other than the crazy breakouts I've had for about a year now, I've never really had any issues with Depo. It's been VERY NICE not having AF visit me each month - after 7 years...it's gonna be hell when I make the transition. But I'm doing it because eventually, my fiance and I want to have kids, and we decided it's better to ween myself off Depo and onto a pill form, and then to nothing once we're at the point we want to try to conceive.

Buttonz - YES. I was on Depo for almost 2 years, and I averaged a gain of about 5-7 pounds per shot - no change in diet or exercise, it was pretty frustrating. However, almost as soon as I stopped taking it, I lost the weight again.

I really think it's per individual. My best friends sister was on depo for a while and she bleed all the time. I've been on and off Depo for the last 4 year (like on for about two years, go off for one cycle, then back on) and I don't get a period (love it!!!). The only reason I've gained weight now is that I'm not as active as I was the last couple of years. I stopped going to the gym all the time and I wasn't coaching, so I got lazy. It's me and has nothing to do with the Depo.

As for breakouts, I have broken out alot this last month, but I've also been super duper stressed. (Teacher, don't get paid during the summer but have bills to pay, very stressful on how to pay said bills).

Now I've been on the pill. I was put on the pill in high school because my periods were erratic and the cramps were horrendous. It was really my dad who wanted me to go on something, I don't think he liked seeing me in that much pain. But then freshman year of college, my dad got a new insurance company and for some reason they didn't cover the pill but they covered Depo (yeah go figure), so I went on Depo.

The thing is that not everyone is going to have the "cake walk" that I have had. That is why there are so many different forms of birth control because we all react to them different ways. I love Depo, others hate it. For me it's like, why should I put myself throught the wretched pain of a period when I have no plans to concieve any time soon.

hahah. well said.

I have the Mirena IUD and I love it. I will admit it was quite painful having it inserted and a lot of money. The good thing is it lasts for 5 years and most people have no period or occassional spotting. Luvin' it!

I tried that but my body didn't like it and, how is the nice way to say this?, rejected it. So sad because I was looking forward to no AF for a while.

Yeah my Dr. said that was a possible risk especially for women who have not yet had children. I have had mine for almost 2 years now, so hopefully it is well anchored in place.

Just be glad you realized your body rejected it early on rather than 9 mos later :D

If you end up pregnant, you're going to gain more weight than the pills would EVER cause you to gain.

Oh, and TMI about your boyfriend and you being fiends.

So true. My personal opinion is that any girl who is having sex (with her bf, randoms, whomever) needs to be on the pill or protecting herself in some way.

I've heard so many excuses from girls my age who aren't on the pill because "they don't want to get fat/it gives them headaches/etc." I think to myself, a baby is going to cause you more headaches than the entire pack of pills combined.

I totally agree! I was off the patch for 6 months then went on the ring, and those 6 months were so scary, even using condoms, i had a complication and didn't get my period for 3 months, and i was absolutely terrified. it turned out that it was b/c of the patch, but I immediately went on the ring, and will definately always be on BC.

This may have already been said but the best pill out there is Yasmin. This is the first pill I haven't had any problems on! I strongly recommend it.

Not to mention STDs, AIDS?

So doctors will at least try it if you haven't had a kid yet, I hope? I am getting so frustrated with having no good BC options!! (Pills don't work for me.) :mad:

All the literature I've read on it says it's only for women in committed relationships (due to an increased risk of STDs) who have already had at least one child.

Arrrrgh. But the whole point is that I am trying to AVOID having a child. How obnoxious. I am going to have to call and pester every doctor in a fifty mile radius.

Well, if it doesn't physically work, than it doesn't do you any good.
It's designed for people who want to space their kids out.

I think you have to remember its all relative and every female reacts differently to bc pills. I was on Yasmin for awhile and had really bad experiences with it so now I'm on Ortho and while Ortho works for me, I know several women who havent liked Ortho.

Buahah I thought the same thing--I'm sure some of us WISH our birth control did that to us. :D

LOL. We must all have the same reading problem.:p:o

My Dr. said that is a common misconception about IUDs. It is for women in committed relationships (preferably married), but I have heard of single women getting them after STD and other testing.

