birth control
 

what do you use?

I use Depo Provera. It is the shot that you get every 3 months. So far it has worked just great...knock on wood:D The only problem that I have had with it is that I gained a little weight when I went on it. But that doesn't happen to everyone, it just depends on the person. Also not to be too graphic, but when I first started on it I had "my friend" for like a month straight. But after that I don't get it at all. Some people don't like this but it doesn't bother me. Just like you I use condoms too, you can't be too safe.

I'm on Ortho Cyclin.. but I use condoms also.. just to be absolutely positive.

Call me paranoid.. :p

Im on depo also. I love it, this is year 4 for me. I actually lost about 10 pounds at first. But like any other hormono birth control it does not protect from STD's. If i was sexually active I would use a condom. But my fiance is about 2000 miles from me *sigh*. and I know he is clean ( i made both of us test after our last tattoo).

everyone i know that went on Depro ended up gaining about 15 pounds and couldn't lose it until they stopped using the shot. thats why Christina Aguilera ballooned up. also they lost their sex drive

i'm on yasmin and love it.....been on it for about 2 years and never had a problem. :)

i think it is just 'seasonale'

I'm also on the pill, Apri. I've been on it for about 3 years now, never had a problem with it. My boyfriend and I used condoms for the first 3-4 months and then went to stuff like foam, torpedo-like-inserts, etc. Now we don't bother with anything but the pill, much more cheaper :)

PM_Mama-- So ditto with you're sidenote ;)

I have used Nuvaring for well over a year and haven't had any problems w/ it. It made cramping practically disappear and made things last days shorter than usual. At one point I was also taking Lupron shots to prevent fibroids and endometriosis, but that caused far more problems than it prevented, so after my 6 month round was up, I refused to take another round. Thus far things have been much better.

Looks like I'm the first one here to be using the OrthoEvra patch. I was on the pill (OrthoTriCyclen) for years, but I'm horrible at remembering to take pills. I absolutely love the patch and wouldn't trade it for anything. It does not fall off! In fact, that sucker sticks better than duct tape and hurts like a mother when I pull it off every Sunday. Definitely happy with my patch :)

THATS HOW I FEEL AND EVERYONE THINKS I'M NUTS!!!!
I'm on Ortho Tri Cyclen-Lo (which makes less emotional as the orginal ortho tri cyclen). I recently talked with my doctor about seasonale, but we decided that I'm not a good candidate cause I can't "skip" my period like everyone else (I always get break through bleeding).

Also, I would freak out every month that I was pregnant. Seriously. Back when I was still a virgin AND I was on the pill I was about 2 weeks late for some reason and I freaked out that I was pregnant (ya know those "i'm still a virgin but I got pregnant" stories, I was freaking out I was one of those).

I also insit on condums. I figure the pill is 99.9% effective....but that still leaves .1% I'm not playing with odds. The less chance, the better.

Same here...It is so much easier to remember once a week than once a day. It does get a little gunky around the edges for me, but not until later in the week.

I'm on OrthoTriCyclen Lo, and I like it. Before that I was on the regular OrthoTriCyclen, but it seems that they're doing away with that one. I've never had any problems with the pill...except occasionally forgetting and having to swallow two pills the next day. I don't use any back up since I'm married, and a) I've been on the pill for so many years that it's way too into my system to have an accident, and b) we want kids someday so no big deal if there is an accident( although no accidents too soon, please :p )

I am curious about the patch though. Does it irritate your skin were you have it on? I thought that was a possible side effect and my skin is sometimes sensitive.

I'm on Yasmin, and I've lost some water weight from it. It makes me one horrid biaotch though. Especially since I just got on them...

I'm switching to Ortho Lo next month so I won't kill anyone :)

I must be a strange one then, becuase my sex-drive is very very high. If this is true I must be like Sam Jones on Sex and the City with out it. I dont think my fiance could handle me if my drive was any higher....

Depo Provera is a shot that you get every 3 months. Most people stop having their period.
Seasonale is a pill (i think) that you take and you are suposed to get your period 4 times a year.

so w/ depo provera you NEVER get your period?

while that sounds awesome, i'd be incredibly paranoid

I was on Levrilite (sp?), pills from Planned Parenthood. I was on it for 3 months and I didn't like it. If you missed like 1 day or was aoff a few hours for a few days, you Mr. Happy would be all F*ed up. Example: Missed one or two days in the begging of the month and I would have light bleeding from the middle of the pill cycle till the end, then I would have my period. That SUCKED! Or I would be a few hours off from taking them (like if I have to take them at 10:00 p.m. and forgot and took it at 12:00) and did that for a few days the same thing would happen. I was on Orthro Tri-Cyclen Lo and I would miss like 3 days and it wouldn't do that! But Planned Parenthood doesn't have that anymore because they're too expensive. So I have to go to a real Gyno so I can get a prescription for OT-C Lo.

And ditto with the "being happy when you get your period". I was late last month and was kind of freaking out about being preggers. My bf wouldn't mind if I was pregnant. It wouldn't be the perfect time for us, but we're a stable couple and want kids together later on anyways.

I use Orthro Tri-Cyclen. It is my second time on it, and thus far I haven't had any problems. I want to try Seasonale, but this time I had to go through a free clinic (since I'm unemployed) and they didn't have it. I considered Depo Provera, but shots make me cry.

I use Apri too. Ortho Tricyclen made me have hella mood swings.

We used condoms as a back up before we were married but now it is just the pill

Well for me personally it stopped my periods. But it is different for all people. I know a couple of people that are on it that stil have a period sometimes but it isn't regular.
I do kinda get paranoid about not having a period but it is better than forgetting to take the pill and getting pregnant. I can't even remember to take antibiotics for a week!

