Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To wonder why the pill is still the most popular contraceptive?

168 replies

westernnurse · 19/01/2015 17:35

With all the other methods out there now like the injection/implant/coils which are all far more reliable than the pill and don't require the user to remember to take a pill every day.

I'm a CASH nurse and it always amazes me how so many women flat out refuse to even try any of the alternative methods. One woman who had been on the pill for a few years but had to stop taking it due to health issues outright refused to try out any of the alternatives because they sounded "horrible" and decided to just stick to condoms.

I think there's a lot of myths and misconceptions surrounding these methods and people believe them and this puts people off.

OP posts:
wobblyweebles · 19/01/2015 20:16

I've never found it humiliating or embarrassing to have an injection every three months TBH. I do think the people who've had a bad time on the depo shout very loud, while those of us who are very happy not having had a period in decades and haven't experienced any side effects are probably a bit less vociferous.

BiscuitsAreMyDownfall · 19/01/2015 20:20

Im surprised by people saying that they have heard that the implant takes a while to get your fertility back. Ive been led to believe that is the exact opposite. Plus when I had my first taken out to TTC it didn't take too long (4 months) Not that it matters for me because we're done with children. Have 3 and that is enough for us.

SoMuchForSubtlety · 19/01/2015 20:21

I have read faaaaar too many stories about HCPs refusing to remove implants or coils. There is no way in hell I'm giving someone else that kind of power over my contraceptive choices.

Not to mention the hassle - appointments at inconvenient midweek times and someone fiddling with you. No thanks.

PhaedraIsMyName · 19/01/2015 20:25

So far as effectiveness of the pill 100% for over 14 years. I stopped taking it and we used condoms. I can't remember why I stopped. The only occasion in my whole life I didn't use contraception I became pregnant. So the pill was clearly very effective. I went back on it after my son was born.

Had awful periods when I wasn't on it.

PhaedraIsMyName · 19/01/2015 20:26

The Well Woman consultant who suggested it to me said it costs a lot you know, we can't just take it out if you don't like it.

wobblyweebles · 19/01/2015 20:27

Interesting graphs comparing accidental pregnancies over 10 years on each contraceptive method, and quite a good article too, although it is US-based. www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/09/14/sunday-review/unplanned-pregnancies.html?_r=0

That is interesting. I'm curious about the depo provera figure of 46 in 100 women getting pregnant if they use it imperfectly (compared to 2 in 100 if used perfectly).

The only way to use the depo shot imperfectly would be to have your injections spaced too far apart, right?

Which implies that actually women on the depo shot experience their fertility returning quickly, not slowly, and as soon as they space out the shots too far they run a risk of getting pregnant.

LadyIsabellaWrotham · 19/01/2015 20:33

Those graphs, whilst interesting as an illustration, are very simplistic - it's not based on following women over a period of X years, it's just calculating the success rate for a single year raised to the power of X. There's all sorts of reasons why that won't match real life.

meandjulio · 19/01/2015 20:37

I think many of us have had an experience where we have decided what contraceptive choice we would like to make, have gone to the doctor's, and have had one of THOSE appointments. I had one years ago that took me literally years to get over, to the point where I got a copy of my medical records just to see how the appointment had been described (4 words and a signature for one of the most unpleasant health experiences I've ever had). There is a particular expression on an HCP's face when they think they know better than you what you should be doing. It's more likely to happen when you are young - God help any HCP that tries the same trick on me now as a bolshie 45 year old. It makes you quite wary of any method that involves more contact than absolutely necessary with professional services - because that's the thing, isn't it? when you are signing up for a contraceptive method, you are choosing the number of times you have to discuss your sex life, weight, blood pressure, emotional well-being, probably with a stranger or worse, somebody you know Hence both my husbands have had vasectomies Grin

I'm an HCP myself and sometimes I catch myself forming the same expression so I know how it happens. I hope I manage to stop it though.

PiperIsTerrysChoclateOrange · 19/01/2015 20:44

I had to beg for the family planning to remove the implant, in the end I played the system and told the family planning DH and I was trying to conceive then went to my gp for the pill.

I don't have to worry about contraception no more, but if I was to have a new partner then it would be the pill.

Salemthecat · 19/01/2015 21:15

I agree with a previous poster that it is alarming with a nurse, never mind a CASH nurse wouldn't appreciate the reasoning behind the choices.

I tried the implant and bled for 18 months. I asked for it to be removed more than once and was forced to try various contraceptive pills and others before they would consider it.

That experience has made me wary of getting a cool (hormonal or copper) as if there were problems immediate removal couldn't be guaranteed.

Further, I enjoy the fact I can control when I have my withdrawal bleed while I'm on the pill. It suits my lifestyle much better for now.

It is worrying you have so little insight so for that YABU.

TheBooMonster · 19/01/2015 21:58

I think there is an attraction to the short span of the pill.

The injection lasts three months but all the horror stories on the internet indicate it can screw with your fertility for as long as a year after you finish taking it (though I conceived within 2 months of starting to TTC).

My doctor was very clear she wouldn't want to take the implant out until I'd had it in for 3 years because it's expensive, I lasted 2 before I insisted on it coming out as the hormone combination as turning me into a flipping nightmare who wanted to steal babies. (this was prior to DD, so who knows perhaps it was just time for me to have a baby and nothing to do with the implant?)