Also, you can have one if you have never been pregnant. I am married with no children and have one. The reason they say this is insertion can be very painful. Check out their website...they have some pretty good info on there www.mirena.com

Dude, I finally figured out why I'm so forgetful?

Haha dude, where's my car? Stef, that was silly. :p

I just had a "Dinosaurs" flashback...the episode where Robbie is learning about "The Mating Dance". :D

Seriously, though, the "commited relationship" thing is because it's easier to contract an STD with the IUD in. The woman would not need to be tested for STDs before getting it inserted, because the STD she already has wouldn't affect the IUD.

Single, non-committed women are at high risk for STDs with the IUD, and it wouldn't make sense for them to get one, unless they were planning on having every sexual partner they have getting tested prior to sex.

Ok, I guess I am being naive on this one. We waited until we were married "to seal the deal" and even so, we still thought it would be a good idea to get blood work done. I would hope that people who are not using condoms would have testing anyway :confused:

Well...to me, it seems like the only reason that single women would be getting IUDs, would be that they were planning on having sex frequently. I guess it could be a "backup" used with a condom, but if you're going to use the condom every time, why go through the pain/$$ of an IUD? There are other, cheaper methods. I know condoms aren't 100%, but they also aren't 100% against STDs, either. So with the IUD, you're lowering your chance of pregnancy, but raising your chance of an STD. To me, I'd be more worried about AIDS than a baby. With the baby, there's always adoption (I'm against abortion, for the record)...there are no options for AIDS.

I think the thing about an IUD only being for women "commited relationships" is a crock. Women get IUDs for several reasons. I'm single, and I would get one if the $$ was right. And from what I've researched, its not right for me nor my insurance. The frequency of sex isnt the issue, its the increased ability to prevent pregnancy that attracts most women to IUDs use.

Just my opinion.

I'm on Ortho Tri Cyclen.

I was on Estrostep for years.

I tried Yasmin (only for a month) but I stopped taking it due to mood issues... it was so bothersome, that I didn't want to wait to see if it would get better.

I briefly thought of trying an IUD...that was until I took my Humans and Sex class. During that class, we had a survey about birth controla nd pregnancy prevention. Out of 100 people in the class, roughly about 10 were concieved even though the mom was on BC....BUT 8 of the 10 kids were IUD pregnancies (meaning the mom had an IUD when she concieved).

One girl told a horror story about her sister (who used an IUD) who concieved a child, and by the time they found out, the doctor's couldn't get the IUD out. It scared me (and my sorority sister who took the class w/ me) enough to never think of an IUD ever again! haha.

Right now i'm on Apri, which is the "generic" brand that the school clinic gives out.

It's not a moral judgement. Drs aren't saying that they only use them for women in committed relationships because that's what's morally right - it's a health issue. It's not SAFE for women to be using an IUD and have sex with a man that has any possible risk of an STD. I don't think any Dr is going to outright deny someone who is not in a committed relationship an IUD (short of marriage, it'd be hard to prove anyway), but those women have to know that they are taking a HUGE risk of getting an STD.

Once again:
Pregnancy = options (adoption, etc)
AIDS = dead

Which would you rather have happen to you?

But when you have sex with someone, dont you take a risk of getting an STD anyway? Regardless of use of contraception or not?

I'd rather have neither (I'm already a mom) at the moment, but I know that when I do have sex I take a risk of either or both happening. I take precautions to prevent it, but the risk, however small is still there. I get tested for every STD/STI every six months at my GYN check up.

As discussed on some other threads, not all women take every precaution they can.

Something about the IUD causes a greater % risk of getting the STD.

Example...you have sex with someone on time who has herpes...say you have a 40% chance of getting herpes without any contraceptive at all...when you have an IUD in, that % increases to 60% because of what the IUD does to your body. I'm not EXACTLY sure what it is...possible that the virus can "cling" to the IUD easier than it can skin...or maybe the way it's positioned.

I don't think this is entirely accurate. When a woman has an IUD inserted, there's a chance that vaginal bacteria can be pushed up into the uterus, causing an infection. In some cases, said infections can cause infertility or even death. If you're in a monogamous relationship, chances are slimmer that you actually have an infection that could be pushed up into your uterus.

