Birth Control - Pine Bluff,AR

Hey M.,

As recommended in a previous post, I take the low dose hormones b/c I'm breast-feeding, and I don't have as many of the symptoms as I do on the regular pill. I am going to talk to my Dr. about staying on these pills after breast-feeding. Good luck!

Just a quick note - consider carefully before you take the birth control shot. SEVERAL women I know have had severe side effects and long-term complications from it. Do the research first - it's been a disaster for many! And no, I"m not opposed to hormonal birth control - I take it myself- I'm just cautious about something that makes promises that seem so extreme (plus having heard A LOT of negative). Good luck and I'll be reading the responses here, as I'd like to consider some new options myself.

Have you considered the depo provera birth control shot? I work in a gynocologist office and that is the only other type of birth control option other the iud or pill.lots of people who get the shot don't even get periods while on it. That's not always the case but it does lessen the periods if nothing else.

How about condoms? They help the guy last longer, and you get all kinds for variety and for "her pleasure" :)

For extra protection, you can use a condom plus diaphragm.

L.

PS glad you're not going with the hormone-based bc. the hormones reverse mate choice. Can cause some blah relationship feelings and even some strife.

I have been on the depo shot for a year now. My only negative experience with it is my second shot after the first 3 months, I had to take an antibiotic and I spotted. After that, I have had no bleeding, cramps, and fewer headaches and fewer migraines. I dont even have any feminine products in the house any more. I don't have huge fluctations in emotions or mood swings, just happy go lucky me.

I used to use the Nurva Ring and loved it. I have tried the sponge and that was ok, you have to insert it at a certain time and that was one thing that didn't always happen at a certain time. Good Luck.
PS I had a friend that said the patch was the best thing for her.

I had bleeding issues with Orth-tri-cyclen, ortho-tri-lo, depo and ortho-novum, the only thing I had success with as far as hormones was the nuva ring. I loved it, didn't have breakthrough bleeding and had shorter, less painful cycles with it than anthing else.

If you want permanent birth control, the essure procedure is very successful and not that invasive.

Hi M.,

I just wanted to let you know about my experience with the IUD. I got the Iud when my son was 8 1/2 months old. He is now 5, I go back tomorrow to have a new one inserted. The first couple of months on this I had break through bleeding but after that it stopped. I never spotted again until Christmas. They said that it was due to it being the last few months of it. Honestly you never know it's there. If it's the hormones you have trouble with they have one that isn't supposed to have that, a friend of mine has it, but she has her period every month. Also you might find a woman ob, I discovered many years ago they relate to us much better than a man! Have a great day!Hope this helped

I saw a few responses about this already, but I think the Fertility Awareness Method (FAM) of birth control is excellent. It is non-hormonal, non-invasive, and it teaches you how to be more intune with your body and to recognize your natural fertility cycles. During your fertile time of the month you either use a backup method (condom) or abstain, but the rest of the month you are free and easy! It's wonderful. You can read all about it in "Taking Charge of your Fertility" by Toni Weschler. That is truly a must-read book for any adult woman who either wants to prevent pregnancy or wants to become pregnant, IMO! I hope your research leads you to a method that works best for you.

We use the sympto-thermal method of fertility awareness, with condoms as our back-up during the fertile time. I really like it, because I always know what's going on with my body. Depending on how strict you are this method can be as effective as the pill, and works even if you have irregular cycles.

The method is not difficult, but you do have to be intentional about recording your fertility signs every day, and using the rules to always know what phase of your cycle you're in. If you have trouble remembering to take the pill, this method might not be for you - but it might be easier to remember since you do it first thing in the morning when you wake up. You can learn the method from The Art of Natural Family Planning by Kippley and Kippley or from Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Weschler.

M.,

If you don't want to go the route of hormones (The Pill) or IUDS (which also use hormones) then there is always diaphragms. Before I was married I did my own research and decided a diaphragm was the best option. You just insert the diaphragm with some spermicide next to you and after a few hours take it out. In later years I did try going on the Pill (wanted to stop my period so I could take a cruise without the curse being upon me...) and realized almost immediately that was not good for me. I gained like 10 pounds right away and bled the whole cruise anyway.

In all the years we used the diaphragm, about 12 or so, we never did get pregnant. Even when I wanted to get pregnant and quit using the spermicide, then poked the thing full of holes, we didn't get pregnant. It was effective for us.

K.

I have used the depo provera? shot. I didn't mind it. Went to doctors office every 3 months and got the shot so I didn't have to remember pills. I think its lasts in your system about a year after last shot. I also never had any periods or spotting while I was on it but once I was off it was like my body was playing catch up on periods because I had a lot. best of luck finding whats best for you :)

Hello,
I relly know just how you feel. I was in pain for three months decided to go to the dr and she told me I had a huge cyst caused from my bcs so she upped the dosage for two months and with those pills the cyst went away and so did my sex drive. Now she put me back on the same thing i was taking that caused me to get a cyst. So I am back to cramping and hurting. It is really aggravating. I have four wonderful boys and I know we are done so I think my hubby is going to get fixed so we don't have to worry with this anymore. I mean the pills are bad for you anyway. Let me know whatever you decide. and if it works. Goodluck

S. Russell
Proud Member of the MOM TEAM
www.sarahs4sweetboys.com

you could try the birth control used for women breast feeding. It is also a strict regimine on timing and remembering to take it. There is also depo shot. I had bleeding with it, but know many people who had success. I take the pill and have a text sent to me at the same time everyday to remind me to take it. I found it on the yaz website. Good luck!

