What is your contraceptive method of choice (I have a ? in here too)

[Heddi]

Hi everyone!

I'm asking what y'all use as contraception (if you don't mind my asking) because:

1) I'm getting ready to get my RN license in July and am generally interested in these things

2) I've been on Depo-Provera for roughly 5 years and am looking for a change.

Here's my thing:

I started BC Pills when I was about 17 and took them roughly until I was about 23. Then I got on Depo, then back on the pill, then on Depo again and I'm still on Depo now.

I LOVE Depo. No periods, which is great because I've always had heavy periods and periods that don't always last the standard 3-5 days. You know, sometimes I'd have a period for 5 days, quit for 5, have another for 3, then not another til the next month, etc.

The women in my family have always had period issues, and my grandmother had an elective hysterectomy when she was about 37 because they were so painful and erratic. Last year, my mom had a medically-necessary hysterectomy and said it was the happiest day in her life because she didn't have to worry about periods.

These are the issues I have with depo:

--I don't necessarily gain more weight, but the weight I have gained is IMPOSSIBLE to take off
--(biggest issue) NO sex drive. None. Nada. Completely foreign concept to me, but wasn't an issue AT ALL when I was on the pill.

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I just got my depo shot for the next 3mos and don't have another due until April, at which point I'm going to sit down with the nice ladies at Planned Parenthood and talk about some options.

Here is what I want:

No daily pill -- I'm not good with them. Forget to take one, then forget that I forgot, wind up 3 days later realizing that I haven't taken my pill..

Nothing that will give me heavier flow

Nothing that will continue to leave my sex drive as nothing more than a distant memory.

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I've never had children, so I don't know if that's an issue.

I've thought about an IUD, specifically Mirena, which can be kept into place for up to 5 years and will decrease periods or even make them go away alltogether (not a bad thing in my book!)

I've thought about the cervical ring, but I don't know too much how that works...is it something you put in and keep in all the time, etc

I've thought about the BC Patch. I know that goes on once a week for 3 weeks then 1 week without a patch.
---

Does anyone use any of the above methods? What are your feelings about them? Do you use a method that you're really comfortable with and would reccomend?

***NOTE TO MODERATORS: I am not seeking medical advice in this question. I'm interested in hearing antecdotal stories from other women using hormonal contraception. I fully plan on speaking with my health care provider about any and all forms of hormonal contraceptions and plan to base my decision SOLELY on the information I get from a licensed health care provider who is working at a licensed health care facility. I just want to get others opinions with regards to different methods of contraceptive devices, how they felt using them, their ease of use, any downsides and upsides each method may have FOR THAT PARTICULAR PERSON.

:)

[politicat]

1. We use sterilization.

DH's - I'm working to get mine done, but we have to be able to pay for it - our insurance only covers 70% of outpatient care, and they classify anything under 24 hours as outpatient.

That said: I know two women who have had patch pregnancies: they both weigh over 170 pounds (one is almost 6 feet tall, the other is a bit plump, but it is healthy on her).

Several other of my Child-free friends and acquaintances have Mirenas - all complained bitterly about the pain of insertion, but otherwise love the things. Nulliparous women have tight little cervi.

I don't know anyone who is on the ring. One of my sisters takes her pills intravaginally because she gets nauseous when she swallows them, and will be going on the ring as soon as her insurance kicks in - Planned Parenthood charges significantly more for the ring than the pills.

The other sister was on Depo forever and is still having problems losing the weight from it; the Army kept her on Weight Detail for the entire time she was in because of Depo (and she's been out almost 6 years.)

[Heddi]

2. I'd totally do tubal ligation

if I was sure I didn't want kids. I'm pretty sure, as is hubby, but we're also poor students right now and I think that a major contribution to our lack of desire for children is the knowledge that we're not ready financially (or emotionally). I mean, we rent, we are in school, future is up in the air as far as where we'll live once he gets out of school, etc.

I really wish that there would be a male contraceptive that was not a barrier method (like condoms) that is available while I'm still in my reproductive years. I'll be 30 in a month and I've been on some form of hormonal contraceptives since I was 17...I'd like to give my body a rest from the estrogen/progesterone for a while, ya know.

I just was reading about the different methods on PP's website, and read that the patch may have decreased effectiveness on women over 198lbs--I'm not over 198, but creep closer every year that i'm on depo. I'd rather not take the chance of putting it on an area with more fat than another and having an "oopsie" moment.

