Contraception alternative…. To come off the pill?

[Mumof2boysxz]

Hi all.

I have been on the pill for a while bar when I was pregnant obviously. Have 2 DS. 100% don’t want anymore children.

I am considering changing birth control for a different option but don’t know what any others are like as the pill is all I’ve ever took. I’m useless at remembering to take it even with set reminders, I know it makes you gain weight and I’m currently trying to lose it, and I have horrific cardiovascular health anxiety, and know the pill can raise risk for heart attacks, and now want to stop it.

I don’t want to have the implant as the thought of a foreign object being inside my body 24/7 makes me want to throw up and I’d panic about it getting lost in there (though I know it’s unlikely - I just don’t want to have it).

Has anyone ever had the injection? If so, how do you go about getting it? Is it every week, every month, etc? What happens to your menstrual cycle when you have it done? I suffer from pretty horrible PMS and periods and terrible cramping, so really could do without anything making this even worse.

im 8 months postpartum with 2nd baby, don’t know if this matters, but assuming my hormones are still not completely “normal” yet.

TIA

I haven't had the injection, but I'm a GP so I've prescribed it plenty of times. The injection is given roughly every 12 weeks. In the early months of the injection bleeding pattern can be a bit unpredictable - it stops you having a physiological menstrual cycle so you usually won't have regular monthly bleeds, but rather intermittent breakthrough bleeding. For some women they have little to no bleeding from very early on, for others it can be sporadic, and for an unlucky few it can be persistent/ frequent. Within 6 months of being on it the majority of women will have no periods altogether.
Most of my patients who have started the injection end up happy with the effect on their bleeding pattern. It's also an extremely reliable contraceptive - more so than the pill certainly.

The main downside to the injection is that once it's in, there's no taking it back out, so if you did have troublesome side effects you just need to wait it out until they pass, which can take a number of months. It can also delay return to fertility for up to a year after stopping it, although if you are confident that you don't want any more children then this may not be a concern for you.