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Disclaimer: Birth control effects change from person to person. Always ask your doctor or local clinic before changing your birth control regime. Do not take advice from internet forums- we're not a reliable source. This is really just a review of personal experiences with different methods.

A common source of frustration for me and women- and sometimes guy- friends is finding a form of birth control that is both healthy and practical and not too inconvenient. So I thought, why not have a review board for birth control? And I mean any kind, whether it be Pills IUDs Holistic or just something you wear or something new entirely. All experiences are welcome here.

My Reviews
Non- Latex Condoms: If you or a lover have an allergy to latex then I suggest using Trojan's Non Latex condoms. I've tried a few other companies and all of them were terrible. They fell off frequently and were loose and had an icky texture. But Trojan's non-latex have a snug fit and a nice texture.


Tri-Cyclen LO: This was my first birth control pill. I had zero break through bleeding with this one.
However, I completely lost my sex drive and suffered far more night terrors than usual while on this pill. Although night terrors have always been a problem for me, the pill seems to have enhanced them from rare to every night.


Nuva Ring: A medicated ring you insert one a month. The cool thing about this one is that you don't have to remember a pill every day.
They say most girls don't feel it but I could absolutely feel it and it made sex pretty uncomfortable to me. Also suffered break through bleeding and experienced a seething rage (mood swing) that lasted for pretty much the entire time I was on it.

Microgestin by Watson: I've only been on this for a month.
So far I have had no mood swings at all and no decrease in sex drive which is fantastic.
On the negative side though I have had a ton of break through bleeding and the worst cramps and dizziness for the first week. The cramps and dizziness were over by the end of the second week but so far I get break through bleeding every time I do any physical activity like swimming or sex. My doctors say that will not last more than two more months so I'm going to wait it out because if it weren't for the break through bleeding this would be the best pill ever.

Actually FrostieSlush it seems me and you have complete opposite experiences with Tri-Cyclen LO. For me it gives plenty of breakthrough bleeding, increases my sex drive and I've had less night-terror-esque* things happen to me while I've been back on it.

While I never went to adoctor who confirmed it, I was experiencing many symptoms that go along with having night terrors and they were getting worse the longer I was off the pill and when I went back on the pill they have all but subsided.

I was on Tri-Cyclen LO for a year before, with help from a naturopath, decided that I didn't want to stay on the pill. I tried a computerized rhythm method with help from a Ladycomp. It worked *very* well and within the year and a half that I used it I didn't ever get pregnant.

However, when I went off the pill I started experiencing very painful cramps all month long as well as an almost complete inability to have sex which was only remedied when I went back on the tri-cyclen lo. The doctors didn't figure it out, it was just a random suggestion from a nurse friend of mine <.< So yay for having friends that happen to be nurses? (The doctors *still* aren't sure 100% what was happening, but they figure it was an imbalance of some sort causing an ovary to be over-active <.<)

But anyways....
So for me I guess it's Yay condoms and pill birth control methods, but people shouldn't be so quick to discount the ability of methods that use the base body temperature methods, especially with use of a computer to help you. It's simple, easy and it *works* most of all. (At least it has for me AND my sister, who to the best of my knowledge still uses hers and it's been nearly two years).


Adding to what : Lex was saying though: Depo shot is bad news in general. It's been known to cause bone density loss from those who use it over extended periods sad

I have heard nothing but bad things about depo. I have 1 friend who likes it and about 5 who hate it.

Also I'm wondering, does anybody else hate the "ribbed for her pleasure" (aside from the obviously heterocentric name of the product) condoms as much as I do? I also got a textured one from planned parenthood's goodie bag that was downright painful. Who invents this stuff? Seriously. It does not feel good. (At least not to me. I may be alone in this?)

I went and got a vasectomy, a few weeks of pain but I am now certified sterile smile still use protection when having "naked fun time" with someone other than my primary, untill there's been a long term secondary relationship (which has only happened once, and that relationship fell apart)

Ortho Cyclen:

I hated it. I had to go on a birth control pill to control hormone-based cysts in my breast tissue, which, while benign, can mask other problems. I went on it with the understanding with my doctor that, after three months, I could go on just the continuous hormone pills. During that time, I was also on a steroid breathing medication. I suffered from uncontrollable moodswings, increased acne and the total disappearance of my sex drive. I assumed that the breathing medication was the problem (I'd had similar problems on it before) and took myself off of it. For a couple days, things seemed to improve. Then they went bad again. At 4 months, I decided to start the continuous hormone. I didn't stop bleeding. Period. Not until I got off of the Cyclen. It also did nothing to control the cysts in my breast tissue.

NuvaRing:

I went on it straight off the Cyclen.

It's not *so* bad. I had a lot of breakthrough bleeding for the first three months I was on it. I was about ready to get off it, but didn't have time to make an appointment to get off of it, so I gave it a little longer. It still wasn't getting better, so I gave myself an extra week off of the hormones on my break. I know it's not so good to do that, but I wasn't having sex at the time. I went back on it to give me a month and a half back on it before the next time I was planning to have sex (long distance relationship--I know months in advance before I get laid).

It worked like a charm when I went back on it. I couldn't BELIEVE it. My sex drive is back, my moods have stabilized. I can't feel it (though I also use the diva cup for menstruation, so it may just be that I'm used to having something up there). It doesn't bother my fiancé.

It doesn't fix the cysts in my breasts though. But we know they're not cancerous because they shrink and grow based on my cycle sometimes--and most of the time stay PRECISELY the same size. There's a chance my cysts may not be cysts at all and may be fibrous tissue. I need to go back to my doctor and discuss options on that.

Thankyou Saew.
Well I guess I want to know by a few weeks of pain, around how many really and how bad would you rate it on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being a bug bite and 10 being unable to walk? Including right after the surgery.

I've heard the expression "shooting blanks" do you still ejaculate though? Is there still a fluid and are your orgasms the same or different?
Anything else that's different?

And also, bravo to you!

lol. I know thaaaat.

Thankyou for answering my questions I know they probably came off as pretty ignorant.

♂

20/m/fairytale romance land

If you do PM her, will you PM me too? I'm trying to find a good birth control unit, but might have to resort to bf getting a vasectomy. (Since the ******** doctors are biased beyond view when it comes to... the girl version, I don't know the name. XD)