, it was just pain - because my uterine wall was pierced by the bloody thing. Wow, the pain was AMAZING.

Then I went into mild shock and had to be sedated etc. Then I had to be on multiple broad spectrum antibiotics, which made me REALLY sick, killed my poo system - and temporarily buggered my immune system, allowing multiple respiratory tract infections to occur.

After that I got a bit of vaginisimus & couldn't do sex and for a couple of years they couldn't do pap smears on me coz they couldn't get the speculum up there.

Since then, I seem to have all these extra (or extra sensitive) nerve endings inside me. Used to mean more pain. Now, interestingly, seems to provide more pleasure - so there is a happy ending :)

Still can't use tampons though - so much pain the whole time they are inside me that I can hardly see. Nothing to do with being inserted wrong. All to do with cervix, fornix, vag-in-general being MEGA-sensitive.

But erm thanks for the info. I think I'm still going to go for it.

It's *probably* happening because next week is the normal time you would be getting your period, and this would be your PMS week. It's normal, especially on the first shot, to have PMS/period symptoms on DP.

But get a test and talk to your doc!

If you detect a hint of bitterness here it's because I'm on a really similar method right now and I hate it.

robble

1. NuvaRing
2. Lunelle
3. Rhythm
4. Condoms, though they suck, are indispensable for STD reasons
5. Spermicide, used in combo
6. Morning After Treatment
7. Sponge
8. Tubal Ligation
9. Vasectomy
10. Avoidance

condoms are very dispensable actually these days! (i got one from a machine just the other day!)

haha!

Breast tenderness (if that is your real name): be careful though and take another test in about a week if your symptoms don't go away, if you were preg you'd be reeeeally early and a non-sensitive, or even a sensitive test might not pick up the hormone yet. But it's encouraging anyway. So yay!

if you miss a pill or something and get pregnant, will you still have a 'fake' period if you don't realise you're pg and stop taking the pill? How will you know?

I'm very intrigued by the NuvaRing; does anyone know if it's avail. in the UK, on the NHS? 'Cause in all my meetings with dr's they haven't mentioned it as an option.

Also, same questions as Hanna.

Is the no-kid IUD thing an insertion problem or just dr.'s reluctance in case fertility is later compromised? I don't have kids, but I don't want them either, thus desire for IUD.

All I can say is that I wish someone would hurry the fuck up with a male pill!

Incidentally, there's absolutely no reason to have periods if you don't want to and if your doc isn't supportive, you should probably do some reading up on your own and maybe look for a new doctor. One place to start is the book Take Control of Your Period -- I know the title is totally cheesy but it's got the info you need (sorry, it's from a US publisher but I'm sure there's some UK equivalent). Historically there were all kinds of ideas about periods: that it was unnatural to suppress them completely because it was a woman's intended lot in life to have a menstrual cycle, or that women even PREFERRED to have them as proof that they hadn't gotten pregnant in the last month...so the original versions of the pill were designed to incorporate periods for mostly irrational/emotional reasons. Which is fine, if you don't suffer severe PMS or ovarian cysts or endometriosis or any number of other difficulties. But if it's easier for you not to have a period for whatever reason, that's up to you.

XP to Sunny: Absolutely not. I think they say it takes about 1-3 months for women's bodies to re-acclimate after discontinuing a hormonal contraceptive, but that's just ON AVERAGE and lots of people get back to normal even faster -- and the same is true even if you've been suppressing your period. It has no effect on fertility later. But don't take my word for it -- seriously read up on this!! You'll feel better, and you'll be in a position to pass on the info first-hand to someone else. :)

On hormonal birth control you aren't having a regular period. The bleeding is in reaction to the hormones being yanked and somewhat comforts women.

I've heard of no evidence or studies that say controlling your period with the pill (or whatever) is bad. When I'm using the pill (which I'm currently not) I choose to only have two or three "periods" a year. No doctor Ive told this to has told me to stop.

as for being pregnant and bleeding. . .My mother and Aunt both had light "periods" when they were already pregnant and still taking the pill.

(oh and only a certain type/brand of IUDs were banned. Modern ones are said to be very safe and effective.)

Every living woman in my family has had a hysterctomy. I might be the first one to actually experience menopause.

I've been on a triphasal pill for about 12 years, with a 6-month break 5 years ago, and it's been great for my skin (no acne, hurrah) and always worked fine, but during that 6-month break the weight just dropped off me, it was incredible... Now all the weight's back and I'm definitely noticing a drop in libido, which makes me sad :-( So NuvaRing comments, please...

and xxxxxxposts - just read Laurel's re the NR, which was encouraging!

I carried on with some reassurance, having heard a doctor on the radio talking about it. The medical argument in favour is that it's not normal (in biological terms) for a woman to have period after period throughout her fertile years. Prior to there being reliable contraception, and bottle feeding, women would have been either pregnant or breastfeeding almost continually for years at a time.

I hope you're right Laurel; I'm going to get on to my doctors asap.

(*suddenly getting a little bashful*) Haha I'm not sure how much detail my gf would want me to go into on a public website, but suffice it to say that yes the hormonal "issues" did (eventually) come up. I do suggest that when actually having sex to take it out (it can cause minor abrasions to both parties if left in.) It is as effective as the pill though.

Ladies: Periods, yay or nay?

I need to lose one ILx

Couple of days.

Alex, my vagina would be very very dry too if I was married to your dad. That said, there ARE products, y'know. Astroglide! KY! SPIT!

"Alex, my vagina would be very very dry too if I was married to your dad."

Well I'm glad you're not, because it would be creepy if my mom posted to the same threads as I do.

Everyone else is raving about it, maybe I'm the only one who had this problem? I just went back on the patch (which I had gone off b/c of the blood clot risk) which i was on before for 1+ year and liked, but I'm totally feeling the hormones messing with my moods, eh I guess you can't win with this stuff.

Also, my ex-roommate seems to have had the exact same reaction to the pill as Rosalita: when she stopped taking them she lost weight, but her acne came back. Is this a common phenomenon? Do the hormones in the pill make you want to eat more or something?

if you like it then you shoulda put a ring on it

http://www.jamsponge.co.uk/

wait sorry, this is the wrong thread

haha

Lovely name for a consumer product