The IUD was something that just didn't appeal to me whilst I still wanted more kids, but once I've had bump I'll get the copper one put in so I can forget all about it.

Sallystyle · 19/01/2015 22:08

The implant made me crazy. I mean seriously mentally ill, it was scary.

I fell pregnant with the IUD in place.

The injection is horrid and I gained weight.

I am not good with any hormonal bc anymore so dh is now snipped but the pill had a lot of benefits for me. Cleared my acne, gave me light periods and bigger boobs!

Sallystyle · 19/01/2015 22:08

I forgot to say, I used female condoms for a while and actually liked them.

TheRtHonGeorgianaGobshite · 19/01/2015 22:13

I don't understand why any Woman bombards their body with crap; 24/7 when she isn't at it like a fucking rabbit 24/7.
I say yes to the condom and no to the wet side of the bed..... and have done for about 20 years.
I have sex about 4 times a month. I'll be buggered iActually I wouldn't; hell would freeze over first) if I'd medicate and change my body chemistry throughout my sexual life for an occasional event.
Give me Condoms and the dry patch every time.

Bellwether · 19/01/2015 22:19

I've had to reluctantly go on the pill as I feel I have no other choice. I have read too many cases of coil failure and of the man being able to feel its sharp edges, as well as horror stories of perforated uteruses. I do not want an implant as I don't do very well on hormones, and I'd rather be able to stop immediately than have something in my body that takes time to remove - I want to feel in control, not at the mercy of a lengthy wait for a Dr appt. I've never heard a happy story about the injection - only weight gain and the possibility of an endless period. Again, I also want the option to cut the hormones off immediately if I wish. We're also not done having children so long-term injections and implants don't suit.

I don't have a problem remembering to take it, though.

wanttosqueezeyou · 19/01/2015 22:21

I think there's a lot of myths and misconceptions surrounding these methods and people believe them and this puts people off

Very many people experience all manner of side effects (see above). I wonder if these are what you regard as myths? If not what are the myths?

I know if someone disregarded my genuine concern as a 'myth' I'd be none too inclined to go ahead with her suggestion.

PhaedraIsMyName · 19/01/2015 22:24

Are female condoms still made?

jay55 · 19/01/2015 22:31

The pill gives more control if you want to stop taking it.

Sallystyle · 19/01/2015 22:33

I don't know if they are still made. Let me look

Found some on amazon but not Boots.

creambun2014 · 19/01/2015 22:34

I have to say though now I am not bothered about ttcing the injection is great. It works as soon as you take it so know waiting 7 days, can have sex whenever without thinking and having to remember your pill. I do love it.

nenehooo · 19/01/2015 22:36

I agree, OP. When I wanted to use alternative methods of contraception in my early 20s, I was told it was the pill or nothing by so many GPs and women's health centres. I finally found an amazing place in Central London where they listened to what I wanted and I had my first copper coil fitted. The doctor who fitted it said he wished I would go and preach to all women the alternatives to the pill, as he agreed with me that it shouldn't be the only option. I've never liked back - for once my hormones were natural (for good or ill) and I got to know my cycles. My body was my own after years of crazy mood swings on the pill...

SchroSawMargeryDaw · 19/01/2015 22:36

I've tried them all! I'm pretty incompatible with anything with oestrogen in it, I get ill and moody and horrible, I bled for 6 months with the implant and instead of taking it out like I asked at 4 months, I had to endure another couple of months with noresthisterone on the top of the hormones from the implant, what is the bloody point of that?!
I take the POP, it's okay for me, I have acne, but I deal. I'm not 16 anymore, remembering to take it isn't a problem.
I did decide to try the nuvaring a couple of years ago having being told it was low dose, I came off my already fine POP to do so, the result of that experiment is sleeping next door. Hmm

SlowlorisIncognito · 19/01/2015 22:37

I like the (combined) pill because it gives me absolute control over my periods and makes them much lighter. My worry about other contraceptive methods is that my periods would become even heavier and more painful than they are when I'm on the pill. I also have the chance to run packs together, which is useful for going on holiday or doing fieldwork.

I know a lot of younger girls are encouraged to use long term contraception straight away, and this bothers me a lot. At 16 or 17, how would you know if you were having a bad reaction to the hormones, or if it was just a teenager type thing? The injection seems even worse to me, because if you have a bad reaction, you are stuck with the effects for up to a year.

The pushiness of nurses also puts me off a little bit, as sometimes what they tell me about contraceptives doesn't match up with what I've read online. I have thought about getting the implant, but think I would only do so if I knew I could get it taken out on request- in a way I think it's wrong that a doctor can refuse to do this.

mousmous · 19/01/2015 22:39

all you lovely people with (sometimes) horrific side effects, you can report them to the yellow card scheme yourself. in theory drs, nurses, pharmacists should do that when you tell them of your side effects, but have yet to meet one who does...

anothernumberone · 19/01/2015 22:41

The coil is all the rage where I am from, all my friends have one. All the doctors round here promote it like their life depends on it. So much so that after I had DS and my husband had a vasectomy when I went to my gynae for the 6 week check yes we were that certain there would be no more she asked when I would be getting it back in. I said never since DH had been sterilised and she said 'I bet you will be back looking for it within the year. I have had 3 women in the last few months who have gotten one after their DH's were sterilised'. That was 3 years ago and I still think she is Hmm especially since I had just told her I had a liver condition that meant it was better for me to menstruate.