To ask for your experience of alternatives to the pill?

[SlowTango]

Have just woken up to blood soaked pyjamas and likely ruined bedsheets . This is my 4th period since birth of DD 6months ago and I am struggling to deal with how heavy they are, especially at night.

Before TTC, I had been on the pill since I was teenager (approx 15 years) so only had a few years of “natural” periods. I went on the pill for contraceptive purposes, not heavy periods, and when I came off it to try and get pregnant, I actually found them to be lighter than I had expected. I’m hoping that the heaviness now might still be my body settling after childbirth but I’m not sure how many more months to give it.

I’d rather not go back on the pill mainly because I’m hoping to try for another baby next year but also because I’m a bit wary of having been on it for so long already. My other issue however is that I think being on it has spoiled me in terms of being able control when my period would come. The idea of being on my period at inconvenient times, especially now that they are so heavy, is stressing me out. Luckily, they’ve been reasonably regular but I’m still on tenterhooks around any event that that my period is going to unexpectedly appear and ruin it!

I will obviously be speaking to my GP but I’m just keen to hear of anyone’s actual experiences of alternatives to the pill. I had been thinking about getting the implant (mainly because a friend told me that her periods stopped on it) but at my 6 week check up, my GP mentioned that they can give you irregular periods for the first 6 months or so which put me off a bit (at least until after our summer holiday, I currently am not due on then and would hate to have my period on holiday)

Now that I’ve actually written it all down, I see that my issue is that my periods are regular but heavy. I’m looking to lighten them, keep them regular and also be able to control when I have them (or not have them at all). Does anyone have any experience of anything other than the pill which offers this? Thanks for reading!

I really like the Mirena coil. After having my son, the pill just did not suit me any more- lots of spotting and irregular bleeding. I had had clockwork regular and fairly light periods pre- children. I had Mirena put in and no bleeding at all for 5 years- bliss! Having it put in is no more uncomfortable than a smear test. Also, if you want another baby, your fertility returns immediately once the coil is removed.

I had the implant for a while. Okay eventually but lots of bleeding (albeit light) for first few months.
Have mirena coil now. Love it. Lower hormone than the pill and virtually no periods at all.

I'm glad somebody has posted this - I posted it in family planning recently and haven't had any replies. I need to go back on to contraception after having a baby but don't want to go back to the pill; I think it has really messed my body up.

The advantage of the pill over the injection/coil/implant is that you can stop it when you want. If you're planning to ttc again within the normal lifetime of the mirena it might not be worth it, same with implant and the injection you have to wait until it wears off. I think the initial bleeding and fertility return are not so dependent on the actual contraception, but your body's response to the contraception.

I'm having a great time on the depo provera injection.

I get an injection every 3 months (in the upper part of my bum) - so I need an appointment with the nurse.

Side effects vary, but my favourite side effect is that I don't have periods at all.

If you want to get pregnant you have to anticipate coming off it a while in advance (not just 3 months but longer). I don't though, so that's not an issue that bothers me.

I had the implant and it made me numb to feelings, not sad but numb to everything. I had to wait three months to get it out. It was purgatory (not hell, that would invoke actual emotion).

The implant has similar hormones to the pill, the main advantage of it over the pill is the not needing to take it everyday.

The old advice about needing a break if you’ve been on the pill a long time no longer applies - the nhs now says it’s safe to stay on the pill until menopause if it agrees with you.

The mini pill is often a good option for women who have heavy periods or who don’t want to have periods at all as it often completely stops periods (it did with me). You can also tri cycle the normal combined pill so only having a break / period every 3 months to avoid them.

Other methods like the diaphragm / cap and condoms are good if you don’t want anything hormonal - although diaphragm has slightly less success rate than condoms and must be used with spermicide. But of course they won’t do anything about your periods.

Can you tell I’ve been through a fair few of them? (Endocrine issues).

If your periods are regular then tranexamic acid or mefanemic acid should help make them much lighter.

The mini pill, same hormone as the implant/mirena, stops periods for a lot of women, or at least lightens them. For me it didn't but it did make them much shorter after about a year so I now have 2 very heavy days and 2 light says rather than 5 very heavy days, 2 heavy days and 5 light days that I had before.

If you're wanting to ttc next year then I wouldn't go for the implant/mirena as lots of women have great difficulty getting them removed before they're due for replacement even when they're having unbearable side effects. Likewise depo is fab but you have to stop it quite a while before ttc as it can take between 4 months and a year for periods to return.

Sorry for my delayed response, I’ve had a much more frantic day than I anticipated and only now getting the chance to read the replies.

Thank you so much, this is so helpful. The doctor gave me a pamphlet at my 6 week check up but nothing compares to info from actual experiences. Based on this, it sounds like the depo/mirena/implant mind not be suitable if I’m considering ttc next year but could be good options for the future. It’s so hard to know what is a “normal” amount of blood to lose each month but the possibility of taking something to have lighter periods is something I need to explore. I’m going to discuss further with the GP but at least I feel a lot more knowledgable now about the pros and cons of each - I had heard of most of these by name but was woefully under informed about them all (I hope sex education/contraceptive advice in schools has improved since my day!)

I have the implant since the birth of my daughter, I expected my periods to stop after reading about it by the have continued, lighter but still regular every 5 weeks so I know exactly where I am with it. I find it good but I know for a lot of people it stops periods altogether depends on your body I expect