Good to hear about the mirena. Figured it would be painful, so I'll have to schedule that insertion day (if that's what I choose) on a day when hubby can be there with me and take me home...he should have to suffer SOME as far as BC goes, right (He'd say he's been suffering enough as it is with the depo sex let-down ha ha ha)

Depo definitely is a great method of BC. I really do reccomend it to any friends I have that are looking for non-daily-pill taking contraceptives. But the weight gain is definitely a downside. I kind of look at the ammenorreha as being an upside...sex drive loss is definitely a bad side. Especially since i used to be so...frisky :) now I'm as active as a sack of potatoes. Just roll me over when you're done, honey :)

[Beaverhausen]

3. I have used the Nuvaring for almost a year

I like it. You put it in and three weeks later take it out. Your period starts a few days later then one week after you took it out you put in a new one. They even give you cute stickers to mark your calendar so you won't forget.

It is a very low dose of estrogen - that is why I went on it. I had high blood pressure but the progestin-only pills they had put me on didn't regulate my periods. With the Nuvaring they are pretty light but not non-existent.

Drawbacks...the only one is sometimes I don't get it positioned right on the first try and in a few hours it moves a bit and gets very uncomfortable. But I can always wrangle it into position and then I don't feel it at all. My honey says that while he can feel it, it doesn't bother him.

If you have any other questions about it let me know. :hi:

[Heddi]

4. Thanks so much

I was wondering if it would be able to be felt by my husband.

When I told him I was thinking about an IUD< and told him that the strings hung out he said "ooh...contraceptive AND french tickler all in one" ha ha

[Warpy]

5. I had an IUD for eight blissful years

at the end of which I had a whopping case of PID from leaving it in too long, which kind of ended all discussion of fertility. Yes, I had periods, and yes, they were as erratic, heavy and miserable as they'd been without the IUD. But it was blissful not having to think or worry or obsess over fogetting a damn pill, something I couldn't take because it gave me nonstop migraines.

That they're only leaving IUDs in for five years is a good thing, and will cut way down on the complications. Most women I know who had trouble with them were WAY beyond that five year mark.

Planned Parenthood is really your best resource on this stuff, they know all the best information on the latest delivery methods of hormonal birth control and on the newer barrier and implanted devices.

[Heddi]

6. Thanks for the info

My mom had an IUD in the late 70's after I was born and was pretty much rendered sterile because of a horrible infection she got from it. It might have been PID, but I'm not sure. All I know is that right after she had these horrible infections, they withdrew the IUD from the market, but she got no compensation or anything.

My next Depo shot is due in April (I just got my most recent one last week), and I have to get a PAP anyway--get this--because I turn 30 this year, and because my next PAP is due after my bday, if I get a HPV culture and it comes back negative, I don't have to get another PAP for 3 years!!! That's sweet! Of course, I'm monogamous, have no family hx of gyn complications and don't have a history of STDs, it seems pretty good to me :)

I really hope they get a male contraceptive soon...I need to give my body a break. Let Mr. Heddi be Mr. Hormone for a few years :)

[politicat]

16. Unfortunately, biology is making that tough.

In lay terms, the fact that we produce an egg a month makes controlling that much easier than controlling 500 sperm cells a minute. (or whatever the number is). There are a couple of male methods, one involving heat (very easy if you have access to 2 things - a hot tub/heating pad or other heat producing device and a microscope, and 3 weeks) and one involving a chemical called gossypol that is derived from cottonseed oil, but both have drawbacks. The problem with the heat method is that it takes only one to cause a pregnancy, and because fertility returns gradually, the man can be fertile without knowing it... and he doesn't take the biological burden of carrying the kid.

The gossypol issue is equally complex - it's a toxic chemical which, while rendering a man sterile for 4 to 6 months on a short regimen of pills, has a 20% chance of permanent sterility and can cause liver damage. It's not legal in the US, and is not likely to pass FDA requirements.

I can send you more information if you're interested in the heat method - it's relatively simple and not uncomfortable. But the risk you run is your own...

[Heddi]

17. yeah. Not up to running any risks

I graduate school in June, and hubby starts nursing school in March...not gonna waste 3 years of solid education just to have a kid before my career even begins. And on top of that--I don't like children...bleh :)

I'd still be interested in the information, though. I got the info I read about off of the Planned Parenthood WEbsite:

http://www.plannedparenthood.org/pp2/portal/files/portal/medicalinfo/birthcontrol/article-000420-birth-control.xml

[politicat]

18. Here you go!

http://www.malecontraceptives.org/methods/gossypol_frame.html

http://www.embryotech.com/vasmarq/index.htm - Home sperm sample test kit

http://www.malecontraceptives.org/methods/simple_heat_frame.html - one explanation of the heat method. The paper where I read about it appears to have gone away, but it is referenced in the article.

