What do you use for contraception?

[ell4]

If you want to share, of course.

I've just made an appointment to get my mirena out. Ive had it since October last year and bled every day since (bar 6 random days in april) they put me on cerazette last month to stop the bleeding but if anything its worse.
Ive got a scan next week to check the coil and look for other causes of the bleeding.

Ive used cerazette in the past which also makes me bleed constantly - in fact, every hormonal BC ive tried has this effect.

Im scared of the copper coil mainly because after my first DS my periods became a bloodbath every month until i fell pregnant with ds2 (whos 1 this week, i was 3m post partum at coil insertion and still bleeding from giving birth) so i dont want the copper coil to make my already hellish periods worse.

My dh doesnt mind using condoms but i hate the feel of them and how they interrupt the moment. On occasions we forgot ( we didnt use any contraception between ds1 and ds2 as we knew we wanted another baby anyway, we just used condoms when we remembered and avoided at fertile times)

We may want another baby when ds2 starts school, so another 4 years really.

Does anyone know of a method of contraception, hormonal or otherwise, that is temporary and wont cause constant bleeding ? Im so sick of this.

Just re read and realised ive pretty much been bleeding since ds2 was born. He's 1 on thursday. Im about ready to pull this damn thing out myself. Only keeping in to have the scan incase there is another reason for the bleeding. removal is booked for 26th.

I've been using the depo injection for the past seven years - haven't had a single period in that time. The biggest drawback is that you have to go back every 12 weeks to have it done again, but it works for me because I never want to have kids and it's been really effective and it's completely stopped my periods.

Before this I had the copper coil and I bled constantly for two years, so not having a period for seven years is utter bliss. I've had a couple of nurses try to encourage me to get the implant instead - they tell me it's effectively the same thing and lasts for two years at a time, but I'm concerned that I'll start having periods again and TBH, I'm absolutely petrified of them.

Best of luck choosing what works for you :)

Natural cycles

Marital disharmony :(

Depo totally stopped my periods too apart from one random period of bleeding which might have been unrelated, we never got to the bottom of it. Now on the implant and only had it a few weeks but it seems to be good!

I'm on the mini-pill Noriday. Haven't had a period since starting it 5 years ago. Had terrible migraines on the combined pill. Zero side effects on Noriday, though of course everybody is different. I do suffer loss of libido but I'm also on antidepressants which could well be the cause of that. I suppose the drawback with this one is that you must take it within a 3 hour window each day. Not a problem for me but may be for others. The implant scares me and I never liked the fact that the depo is in you for 3 months so that's 3 months of suffering any effects it may bring, whereas with a pill you could just stop taking it if it doesn't agree with you.

I had the implant which lasts for 3 years, and I have had 3 of them consecutively. Never really had any problems other than with the last one I lost a bit of my sex drive. With the first one I didn’t bleed at all, the second two things will fairly irregular but nothing major, and definitely worth the benefits of not having to think about contraception again!

Previously natural cycles, although I’m lucky I’m regular the last few years, it hasn’t always been the case. DP had a vasectomy after our last DC. Women put up with so much shit just so men can ejaculate without consequence.

Condoms.

They are the healthiest method for women if having another DC isn’t a complete disaster.

Could you get the diaphragm?

Condoms. Can’t stand hormonal contraception, or any devices in my body! It’s working fine so far even tho there is an element of mood killing. I’m tracking my cycle so when I’ve had a few more periods (not had many since dd2) I might try not using them at on fertile times.

I couldn't cope with hormonal contraceptives and I'm sterilized now but I think I've experienced every form of contraception there is and my personal favourite was the good old diaphragm. Not the most spontaneous but I popped it in during last wee before bed(every night, just incase) and took it out when I showered upon waking.

Yasmin. Works great for me. Started on Microgynon but it gave me bad stomach pains.

@RibenaColada agree with you there!

47, Dr told me no chance of conceiving now so don't use anything!

The pull out method.

I have tried virtually all methods of contraception, hormone and barrier. They are bloody awful. Every single one was utter shit and the hormonal ones were all th worse. Absolutely hated it.

