Birth Control Options - Anaheim,CA

you have a couple of options. The problem with birth control is that all make you gain weight down the line some way or another. The depo shot is good , but I suggest you use it only for 2 years . Because it is known to cause Osteoporosis. Birthcontrol pills are better, you will gain weigh like all birthcontrol but they have less side affects. I dont know much about IUD's so cant help you there. Just remember the longer you are on birthcontrol the longer it will take you to become pregnent agian.I hope this helps alittle..

I never tried Mirena since I've had such horrible side effects on other progesterone-only forms of BC (Depo Provera and mini-pills), but have had great luck with Paragard, the hormone-free IUD. While it does make my period slightly heavier, I don't have the huge array of side effects that can come from progesterone, and it also lasts up to 10 years instead of 5. I'm on my second one now - I had one in for 7 years before I decided to try to conceive (no problems there, and I now have a fabulous son), then I tried other things for a couple years after my son was born since my OB wasn't thrilled with me having an IUD due to my c-section, but now I'm back with my Paragard and much happier.

Copper IUD all the way.. have had mine now for over a year and LOVE it.. Just a little bit harder period (more bleeding, but cramping isn't a big deal anymore was a little rough the first few months) I might spot a little during ovulation but otherwise I would never know it was there.. No side effects with mood or weight gain or normal hormonal side effects..

Hello,
congratulations on your baby, it's such a lot to deal with that choosing a birth control that's "easy" is important. I can definitely recommend the Mirena,
there is no weight gain associated with this IUD, women may gain weight with the IUD, but it's not due to the Mirena. I am a nurse practitioner for women's health and most of my patients are very very happy with this IUD. The first 6 months you may have irregular bleeding, but after that the bleeding lessens or stops, which is a very healthy thing for women and actually prevents endomentrial (uterus) cancer. If you are still worried about the hormones (there is no estrogen, so it won't affect your breastmilk), you could also choose the Paragard, the other hormone-free IUD. The only side-effects are that your periods may become a little heavier, some women have increased menstrual cramps, however, most women do really well.
There is now also Implanon, an implant that gets placed in your upper arm under the skin, it also only contains progestin, so safe for breastfeeding.
It's a 10minute office procedure. Several of my patients had to have it removed, however, since in many women it leads to irregular bleeding that continues throughout the 3 years that the Implanon can stay in.
Good luck with whatever option you choose.

We used good ole fashioned condoms. I personally had witnesses a IUD horror story so I was not open to that form of bc, and also was nursing so didn't want to take any chances w/ oral drugs.

Congratulations on your 2nd child. Love those Cancer babies!!

I have had a Mirena twice, after my first for 1.5 years and now its been about 5 months after my second. I LOVE them! The side effects I had were cramping pretty bad the first day after insertion and then mild cramping for a few weeks after. Then I had spotting (light light spotting) for about 3 months after. After that I had either no period or a very light period. I had none of the side effects I had on the regular birth control pill as the hormones are much much less than a regular birth control pill. I breastfed my first for a year and am still bfing my second. Also, I think the weight gain thing is an excuse (personally). Its easy to gain weight after a baby because people are busy, etc but I think that a lot of women just blame it on the birth control. I mean I want to see a woman who is counting calories, working out AND gains weight on the mirena, then I'd believe it. I lost 50 lbs after my first all w/ my Mirena in place and got down to a lower weight than I had been before I even got married. But I did work hard to get there you can't just sit around and do nothing and then say "oh my birth control makes me fat". I have lost almost all of my baby weight post #2 all with the Mirena.
I know its not for everyone and everyone has different reactions but the majority of my friends have the Mirena and at my ob's office that has all women obs they all have the Mirena. I love not worrying about bc pills and not having the side effects I did on the pill. And if you do change your mind about having kids, I got pregnant one month after mine was taken out, it wasn't an issue at all.

Hi R.
I too am breastfeeding and had the mirena put in (6/28/10). It's worked ok for me. No weight gain, no depression nothing like that. After having it put in i bled for about 2 weeks it was lite for the first 7days (i only had to use a liner) then I believe i got my period for 5 days then 2 lite days (sorry if tmi) because we're breastfeeding we're going to spot off and on- Then our periods will get liter and shorter I havn't had a full period since having it put in. a little spotting here and there.
Good Luck Girl !!

I was on Ocella for about one year. The only side effect I experienced was nauseau..Now I am on low egestrol, and noticed a big difference in my acne, and my periods are a lot lighter with less cramping..I chose to do the pills, because I like being able to control when I take something, and I didn't want to do any inserts, or shots..It has worked well with me, and I haven't gained weight nor has my mood changed..

The safest, most side-effect-free methods are condom and/or diaphragm or cervical cap. Neither of these causes hormones to circulate in your body that don't belong there. Please avoid depoprovera...one mom mentioned osteoporosis risk, but there are also heightened cancer risks as well. And birth control pills taken long-term can mess up your hormonal balance so that you have great dificulty re-establishing the balance once you finally get off them. I haven't seen many women who are happy with the mirena either, because of side effects.

I love my Mirena. I always had really heavy periods lasting about a week with lots of cramping, plus some pretty bad PMS too.

