Talk to me about contraception where you have no periods.

[TrillianAstra]

I'm on the pill, have been for yonks, having no problems with it. Like the fact that I can skip a period if necessary by running two packs together (to avoid a holiday or important exam or similar), so I don't want to change to a form of contraception where you get 'natural' type periods, I like that I know exactly what day it's going to come.

But I believe there are forms of contraception where you have no periods at all, and that sounds great. Is anyone on any like this? What's it like? Any side-effects or inconveniences?

(My Mum has told me a bit about something she refers to as 'depo injection' but I'd like ot hear from you guys too)

[Joolsiam]

I was on depo and had no periods. I think some people have breakthrough bleeding though.

Downside is that it can take a long while for your cycle to return - I'd stopped taking it for nearly a year before my periods returned.

Some people claim weight gain / bloating on it - I had none of that, but had such a low libido whilst on it, that it wasn't worth having ANY contraception !

[TrillianAstra]

That's the downside that Mum said about depo, that it took her 9 months for periods to come back, which doesn't sound great.

I don't want a libido-downer either! (although apparently the pill does that too)

[Libra]

Mirena coil. I have not had a period for six years after the birth of DS2.

It is fab.

[TrillianAstra]

WHich one is Mirena coil - is it hormones? How does it work? Do they put it in and leave it there forever?

[Libra]

The doctor puts it in and it is in there for four years, then you have to have it changed.
It has hormones, but it is also a IUD.
Mine has given me no problems at all, although the insertion is not the greatest.

[TrillianAstra]

Cool, I will do more research.

Anyone else? I'm sure plenty of MNers are avoiding conceiving as well as those who are actively TTC and those who are 'you know, just letting things happen'.

[TrillianAstra]

What hppens when the 4 years is up? The doctor takes it out of course. Do you know how long it takes for things to get back to normal?

[Libra]

To be frank, when my next four years are up there will be little chance of 'getting back to normal' at my advanced age!! So it was not really a question I asked. My questions were more on the 'How sure are you I won't have another one?' lines.

[TrillianAstra]

Didn't know if you'd had it before, that's why I asked

I assume the answer was 'very sure' which is what you want out of contaception!

[CMOTdibbler]

I've had two Mirenas - had the first for 4 years, had it removed to TTC, and conceived the first month we tried (I left a month to get my period, and it arrived bang on time).

The odd thing is that although you have v v light or no periods, you do cycle absolutely normally. So I still get PMT, but no period which is slightly weird.

The amount of hormones is very low - much much lower than depo or the pill

[kittycats]

depo injection every 12 weeks and dont have any bleeding at all, no side-effects.

[TrillianAstra]

Mirena is sounding more appealing if you can just take it out and be okay.

PMT without any M is weird yeah

[BitOfFun]

I love my mirena- very light periods, if any, but yes, weirdly, still get PMT!

I can't remember how long i've had it, maybe 3 and a half years? < gulp >

Apparently it's as effective as getting sterilized. It made me wince getting it put in (one sharp pain like someone has poked you while getting a smear, then a couple of cramps), but for sheer forget-about-it convenience you can't beat it.

[BennyAndJoon]

I had the mirena coil put in and after about 4 months my periods stopped, which was fab.

Unfortunately it meant that I didn't know I was PG with DD until I was 19 weeks and then only because I was putting on weight (didn't have sickness or anything else)

She is 2.10 now.

Consultant most amused.

[BitOfFun]

< wibble >

[TsarChasm]

I had depo for about 18 mths. I wouldn't touch it again with a barge pole.

Agree with Joolsiam re libido. I also put on weight, felt very low...not good. I guess not everyone gets bad side effects, but I couldn't work out what was wrong.

Doc was v non committal as to whether it was the depo, but I gradually felt much so better once I stopped it. Took about a year to get it out of system approx.

[BitOfFun]

A friend of mine got depo and put on three stone. She also had an abortion around that time so that doesn't bode well either.

[TsarChasm]

I've just managed to lose 3 stone at last.

I never ever had a weight problem before that injection. I seemed to turn into another person; looked and felt awful all the time.

Thank goodness I stopped taking it. Maybe it wasn't the depo - I did have 3dc under 3 at the time and docs kept saying I was under the weather because of that. I'm not so sure though; I think it contributed massively.

[TrillianAstra]

Def not depo then!

[cass66]

There are 2 other choices. the mini pill called cerazette makes about 70% of women have no periods, however it's probably less effective than the pill, and some women have reg periods on it.

There's also the implant, called implanon, a small 2cm long rod that is inserted into your upper arm (under local anaesthetic), and that usually makes women have no periods too. it can be left for 3-5 years. the advantage of the implanon is that in theory (acc to the company that makes it), as soon as it's out, the hormone is out of your system, so you should be fertile straight away, unlike the mirena coil or depot, which can take anything up to 6 months to a year for periods to return. It's also VERY effective, with very few pregnancies occurring worldwide.

"look at here"

[bluejeans]

BennyandJoon - so you got pregnant on the Mirena?



Had heard that only ectopic pregnancy possble, no?

Trillian sorry for hijak - apart from newly discovered possibilty of pregnancy I love the Mirena (3 years in). Don't miss periods - felt smug this week when got work email asking if we wanted 'sanitary protection' vending machine installed...

[scarlotti]

I had the mirena coil in for about 18 months-2 years before I had it taken out. I loved the fact that I had no periods after the first month.

But ... I had dreadful reaction to the hormones which it took a fair bit of reasearching to work out was the coil. I suffer from pmt but this was much worse. The pill gave me pmt, until I switched to a brand that was a different level of hormone in the tablets which is supposed to mimic the cycle better (as opposed to the 21 days of equal hormone ones).

For me, the constant dripping of synthetic progesterone into me turned me slowly into a witch and made my home life awful. I felt better within a week or two of having it removed but it's taken a while to settle down. I've also had 2 m/c since having it out whilst ttc - no idea if it's related or not, but my previoud 2 pg's were plain sailing.
I'm now pg again and am 18 weeks.

I am sure that it's different strokes for different folks as it were, but if you are sensitive to hormonal changes in your body anyway (i.e. susceptible to pmt) then I would recommend you research the side effects of the mirena before you go ahead.

The docs will all say there's no link.

HTH

[expatinscotland]

if you have no problems with the pill i'd keep taking it. if it's not broken, why fix it?

because the thing is, there is no contraception which is guaranteed to give all its users no periods.

some people bleed nonstop on the Mirena. there are serveral long threads about it and depo.

[beanieb]

I was on the mini pill and was told I wouldn't have periods but got them regularly.