Thankfully have been with DP for 6+ years so no big deal if I did fall but I do feel that there has to be something that works other than the pull out.

Bit of an update.

The coil is out. After my post I had a feel for the strings and they were much lower than normal (basically in vagina. So i gave it a quick pull and out it came. Much like removing a tampon. Completely painless) i had an appointment scheduled for removal anyway so I went and she had a check and said everything looked fine, no damage from self removal but that it was likely that it hadnt been in the right place the whole time which caused the constant bleeding.

Anyway once it was out the initial feeling of relief was unbelievable, just knowing that this constant bleeding and side effects of hormones was nearly over. I had no bleeding for the first day and a half and then it became like a really heavy period with clots. That lasted for 4 days and then stopped. Had sex last night and started bleeding again after, with smaller clots again. Has turned to spotting again this morning. Hoping it will all settle down and after a full cycle should be back to normal.

Contraception wise we've decided on condoms for now. Hormone free, relatively quick and easy and have decided no more hormones for me. It'll probably be condoms until we decide for sure if we are having another baby and then DH will arrange something more permanent for himself. Sick of being the one that has to worry about contraception and do things to my body for that reason while he just has to show up, so to speak.

Ell4 use natural cycles alongside condoms for fertile days. It's lovely having no hormones!

@MiniAlphaBravo

Once my cycle regulates we may only use condoms at fertile times. I know the signs of when im fertile from when i was ttc. I suppose if you can track your cycle to conceive you can also track it to avoid conception. Will have to look into it a bit more. Although honestly after we had sex last night it was a relief that he had to deal with the mess instead of me having to hobble off to the bathroom like John Wayne to clean up while he rolls over and goes to sleep.

@duckyfuzzz definitely looking into this. Will probably wait until my cycle sorts itself out a bit. Is there an app or something)

Yeh just download the app. I'm on month 11 of it now. I've tried and tested all sorts of hormones but this is awesome.

I used natural cycles but now use a sympto-thermal method so basically temping and checking my cervical mucus and charting that. There is an excellent book called Taking Charge of Your Fertility and if you need help with the basics there is an amazing Facebook group called The Fertility Awareness Method of Birth Control.

I use an app called Kindara to do my chart, and interpret my own signs. I found Natural Cycles gave me some risky green days pre-ovulation, I know it works well for a lot of people and I’m not slamming it but I feel safer applying the rules myself and not relying on an algorithm. It’s a good place to start though if you wouldn’t feel confident doing it on your own!

@Whatdoiladymcbeth
The hormonal ones i've tried are horrific and my body seemed to react differently to them each time. I've tried the same pill 3 different times at different times in my life and each time my body reacted differently. Its so hit or miss to get something that suits.

I don't think we could do the pull out method. I would be constantly worrying until my period came i think.

@StayGoldPonyBoy

Thanks for this advice. When I was ttc our children I tracked my fertility based on my cervical mucous and fell pregnant within 3 months each time. The month we fell with the youngest I must have got it right as we only managed to have sex once that month due to illness/working away. Dh thinks he has magic sperm lol.

I used OPKs for a bit as well but got worried as the lines were never dark so i started to think i wasnt ovulating which obviously wasn't true. I dont think i could rely on them to tell me when i wasnt fertile whereas tracking CM was always spot on.

I will look into your suggestion and then maybe use condoms for a few months while getting to grips with my cycle again.

I've only ever been on the combined pill. I was on Regdividon from when I first went on it, until we decided to ttc. After our baby was born, I went back on the same pill at the 6 week check. But I had problems taking it, it made me feel sick. So I changed last year and went on Microgynon instead. Since then I've had no problems, and my withdrawal bleeds have been much lighter. I wouldn't want anything else.

I know this is old but the oestrogen in the combined pills is what stops the bleeding for the 3 weeks you take it. It’s what it’s there for so you would have a much better chance of finding something suitable with the combined pill. You take it for 21 days then stop taking it for 7 to allow yourself a bleed. Without fail the combined pill works for me bleeding wise but everything else and I mean everything, I bleed constantly. Is there a reason you can’t take this?