When it was first inserted in April of 07, there was about 8 weeks of spotting, barely enough for a panty liner. After that while I was nursing, I had a period once every 3 months. And these periods are great. Maybe a day or 2 of spotting and that's it, no cramping, mood swings, nothing. Once I weaned, I had spotting once a month. But over the last year, I rarely have spotting. It's wonderful.

As for the weight gain, I couldn't really say. I'm about 5-10 lbs heavier than before I got pregnant, but I'm also in my 30s now and I'm sure metabolism has some effect on that too.

I recommend it to all my friends. It was a great choice for me.

Dear R.,

I am going to give you as balanced an answer as I can. I had Mirena for just over 3 years. I did gain about 10 pounds, but in all honesty the last year I finally got my diet in control and ended up losing 15. I can't completely blame Mirena.

I had some cramping and heavy flow when first inserted, but it subsided within 3-4 days. I then didn't have any period for next 3 years. Honestly, that was a perk. It is easy, no-thought birth control.

On the other hand, I think I suffered from moderate to severe moodiness and some depression. I felt in a fog a lot of the time and experienced a lot of negative thoughts. Mind you, at the time, I had no idea it was MIrena as the first 6 months seemed to affect me very little. By the year mark I started experiencing more moodiness in the 2nd and 3rd year it was extreme. Depression ebbed and flowed, but was generally present at some level.

Until I started doing some research considering removal in order to have another baby, I had no idea there were so many negative side effects. My doctor did not inform me of anything negative! It seems like a lot of doctors ignore testimonials and say the patients must have other problems. In truth, I myself wasn't certain it was Mirena causing any of my issues UNTIL I got it removed in January 2010. I was amazed at the difference within a few days! After the removal, though, I notice my periods are accompanied with severe PMS - something I never had prior to my pregnancy or Mirena. There are a few days now where I feel like I back in the years with MIrena. Interestingly though, even that PMS has lessened in the last 8 months of having it out. I feel like the hormones are somehow still in my system.

Keep researching (I wish I had) prior to insertion. If you get it, keep a log of any changes in mood, weight, etc. so you know if it is affecting you negatively.

Good luck!

Here is a link that compares the effectiveness of various forms of birth control: http://ccli.org/nfp/effectiveness/compare-methods.php We use the sympto-thermal method of Natural Family Planning that the Couple to Couple League teaches http://ccli.org/ There are no side effects and nothing artificial to put into your body.

If I could do all over agian, I would do the copper IUD. I had the mirena and had it removed after a year because of the side effects. I was breaking out all over my face and was so moody/upset at times during the month. I did not have weight gain just very emotional and angry.

I love the 10 year, NO HORMONE, copper IUD!!! Hormones from birth control make me fat and crazy! No exaggeration on either.
It was a perfectly effective means of birth control for me and when I took it out to get pregnant with my third child, it happened IMMEDIATELY. No hormone hangover (so to speak). Look into it. The worst thing I've heard is if it gets out of place, you get pregnant. So go to your check ups! I never had a problem.

Mirena caused me bad pelvic inflammatory disease, it will be subtle at first and then when you actually get diagnosed, it is a full blown PID. I use Depo and has been on it for 3 years with my older son, then, when I decided to get pregnant again, it took me, 6 months after I got off it. It may cause a little bit of weight gain, but nothing nursing, good diet and exercise can't fix. Hope this helps.

I had the mirena in for over four years. I think it did contribute to some weight gain however so do all other birthcontrol pills and lots of medications in general. I get bad side effects from every other medication I have ever tried. So with the mirena that was the only one I had, but I had lots of other contributing factors as well to the weight gain. I was able to lose some of the weight easily once I changed some of those other factors while still having it in.
I got it put in while I was still breast feeding and did not have a period, or any period symptoms for about 3 3/4 years. Then after that time I started getting some cramping, a bit of pain during sex, and irregular spotting. So after it got worse over a few months time I went to the Dr. and it had started to move up and over so we had it taken out and that was the end of it, no damage, no continuing pain. Which it was also ok to take out because we decided it was time to have another child. It took about 3 months for my period to become regular enough to track when I was ovulating and then I was immediatly pregnant on the first try.
I am due in a few weeks and am planning on getting it again. Even with the complications at the end it was still easy, painless, and seemed to not have any real side effects for years. I think real problems, even mine moving is pretty rare and does not mean it will happen again.
I recommend it to everyone!

I had Mirena inserted when my son was about 2 months old. I had stopped my post-partum bleeding and was exclusively pumping.
I HATED it. I bled every day (sometimes spotting and sometimes heavy) for 2 months. There was never any rhyme or reason on what days would be heavy. It got so bad I had to leave an extra set of clothes in my filing cabinet at work because I would bleed through unexpectedly.
I switched doctors during that time, because the OB/GYN practice I had been going to closed.
I called my new doctor after 8 solid weeks of bleeding. She had me come in and I had it removed. She told me that women who have it inserted directly after pregnancy (with no other means of hormonal BC between the end of pregnancy and Mirena insertion) can bleed continuously for up to 9 MONTHS!
I went on the shot (Depo) that day, as I had been on it before pregnancy. Before I even got home good, I had stopped bleeding. I love Depo. I have gained a little weight with it, but I don't have a period at all and that's worth the 5-10 lbs. to me.

Naprotechnology is what we use. It has absolutely no side effects and is more effective than the any pill or condoms. I have used it for over 14 years and would recommend it to anyone.