Yesterday I went to the doctor to pick up my six-monthly prescription for the pill, despite the fact that I am still single after the foot-rub-guy. What can I say, I live in hope. Not to mention the fact that the pill makes periods carefree non-events that last three days.
Anyway, in the doctor’s waiting room there was a book some woman had written about her life (one of those mis-lit books about lives of hardship in the midlands in the 1950s). This woman had baby after baby and, you guessed it, no contraception. Every time she had a baby, the nurses gave her condoms when she left the hospital, but her husband would not use them. There was no pill.
As I lay on the doctor’s bed, getting a breast check (never had one of those before – I can report my boobs are ‘very smooth’), I thought about how different things are now and how lucky I am to have so many contraceptive options, although I’ve rarely used anything other than the pill. There was that one time I tried a thing called the Nuvaring but decided to stop that after realising I was allergic to it (not before spending a few months thinking I had a fairly resistant strain of candida). I should have guessed because I’m also allergic to condoms. Fun!
I’ve recently been considering switching altogether to an IUD or coil. I like the idea of non-hormonal contraception but fear the unknown. (Anyone ever used these devices?) Still, thinking about that woman in the book, it’s not really such a dilemma after all.
Nuvaring BAD! Got me pregnant! Well, it didn’t, but you know what I mean… same for ortho-evra patch, which was great in theory until you end up preggers!
I have Mirena now and I LOVE it. No perdiods, no weight gain and most importantly no babies!
They generally only recommend it for women who have given birth though, given the *extremely* uncomfortable process of getting it in. The cervix is bigger after birth so it’s not quite so awful on either the woman or the doctor! It’s good for five years though and that makes the pain worth it to me, although we’ll see when how bad it is coming out in 2.5 years! Might have himself get the snip then! Only fair methinks!
If I were single I would go back to Depo shots. I thought they were brilliant, again, no periods and no thinking about birth control for three months! I was on Depo for years and only came off when I had a surgery that required medication that was contraindicated with depoprovera. That’s also when the babies started showing up!
Best of luck, whatever you decide!
Jeepers Deborah – thank god I was allergic to Nuvaring. I also used to sometimes forget about it and leave it in there for four weeks. I’ve a feeling I was pretty lucky. Thanks for the advice on Depo shots, sounds good to me.
Honoria, they say that the Coil better suits women who have had children, but a friend of mine who hasn’t got any kids had one put in and swears by it.
My birth control stuff is a bit tricky as I’ve had blood clots in the past (due to leukemia) and so I’m not allowed to take the pill or use anything that has progesterone/oestrogen in it – does the Coil have some element of one or the other? So it rules out injections and patches too.
Thankfully we have come along way in terms of women’s reproductive options here. I’m pregnant with no. 2 and due to recurring hip problems going back years, I’ve been advised about my future reproductive situation and offered a long-term alternative to help ensure continued health. I doubt this would have happened in my mother’s generation.
Deborah, that’s terrible about Nuvaring!
I’ve been thinking about what the flip I’m going to do lately too, I can’t go on the pill as I have high blood pressure and I’m not gone on the idea of using the patch. Bah.
I hear you KC; it should be a straight-forward choice but it’s not at all. If my periods were regular I’d nearly think of going au naturelle but they’re maddeningly far apart – like 48 day-cycle or something. I guess don’t try Nuvaring after Deborah’s post
.
I used the diaphragm for a year and it was a pain in the ass to insert and I always felt paranoid about both keeping it clean, and that the sperm would get around it.
I’d stick with the pill.
I’m one of the very few women I know of my age who has never been on the pill (I’ve always used condoms). Hormonal contraceptives don’t really appeal to me – my older sister had a lot of trouble finding a pill that didn’t have terrible side effects and it kind of put me off; then my boss at work discovered that she had had a very minor stroke in her ’20s that was possibly linked to the pill. I’ve always had very, very regular periods (which is why I like Mon.thly.info so much!) so I’ve never needed it for anything other than contraception.
Any of you considered Natural Family Planning? (Best for those in long term, committed relationships, I guess…)
You can go to a counsellor who trains you to know your own cycle. I swear by it. You chart your cervical mucus (charming, I hear you say!) and take your temp each morning and you KNOW when you ovulate.
