habibi -> RE: Birth Control options OTHER than the pill (3/21/2007 11:39:44 AM)
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*laughs* amusing to see someone advocating the rhythm method...i find it even funnier that it's a male. the rhythm method is insanely unreliable, in practical usage, some 25-30% of women get pregnant using it during the first year. i happen to have a soon to be 4 year old that's a perfect example. the problem with fertility awareness methods, like this one is that no one person's body is ever the same every month. some months you ovulate earlier, some later...if that day is off from what you calculate and you don't leave a large enough margin of error you'll end up with sperm (which can live for 3 days) meeting egg. so, to really be safe you'd probably want to abstain about 5 days before you're supposed to ovulate and 5 days after, just to account for an early or late egg and sperm life...that's 10 days of abstinance....quite a few for most monogamous full time couples. i myself started out my birth control journey on depo provera, which doctors around here won't even use any more due to the unholy side effects. weight gain, major headaches, moodiness, loss of sex drive ( did you know that it's given to sexually dangerous men to chemically castrate them???? ) i always laughed and said that it really doesn't inhibit pregnancy, it just makes you gain so much weight and get so moody that no one will have sex with you, even if you DID want to, which you won't. after i got off the shot, i went of the pill which was great, but it took me a while to find one that worked for me (remember though, most people experience some side effects for the first 1-3 months with any hormone based method..your body needs time to adjust), ortho tri was it...no side effects and clear skin! later i got tired of every day pills, so i tried the patch and the ring, but didn't like them at all...the patch came off ( not to mention it has a much higher incidence of hormone related stroke and heart problems) and maybe my body was different than most, but the ring was uncomfortable. so, when mirena came out, i jumped on it. you have to have had a child, so it won't work for everyone, but those who can get it, i think would love it. i had it inserted at my county health facility ( free for me as i was under the income level) it was ever so slightly uncomfortable, but really not terribly much worse than a very in depth pap smear. it lasts 5 years and works not only as an IUD, but also has hormones. the only reason i know it's there is there's two strings the width of fishing line that come out of your cervix to both facilitate later removal and to let you know it's still there. i spotted quite a bit for the first couple of months, then got my period 2 months and haven't had a real period since...i spot very lightly for a day and that's all. soooo great! the only thing that's a down side is it raises your risk of ovarian cysts which are a problem for me, but due to the convenience and the fact that i absolutely can not get pregnant now ( i'm on chemo for MS) it's worth it. i do hear amazing things about Yaz (drsp) but haven't tried it, but it's supposed to be a great new pill that also helps with pmdd and acne...both bonuses. anyway...my point is...sometimes you have to try alot of different options to find out what works for YOU...we can all give you advice, but sometimes you just have to go ahead and try some things out and see how they go.
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