If a woman hasn't already had a child, doctors are reluctant to insert an IUD for fear of causing infertility. It's similar to the reasoning behind doctors being reluctant to perform a tubal ligation on someone who hasn't yet had a baby. Why run the risk of never being able to have children?

Moreover, once a woman has had a baby, her uterus is slightly larger than it had been prior to her pregnancy. For some reason, IUDs stay in place better if the uterus is bigger. Hence, another reason to insert IUDs in women who have already had children. (And, statistically, these women are generally married. However, that statistic probably isn't as lopsided as it used to be.)

Doctors play the stats game. If your chances of having problems are greater for whatever reason (you're not in a monogamous relationship, you've never had a child, etc.), then the chances of doctors being supportive of inserting an IUD are diminished.

I want to cry a little on the inside. I'm moving abroad and the country I'm moving to doesn't have an extended cycle pill! I'm going to have to go back to having a period once a month. Not happy. And I don't think the boy is either.

The only American brand they carry at the pharmacy is Yasmin. There are a bunch of brands from the UK that I need to investigate. I'm kinda hoping if I go to the American Hospital OB/GYN department they might have different drugs than the pharmacy.

I'm on Yasmin and I love it!! My period used to be absolutely awful before...and since I got on Yasmin, its been soooooo much better! I still see me having the mood swings of PMS, but that's the only time. I still do notice how much stress has a factor on when I start.

Eventhough I've been on Yasmin for over a year...my b/f and I don't take any chances! We even take the extra precaution and use condoms with spermicide. What has freaked me out the most is that I've recently learned of some people having kids on the way...which made me stress out that I was pregnant, however I knew the chance of that was really small.

I'm on an extended cycle pill, too (Seasonique) and I LOVE it. It shocks the pants off me that more women aren't clamoring to try it.

DolphinChica, you know you can take regular (i.e., the type where you get a period once every month) pills back-to-back and get the same effect, right? That's what I did before Seasonale/Seasonique came out. Seasonale/Seasonique just has fancy packaging. It's exactly the same as taking 3 months' pills back-to-back.

When you see a doc over there for a prescription, you could tell them that your American doc suggested it (going 3 pill cycles without a period.) It does really help for girls who get killer cramps or have really heavy periods.

Good luck - I really hope you can work out something and keep your extended cycle streak going!

Switch. There are about a million different kinds of birth control pills out there, and one probably works well with your body. If you have side effects that bother you a lot, it's time to switch drugs.

I think nausea is caused by the hormones in the pill, so if you were OK with Yasmin you'll probably be OK on whatever your doc switches you to.

Talk to your doc - seriously, it's no big deal. I went through 9 pill types before I found one that didn't make my boobs sore, my cramps worse, or my moods more swingy.

AND BE SURE TO ASK IF THEY HAVE SAMPLES. Most OB/GYN offices have them and I don't know about you, but my birth control pills are EXPENSIVE. Getting a pack for free makes me feel like I beat the system. :)

I'm wondering if there's anyone on here who purposely do not take BC pills? I've read about the horrible things that it can do to you, I don't want that stuff anywhere near my body!

I have something called estrogen dominance, and they wanted me to take BC pills for it. BC is estrogen! It's estrogen in a milder and safer form, but it is still estrogen!

I've did a lot of research on ED, and I have it under control by avoiding caffiene, non-organic dairy products, takin zinc, and eating more veggies. If anyone has estrogen dominance (or its symptoms of heavy/long periods, bad PMS, sore boobs when you're not PMSing, mood swings), and you think BC pills make it worse (I heard of this happening), definately look into some alternatives!

I know a couple girls who feel that way. One of them is my mom.

Sure; like any medication, it has its pros and its cons. But hormonal birth control can be an absolute godsend to a woman with wickedly bad cramps, crazy PMS, or a bleeding disorder.

I've never heard of this. Interesting!

Dionysus:
Its a matter of finding what works for you. Talk with your dr.

My cramps are back to being the bane of my existence, so I may have to look at getting back on some BC to control them, but I am really bad at taking pills every day for longer than two weeks.