Condoms as contraception

[ldanse]

Anyone here use only condoms as your form of contraception?

I was on the implant for a year and experienced nothing but anxiety & panic attacks so I got it removed & fell pregnant

I’m now 12 weeks pp & I’ve been on the pill the last 8 weeks it was okay until 2 weeks ago I was convinced I was pregnant I had every single symptom , including morning sickness , I was SO nauseous to the point I was running to the toilet to be sick but wouldn’t actually be sick. I was also waking up out of my sleep with nausea. Anxiety also came at me strong. - I read nausea is actually common on the pill

I forgot to take my pill yesterday & today , tonight I realised I didn’t feel one bit nauseous today which is strange , the past 2 weeks I’ve been so nauseous

so really I would love to just be on nothing , condoms sound a dream because it can’t affect the hormones , but how reliable is it?

if I was using them I would probably still get DH to pull out to be sure ?

I'm not sure what to do, should I just stop the pill and start using condoms or am i taking a chance ? Or are condoms just the same 99% effectiveness as the pill etc

Dh and I have relied solely on them for the whole of our relationship. I was on the pill for most of my teens and when I broke up with my ex I stopped taking them and never restarted.

We've been together well over a decade now, we've had maybe 5 or 6 split, so one every 2+ years.

Use them, but track your ovulation as well, then you can be ultra careful on the days you are likely to be fertile. I did that for a few years and felt much more in touch with my own cycle. In graphic detail I could tell when I was fertile by my own smell and secretions!

The only contraception to be 100% effective is not having sex at all.

I could have wrote the first half of your post, been on the pill and implant since my DS was born and didn't agree with either so I've come off all together and I feel so much better for it.

I'd recommend tracking your periods on the 'Flo' app and/or 'health' app if you have an iPhone. After a few periods it'll be pretty much accurate of when you will come on then the days you're ovulating. Once I'm in the clear and finished ovulating/a few days before my period starts I don't use a condom but 90% of the time we do.

Yes. I have fallen pregnant using a condom (we cuddles for a bit with him still inside me after he came so I think as he went soft some must have leaked out).

It's taking them off- semen can leak out the sides

Surely it’s common sense to take them off a safe distance away from a vagina 😂

If they’ve slipped down to the extent that semen can come out of the sides whilst inside of someone they’re either the wrong size or the man’s hanging around for too long afterwards.

I accept they they require trust that the man is also taking responsibility in them working correctly which could be a problem if you’re with an arsehole or an idiot but they really aren’t rocket science.

Been using condoms for 8 years with no issues or pregnancies, so safe for us

My nearly two year old can attest to the stupidity of drunk people and condoms.
Other than that one slip-up we've used condoms for our whole relationship, other than when trying for our eldest two children, and not had any issues. My husband has now had a vasectomy cos we love our son but fuck me it's hard when you think your baby days are long behind you and you're ready to tackle teen parenting to then have to tackle teen parenting on not enough sleep while breastfeeding and dealing with all the nappies.

I got the snip as we're done after having two and always hated everything about condoms - the lack of sensation for me, the smell, just, no. Would sooner get the snip twice (if it did fail, waiting for the tests), then wear condoms.

I've used them along with charting, and it was fine.

But it's important to realize that they really aren't 98% effective, that's in a lab environment. So unless you are having sex under supervision in a lab, it's more like 85% effective.

It's really much better to learn how to read the sins for fertility yourself. Apps like Flo are really helpful in some ways, but if all you are doing is tracking period days, they won't necessarily be accurate. Ovulation can sometimes happen outside of the expected times.

There are lots of methods but for use with condoms something simple is probably fine.

That's not the condom failing, that's you not using it correctly 😂

16 years and 11 months ago me and DP started dating, and used exclusively condoms for contraception.

Next Sunday my DD is turning 16.

We personally wouldn't use condoms alone for contraception again, even though we probably were just very unlucky (well, as we thought at the time, now I consider us lucky to have our daughter)

As long as your DH is buying one's that actually fit him properly (one size does not fit all!) a split or it slipping down will be rare like other posters have already said.

We used condoms for 10 years, no unplanned pregnancies. On one occasion a condom split but we realised and changed it.

A couple of years ago I started feeling more and more anxious about only relying on condoms. I asked my GP for female sterilisation as I have medical reasons for not wanting hormonal and religious reasons for not wanting to use a method where an embryo could be created. However, I was told no as it’s too expensive and the copper coil is an option that is non hormonal and prevents fertilisation (mostly)..

My husband has been on a very long waiting list for a vesectomy (still waiting). In the meantime, I accepted the option of the copper coil.I don’t like the side effects of longer and heavier periods and I will have it removed after DH has the snip. However, I’m grateful tor the extra protection it provides (we still use condoms as well) and I’m less anxious.

Condoms are quite reliable generally

I've always found them reliable, when used correctly.

18 years use here, we've never used anything else, never been on any kind of hormonal contraception. When you're used to using them and both fully on board with it then using them becomes just an automatic part of the experience and so in our experience you don't forget when drunk, etc.

I like that there's no waddle to the loo for me afterwards that I've heard about. I suppose I don't know what I'm missing but so many of my friends have had serious problems with hormonal contraception; weight gain, lack of libido, bleeding between periods etc and had to chop and change and argue with doctors to have things removed it's always seemed like way more hassle than its worth to me.

I'm 36 now and never had any problems with low libido or arousal etc, no loss of attraction to my partner or ick, my periods are quite short and easy to deal with and I don't experience bad pmt or hormonal mood swings so I'm not keen to change anything.

I think it will be condoms all the way down for us. I think my partner would probably have a vasectomy if I asked but I've read about the relatively high risk of post vasectomy pain syndrome and I wouldn't want him to risk that when we are perfectly happy with the current arrangement.

yeah, we used them until one drunken night we decided it would be ok without "just once", I thought I had just finished my period but was obviously longer than I thought, a few weeks later I started throwing up and couldn't work out why! youngest DD is the result! 😅

Yes we use condoms & never an issue! Also fell pregnant very quickly when we stopped using them to ttc.

We've used them for years with no unplanned pregnancies. I hate hormonal contraceptives.

we use condoms and track periods so i know when i'm ovulating, its only approx a week window when you're actually fertile too. i'm 33 and never had any 'scares'. Only fell pregnant when actively trying to.

You can get a coil / IUD without hormones if you don't want hormonal contraception.

I would never take hormonal contraception again tbh.

Used them for years without any issues (touch wood!)

I’ve been using them as contraception for 27 years now. No issues.

When TTC I got pregnant very quickly and easily, so the non-pregnancy is really about the condoms, not my and DH’s fertility.

I tried hormonal contraception and was a fucking monster on it; extremely irritable. Copper doesn’t work for me because of the fibroids.

The only downside of condoms is that sex is better without them. And of course you have to trust yourself that you’ll use them properly in the heat of the moment.