It sounds twiddly but it has huge advantages: no chemicals in your system; it puts you in touch with your own body; no panic attacks over unplanned pregnancy (if followed to the T); it’s environmentally friendly etc etc
There’s a great book about it called ‘Taking Charge of Your Fertility’ by Toni Weschler. Highly recommended!
Wowsers, informative to the last here… specifically the cervical mucus part.
I have heard some horror stories about the coil but then I suppose every form has it’s negative side for some people. I use Noriday and it’s super. No pain, absolute clockwork each month and just pop it each morning.
I was on Mycrogynon for a few years and like Henoria it took me a long time to realise that I was allergic and they were giving my nightmare migraines. Poo.
Boys have it so easy.
Birth control is something I’m guilty of taking for granted, hadn’t really considered what its like to be incompatible with hormonal methods. WWR’s suggestion sounds intriguing but far too shaky, don’t think I trust my accuracy!
I wanted to try Mirena but it disagreed pretty badly with my mum so instead I’ve used Implanon for six years, already having two children. Each rod (wire, coated with hormones) lasts three years and although it contributed to some pretty horrific mood swings in the first three-six months, it’s proved the best option for me personally. It’s just forgotten about.
You do feel like you’re being chipped with an alien tracker though!
WRW, two of my sisters are the results of the unreliability of the rhythm method! My mother was always totally regular (like me) but antibiotics in one case and travel in another (for some reason, transatlantic flights and similarly long journeys delayed her periods – the same thing happens to me, but she found this out the hard way!) threw her system out of wack without her being aware of it. I know it can be totally safe when practiced carefully – and I know its techniques are invaluable for anyone who actually wants to have a baby – but I’d never dare risk it if I really didn’t want to get pregnant.
i’ve only ever used the pill and the natural method as i know my cycle quite well and if i fell pregnant now, it wouldn’t be such a bad thing (though i’m not trying!). never had probs with the pill until i came off it and then went back on again and got lots of spots (which have taken months to clear) and got really moody.
i don’t know about the coil. i think you should be careful with that. someone told me that in some, if not most, nordic countries you can’t have a coil unless you’ve had three children or are over 35 (or something like that), so that makes me think it must not be that good for fertility. not sure.
Wargh, I’m so squeamish about this stuff. That’s really interesting about the Nordic countries Tina. I’d trust them. They seem to have a lot of their health stuff sorted.
On another note altogether, when I was in the doc’s the other day she told me it’s now free to get a smear test. I didn’t know this (sorry if it’s common knowledge).
Re the natural method, you have to have pretty spot on periods for this and it worked for me conceiving my son, but then this time around I got a bit of a surprise (!), so even if you have very regular cycles which I do, if it even shifts a smidge and you ovulate late, you can get caught out. And all sorts of things (as Penny mentioned) can throw it out of whack.
Honoria, was talking to another pregnant friend last night who had the copper coil in (she had it removed to try for a baby) and she wasn’t a fan at all. She said it made her periods very heavy, was very traumatic to get put in and actually hurt for a good while afterwards. She reckons it killed her libido too.
Hope you get sorted out with something.
Honoria – that’s what i thought, they’re usually way ahead in these things…
you need to register for the free smear test here:
http://www.cervicalcheck.ie/
i registered, but haven’t heard anything back yet. actually, am not sure if i’m meant to hear something back, better read the website…
You’re all very sceptical about the natural method!!
If you take your temps you know exactly when you ovulate, even if you ovulate late. So there really is no room for mistakes unless you are not careful. It works! I’ve used it to make babies and to avoid making them. You just have to be committed and organised and it becomes second nature. Honestly!!
I’m late to the party, but I just wanted to put in a vote for the coil. I have had a copper (non-hormonal) coil for about 2.5 years now, and have had no problems with it, bar some initial heavy bleeding.
I don’t have any children, so getting it put it was not as easy (but there is a very good doctor in the IFPA and they give you some muscle relaxants to take too). Afterwards I had some pretty bad cramps, and the aforementioned heavy bleeding. This cleared up in a day or two, and I’ve had no problems with it since.
It’s an option to consider if you and hormonal contraceptives don’t agree.
Thanks for the comment Una – sounds initially painful but definitely worth it!