I'm breastfeeding my daughter, so I don't have many options for BC, right now. I tried the pill for a few months, but I was really bad about taking it. I always forgot, so I just quit altogether. I'm on Depo now. I got my first shot on Tuesday. I had been on this before, and it was great for me, so I decided to do it again. My OB/Gyn said it's perfectly safe for breastfeeding. When I was on the shot before, I had no adverse side effects, and I quit bleeding, which was very nice. The only thing was it took me over 18 months to get pregnant with my very much wanted, and perfectly healthy & beautiful baby girl. It says it takes 12 -18 months to get pregnant after the last shot you take. We have a boy & girl now, so I think we are done. But in case we change our minds, I can quit taking the shot. I don't expect any bad side effects this time around, since I was on it before and had none. So far, there have been none. I'm thinking if it's safe enough to take while breastfeeding, then it may be what you are looking for...? Good luck with what you decide to go with. =)

I hate the pill, too, because of how it make me feel. Who wants to deal with all the ups and downs during your cycle of pills. My doctor recommended Nuvaring to me and I absolutely love it! You insert it on the 1st and remove it on the 28th. If you don't have any breakthrough bleeding you can also insert it on the 1st of one month and wait until the first of the next to take it out and insert a new one and not have a period. I have done that for the past 4 months and couldn't be happier! I don't have the hormonal roller coaster because the hormones are constant and not cycling high and low like when on the pill. It might be just right for you.

You should not do any thing, but natural planning! Birth control will mess your life up. All any of the birth control products do is cause the baby not to be able to be planted in your womb. Also will cause your body to be messed up. Look at natural planning, it does work and at the same time you are not putting meds. in your body.I hope you will check this out!

I have tried just about every bc method on the market except an IUD, and had problems with every hormone-based contraceptive I tried. One pill failed and I got pregnant, others gave me headaches, I had breakthrough bleeding with both the patch and the Nuva ring, and Depo caused me to have hot flashes, Jekyll/Hyde mood swings, migraines, and fibromyalgia. I would not recommend Depo to anyone.

I found that what worked best for me was either the sponge (I'm not sure if it's back on the market or not), or VCF (a spermicidal film that looks like an oversized Listerine strip that you insert and it melts into spermicidal jelly), and condoms.

Hi, I thought I would share with you the birth control i decided to go with. I chose what they call the implanon. What it is, is a thin tubing that is plced just under your skin. it goes in your arm. IT also lasts for three years and you can have it taken out at any time if you decide that you would like to have another. IT is not painful but you could possibly have an irregular menstal cycle.

I would echo the advice in one of the responses about the depo shot since you have other issues with hormonal birth control. I had issues with a lot of hormonal methods, but after one dose of the depo shot, even the weakest form of hormonal birth control gave me major issues. We ended up having to rely on condoms and spermicide until we decided we were done.

The Essure procedure is wonderful when you are done, because it's an in-office and relatively simple procedure. My one word of caution is that you do have to have a depo shot leading up to it. My procedure took a little longer to seal my fallopian tubes than was expected, so my dr told me I needed another shot. I refused because of the issues I had after one shot. It was over a year before my hormones were rebalanced after that shot. I don't regret the Essure procedure at all - it was wonderful! But, I do wish there was some way other than having to have the depo provera shot leading up to it.

If you're concerned about hormones, I would look into Natural Family Planning where you chart your temperature and observe mucus signs. I have two friends who have used this to postpone pregancy. You can take a class. I know they have computer charting too. The Couple to Couple League offers classes. There are also fertility monitors that you use to monitor hormone levels by testing your urine during your fertile time. These methods all require that you abstain from sex during your fertile time so, you'd have to get your partner on board. There is also a Natural Birth Control website.

M.,

i went through 2 years of trying so many diff things

this one pill works try it its a complete mircale

it regulates u and after 6 months u only have 1 to 2 periods a year you have more energy and feel great

they r called

LYBREL

IT ROCKS GIRL.

Do NOT, I repeat, do NOT use the Depo Provera shot!!!! Especially since you have problems with other forms of hormone birth control. I haven't used any hormone birth control for going on 3 years now. I use something called cycle beads (www.cyclebeads.com) to keep track of my fertile/non-fertile days because I am horrible about using a calendar. I have done a lot of research on hormones and birth control and after all I have learned I honestly cannot understand why the FDA allows this stuff. (it's a money thing, just like everything else) I'll get off my soap box (sorry!). The more I learn as I earn my med degree, the more I become aware of how sensitive the woman's body is and the importance of keeping balance. Birth contol is one of the biggest contributors to putting our bodies off balance and causes problems later in life (like making menopause more of a nightmare than it has to be)

On the show doctors last week they addressed permanent birth control options. I can't remember the name of the procedure, but there is one that can be done in the office that is somewhat new, but a safe proven method. You could probably read about it on their website. They insert something near the fallopian (sp?) tube openings and it covers with scar tissue, which permanantly blocks the openings. Good luck!!