[Heddi]

20. Cool! Thanks so much

never such a thing as too much information :)

[noamnety]

10. I'm on my second IUD

I love it. Insertion sucked, and I slept with a heating pad on my stomach for a little while after that, but once you're past that part, it's no contest. The pill made me gain ungodly amounts of weight, despite tinkering with the prescription multiple times, and sent my blood pressure into the stratosphere. Never again. Diaphragm - too danged slimey, ugh, combined with the mood-enhancing "stop while I insert this medical device" - just ugh. Plus if it's time to take it out while you're at work with public restrooms, that's just gross. If you get an IUD, the key to dealing with insertion is to take a huge dose of painkillers before you go in, and have a chilled bottle of wine ready in the fridge so you can pop it open the second you get home. I do that for pap smears, too, though - so maybe I'm just a big wuss. Or maybe it's like a pavlovian reaction - if anyone gets near my cervix, I expect wine. Anyway, if you're getting an RN license, maybe you'll be in a position to advocate for the ob-gyn/bar combo that I've been pressing my doctor for.

[Heddi]

11. Hey I like that idea

OB-gyn/Bar combo. Hell, I'd just settle for some vallium or Xanax on the way out :D

[Hello_Kitty]

7. I got a tubal in October

After using every form of contraception under the sun. I've known for a long time I don't want to be a mom so it was an easy decision for me. I got no flack whatsoever from my GP or the GYN who performed it. I guess when you're 36 they figure you must be serious about it. My insurance covered it 100%. I'm told they're more likely to cover them for women without children now because over the long haul it's cheaper than birth control, or the unintended pregnancies that result from birth control failure. The feeling of relief is indescribable.

Prior to that, I'd say the most convenient form for me was the Depo shot. But it made me gain weight easily, though the doctors denied it. When I stopped it I dropped 15 pounds immediately so I think that is a real side effect. I never tried the IUD because it was still off the market while I was in my 20s, though I think that's what I'd try next if I couldn't get the tubal.

[eridani]

8. I use menopause

:D

[Heddi]

12. 20 more years....

although both my mother & grandmother had surgically-induced menopause so god knows how long they would have gone on bleedin' naturally. Knowing my luck (and my hatred of menstruation), i'll be ovulating til I'm 96....

[Warpy]

19. My mother told me that one of the greatest pleasures in a woman's

life came with advancing age when she could thumb her nose at the fertility aisle in the supermarket. You know the one I'm talking about, the baby crap on one side; the feminine hygiene, douches, condoms, and foams on the other.

Well, I'm there and she was right. It's a wonderful feeling.

[Heddi]

21. Last year, my mom had a hysterectomy

and when she had it, I was in 1st quarter nursing and learning about proper ways to talk to patients. So I'm all about the "you know, some women go through a depression after this because they feel that their entirety of "being a woman" is gone, so if you're feeling low, please talk with someone" and stuff like that.

My mom goes "HA! Depressed? Are you KIDDING? They should have taken that bastard uterus out of me 20 years ago! Woohoo! NO MORE PERIODS ha ha" It was great. She reccomends hysterectomies to all of her friends. Hell..she suggested I should get one "after I make her a grandchild", of course :)

[bleedingheart]

9. I had my man neutered...now he doesn't spray the furniture

or claw my drapes to mark his territory and it has substantially calmed him down...

:evilgrin:

[Heddi]

13. ha ha. Did he get that pot-belly

like my cat? Once the cat got fixed, he got all jiggly and loose in the kitty caboose, I suppose. Cat-man-teats.....

[bleedingheart]

14. well he does have a little pot-belly going for him...

he blames my cooking though...

[atommom]

22. I got mine fixed too. He's still overly frisky, though.

:evilfrown:

[geniph]

15. I got myself fixed when I was 30

after having been on the pill for 15 years. I had no problems on the pill; in fact, a few years after I went off it, I went to the doctor complaining that something was wrong because I was having pain during periods. I'd never had cramps before, I didn't know what they were! I also had almost non-existent periods during the whole time I was on the pill, just one day of light spotting on the second day after taking the placebo pill. But I never wanted kids, and as soon as I could talk a doc into the tubal, that's the way I went.

Funny thing is, she forgot to ask me ahead of time if I already had kids. She just assumed I did. Then they were starting the anesthesia and she remembered to ask me - this is after my surgery was already running 6 hours late because she'd been in an emergency c-section all day - and it was really too late for her to back out and refuse to do it at that point.

Then I go and marry a man who'd had a vasectomy. If *I* get pregnant, expect rains of blood, or frogs, or something. It'll be Damien IX.

All that being said, the tubal is a great thing. I can't ever really even tell the doctor when my last period was, because I don't pay any attention to them anymore. There's no reason to.