Ladies..suggestions on birth control?

I dealt with the same thing, except I was only on the depo shot for a year and had significant and troublesome weight gain. That was the only downside to the depo. I have since stopped all BC, but even before depo, I was on the patch. It wasn’t so bad but it’s a weekly regiment and it’s like a band-aid (fuzzies get caught around the edge on the adhesive). Otherwise it’s that ring thing or the pill. Good luck and let me know what you find!

I’d suggest the IUD.

sterilisation

To keep not having periods, your best bets are either the Mirena IUD, which releases a small amount of progesterone continuously, or the pill or nuvaring, extended active use. The patch should not be used continuously.

I know this might not help but do you if wonder what long term complications could be associated with not doing something as natural as menstrating. I don’t get me wrong I hate them but the thought of not having one freaks me out, for more than the obvious reason.

Here is a question I recently asked about the Mirena IUD. Personally I decided against it, because I just couldn’t accept the idea of an object semi-permanently inside my body.

I’m sticking with seasonale, which I love. You’re supposed to have four periods a year, and I think most women do. I have crazy-weird/heavy periods, so I get mine anyways, but it’s a LOT less painful and less heavy than without or with any other hormone therapy I’ve tried. The other thing I like about it is I’ve had a lot fewer side effects than with most of the other pills I’ve tried,

Yaz was the absolute worst though, as far as moodiness and weight changes. I DO NOT recommend it! I cried almost every day for three months, and my doctor told me she hears that a lot with Yaz (wtf, right?).

@mponochie: All the gynocologists I’ve been to and the data from the clinical trials of various products say that it’s perfectly safe, and can boost a woman’s health if she’s prone to becoming anemic from blood loss from menstruation.
@magsrags: I didn’t know that (about the patch). Why is that?

I was on Depo and gained 30 pounds in one month – no lie! It made me horribly depressed, too.

I have had a wonderful experience with the Mirena – no periods after the first two months and no problems at all. Before I wanted something long-term, though, I was most satisfied with Nuvaring. I think it is because the hormones are released at a steady, continual rate. For me, the daily hormonal peaks of oral contraceptives were like a roller coaster ride that had my husband screaming like a little girl. :)~

My other suggestion would be Annuale.

Wow, all these answers are making me really happy I decided to stop messing with the pill. How do you guys stand the mood swings, the weight gain, and the weird heavy-body feeling? Edit: Well, I guess there are a few trade-offs :)

@wildpotato: Yeah, I guess there are. Pregnancy, talk about weight gain. And I don’t have to “stand” all that stuff. I found seasonale. How do you stand spending one fourth of your life feeling like you’re about to die? Oh, maybe that’s just me without hormone therapy, not everyone.

@La_chica_gomela , the studies they’ve done on estrogen levels in patch users show that the levels drop a little near the end of the first week, then rise a bit higher the second week than they were the first. Again, levels drop a little near the end of the second week, and with the third patch, levels rise a little higher than they were the second week. Overall, the levels stay within a safe range, but we think that the estrogen absorption is more equivalent to the older 50mcg pills than the newer 20 to 35 mcg pills. And it’s reasonable to assume that if you go beyond 3 weeks of patch use, the levels might continue to slowly increase.
For pill users, there is a 24 hour fluctuation in hormone levels every day, and with the nuvaring, it really is steady state.

@La_chica_gomela I have the lightest periods imaginable – which is extremely lucky because I have IBS, and getting cramps aggravates it quite a bit. Because of my gastric issues I spend somewhere around a fourth of my time feeling like death anyway, and I actually had to cancel the pill because it increased my flow and my pain. My body is weird.

Side note – Does the pill help you guys with tender boobs during periods? It used to make mine worse, because they got much heavier. And does anyone know what exactly is hurting when boobs get tender? Is it the mammary gland itself, or some oddly placed pectoral muscles…?

@MagsRags: That makes sense. For some reason, I thought they had changed the formulas in the patch since they realized that in the 1990s. Thanks for the info!

@wildpotato: My breasts don’t generally hurt during my period, so I wouldn’t really know. Sorry.

@wildpotato , breast tenderness is from fluid retention in the ductal tissue. Some women will get quite lumpy from cyclical cysts. A cyst is basically a litle water balloon – it stretches nerve endings and that causes pain.

tubal ligation. Worked great for my wife, and that was almost 30 years ago.

Are there any side affects such as weight gain with any of the bc methods besides the depo?

@mramsey: There can be with any of them, including depo and mirena (anything that changes your hormones, really). It really depends on the individual. (I’ve never gained weight taking oral birth control).

I do spend a lot of time talking to people about birth control though, and I’ve heard more stories about gaining weight with depo prevera than any other method. That’s anecdotal of course.

Birkenstock sandals.

USE A FREAKIN CONDOM!!!! There are so many side affects to all these birth controls. Just use a rubber. Have your partner put one on. Easy as that!!!

Of course if you don’t take birth control, then you will have a monthly visit from your aunt flo. WHICH YOU SHOULD!!!

Condoms are being used but you can never be too careful. Plus getting bc is a lot less expensive in the long run because I don’t have to buy sanitary products.

@Ashalah If my doctors are saying it is okay to use bc and stop/lesson my period then I’m going to trust them. Thanks for the concern though.

If you are in a partnership and have decided to not to reproduce ask your husband/friend for a sterilisation: It’s easy and fast done and all is as before… I can asure my male colegues… :)

@Ashalah: Calm down. It takes all kinds of people to make up the world, not everyone has the same concerns and preferences as you do. And in my experience, people are turned off by all caps, words like “freaking” and lots of exclamations points, and are less likely to listen to what you have to say.