I'm on Triphasil-28 and I've had no side effects from it. I've been taking it for a few years now and I have not had any problems with weight gain/loss, mood swings, etc.

I'm on the "y" chromosome. It is extremely effective, but it has some strange side effects like growing hair on my chest, and bulginess in my crotch area. ;)

That was the first bcp I ever took. I didn't gain weight or anything but I was naseated as all get out. I used to lay in bed for hours w/o moving just so I wouldn't puke. Getting up in class every day to go get sick became a ritual. I quickly switched to something milder. I am glad that you have had no problems :)

Really? Wow...I've never experienced anything like that, thankfully!

estrostep
 

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My skin is sensitive, too but I haven't had any problems with irritation from the patch. The only complaint I do have is the "gunk" that DeltaBetaBaby mentioned. It's the same thing that happens when you have a band-aid on.

I Started the patch in about April. Before that I had been on Ortho Novum 7/7/7 for 11 years. I had a random spike in blood pressure so my Dr. took me off of it in case that was what the cause was. He thought the hormone level was too high and wanted me on something lower, like the patch. I absolutely love and would not go back to the pill unless I had too.

As far as the sensitive skin goes, the first few weeks I used it I ended up with a dry patch of skin but nothing to major. I also hate the gunk around it but found that if I washed it well and scraped off any gunk that was on it daily it didn't get bad.

Allesse and Trojans. One for me, one for him. I figure that's fair enough.

[*Very* rarely, like around July b-days/anniversary and Xmas/New Year's, we'll just have the pill. But I *really* don't want kids until after the promotions take effect and we buy a bigger house.]

Now here's a random question for those of you who are on or who were on the bcp. Has your sex drive changed at all? Increased? Decreased ? Remained the same? If so how long have you been on your current pill...just doing a little comparative research here.

I've been on the pill for about 7 years. First 4 years was Ortho-Cept 28, but I started having crazy mood swings, so I switched to Ortho-Novum 1/35. I take the generic, though, because it's cheaper ($25 vs $10). I've been in a monogamous relationship for over 6 years, and we don't use any backup unless (1) I accidentally skip a pill or (2) I'm on antibiotics, which can mess up the pill. I've never been late or had any problems (*knocks on wood*).

Warning to Ortho Lo users: I know someone who got pregnant while on that, and a lot of gynos won't prescribe it because that can happen.

yea- i love the patch- i gained a bit of weight when i first started it- but i get really sick from the pill- (nauseousness- dizzyness- throwing up etc- even low doses do it to me) so this goes right to my bloodstream and i don't have to worry about it at all- and i'm not sick! woo hoo

I was on the pill for years, and I found that it decreased my sex drive. It's been a while since I was last on it, so I don't remember exactly how long I had been taking it.

The last time I tried taking the pill, I got something from Planned Parenthood that made me feel so awful I quit taking it after a week or two. I think my body just can't handle the hormones any more, so hopefully someday soon I'll be able to afford a tubal. I hate the hormonal feeling I get from pills.

Went on them six years ago February. Have been on Allesse the whole time. Went on before having sex, so I'm not really sure about the sex drive! That's increased naturally over the past few years. (Keep in mind that your sex drive will change as you age-- supposedly ~18 is horniest time for guys, but I've heard that ~30 is the horniest time for women. Weird, eh?) Worst thing about the pill was feeling nauseous and having a bit of soreness in the chest area and other slight water weight gain (bloating?), which lasted about the first week. After that, pretty much fine.

I'm sure I'll have hormone withdrawl when I go off sometime next fall, though...

I was a wreck with pills... really emotional (worse than usual), very nauseous, etc. so I didn't stay on them very long.

I've been on Depo aobut 3 1/2 years...it's been great for me, no weight gain (at least none attributable to that), leveled off the over-emotionalness, and of course, AF hasn't come to visit once :)

I have noticed a slow decline in my drive... mostly in the last year or so, so maybe it builds up. I plan to go off of it after my wedding, so I guess we'll find out if it was the Depo or just me :)

edited to add: the only thing I've noticed with it is that I'm mega-emotional the week before I'm due (which happens to be this week... watch out!) and super... affectionate ;) for about a week after. So those hormones really do hit you hard and you can feel a withdrawal-type feeling.

I'm on Ortho-Tri-Cyclen and I have been since I was 16, but there was a few months in between where I went of Levlite because I felt the Ortho was making me fat. Now I don't care I just smoke more. And I think BC makes me hornier. That or I just haven't gotten any for a while.

I've been on Alesse for 4 1/2 years now, also started before I'd ever had sex, so I can't tell how it changed my sex drive.

I've only been on Aless for the past 3 years or so. Had some other higher dosage pills and they didn't agree with me very well, I was too moody on higher dosages.

Might try Mircette next month since it's supposed to be cheaper and the same exact dosage as Alesse. We'll see how that works out. I'm weary of trying new pills.

I've been on Zovia for a while now and never had any problems. I never had regular periods before, and now I skip a lot too. It makes me nervous, but my doctors say its normal (I am a small person). It doesn't seem to effect anything except that if I have a period its on time/regular, but I don't have mood swings or anything else. When I do have a period they are minimal and the side effects (cramps, moods, etc) are the same as before I was on the pill

I've been on some form of bc for so long that I couldn't tell you what my sex drive was like before it.... but, I do know that it has increased since I stopped taking the pill. I think I have an overactive sex drive on the patch, but Mr. Bunny doesn't seem to mind :p

i'm on ortho-tricyclen.

how many hours or minutes difference from when you take the pill each day would make it less effective? anyone know? i always try to take it within the same hour.