What form of birth control do you use?

[blue toxin]

Whoa, that's odd. The whole damned tip just came off? People always told me you'll feel an immediate difference in wetness if a condom is broken... didn't he check from time to time as to whether or not the condom was on right?

Dryness is a condom killer.

[vashti]

The ring sounds like a modern day version of an IUD. Frankly, I'd rather take the pill than have to deal with insertions/removal. Having a foreign object in your vagina 3/4 of the time just sounds yucky. Norplant sounds better.

[blue toxin]

The ring sounds like a modern day version of an IUD. Frankly, I'd rather take the pill than have to deal with insertions/removal. Having a foreign object in your vagina 3/4 of the time just sounds yucky. Norplant sounds better.

I agree. But for what it's worth, I haven't heard one female (or male) say that they have ever felt the ring whatsoever. But still, I think a pill would be a little more pleasant to take every morning as opposed to slingin your leg over a tub and makin sure that the little gizmo is set properly.

[Tiay]

Why don't you look into nuvaring? [...] Check into that. Although I'd be tempted to ask a doctor what their personal opinion is instead of pursuing it entirely off of what you read online.

Thanks that seems pretty cool, especially because it's not affected by vomiting, and the absorption is constant. I looked it up and it's available in ireland on the medical card (which means it's free for me)

As for only using condoms for 8 years.. I couldn't do that because I'd worry myself to death within 3 years

yeah, sometimes doctors just don't seem to want to bother explaining. I have an under active thyroid gland but I was never told the condition's actual name (hypothyroidism) until I looked it up myself. So, well, I hope Eltroxin (aka Thyroxine) doesn't interfere with estrogen and progestin. I will have to ask about that...

[Ellynn]

Ah, I didn't know you had to actually remove the damn ring! Forget that!

I just thought you inserted it and it absorbs and viola! No worries for a month!

I wouldn't like an IUD either. I think I would opt for that if I already had kids and didn't want more for at least 5 yrs. But by the time I have kids, that probably won't be an issue. It works well for some though.

My friend just had one put in.( Shes 24.) She has a 6 yr old and a 6 month old. She had it put in because she got pregnant accidentally while on the pill. Plus, now she is breast feeding and all that, and her husband and her want to be able to go at it whenever and not worry so much. They might want another kid down the line when shes closer to 30, but just not right now. I guess it makes sense in her situation.

[Ellynn]

Whoa, that's odd. The whole damned tip just came off? People always told me you'll feel an immediate difference in wetness if a condom is broken... didn't he check from time to time as to whether or not the condom was on right?

Dryness is a condom killer.

By the time we figured it out, it was afterwards. And yeah I was dry to begin with, thanx to the pill, but once we pulled out the good ole lube, it was all good.

I also noticed that while we were going at it, the lube would absorb after awhile and I would go right back to being dry again. So, sometimes I would have to use more lube.

He might have noticed a difference, but I certainly didn't. When your in the middle of things sometimes you really don't notice. Plus, there were a few times where we didn't use a condom. (IT WAS ALOT BETTER!) I also noticed that I didn't get dry either. But, I prefer to use one for the fact of double protecting.

[mini696]

Nothing. .

[blue toxin]

Nothing. .

Are you trying to have kids?

[Ellynn]

Are you trying to have kids?

I think its because he isn't having sex!

[mini696]

First partner was infertile.

Second partner was on BC, and even when she wasn't we still had sex with no protection (I only found out she was off BC afterwards). EEEK!!

Now... Not having sex.

[Zrx]

When we were having sex she would use the pill but then she went off the pill so we used condoms. Had no problems.

[Iso8]

my boyfriend and I only use condoms, we make sure we keep them suitably though in a dry drawer where they cant be bent or folded and follow the usual careful of your nails tearing, rings etc I just dont like the idea of the pill changing my natural cycle or my hormone level

[Rosebud]

The ring sounds like a modern day version of an IUD. Frankly, I'd rather take the pill than have to deal with insertions/removal. Having a foreign object in your vagina 3/4 of the time just sounds yucky. Norplant sounds better.

I have an IUD, and I forget I have it half the time because you don't feel it. And the inserting is only as uncomfortable as a normal pap. I have a horrible time remembering to take pills let alone the same each day. I used the patch and got pregnant off it, and since my cramps were so severe, and I hate needles, not to mention implants (norplant), my only option was an IUD.

Granted there are side effects to both IUD's but there is to all birth control.

[Tiay]

yeah, I dislike the idea of mucking around with hormones and such, but I hate the idea of having an accident even more..

so, as far as I can see, the choices I've researched about are as follows:

The Pill. (92-99.7%)
- requires taking it at the same time every day. that's.. just not going to work for me.

Depo-Provera (the shot) (97-99.7%)
deeply dislike shots. then again, only every 12 weeks.

NuvaRing (99.7%)
kinda similar to the patch in that you only have to remember it every three weeks. So far, a very likely solution for me.
I'm not sure if having to remember something less frequently will make me more or less forgetful, though.

Various Barrier Methods (71-94%)
nope, don't like the sound of those.

Implanton (implanon? spelling? dunno) (pretty damn fail safe)
sorta like norplant, only lasts for 3 years and is only one rod. I really like the sound of this one.. then again, in trials, 30% of women decided to have it removed within 2 years because of the irregular bleeding it caused. Hey, I've already got that so I wont mind haha..

IUD isn't recommended for teens, i've read.. so not for me.

mainly, the problem is that they all have impressively long lists of side effects, and there is no way to know how I personally will react.
man, this shouldn't be so damn hard to decide

[GrkScorp]

Depo-Provera (the shot) as you so eloquently put it, is given to sex offenders that have a past criminal history. This is a substance that makes both men and women infertile.

In the late 1960's to the mid 1980's, one nation in North America provided financial incentives for low-income families to take Depo-Provera (the shot), in a national effort to reduce the number of children in the lower-income-class. I will not say which nation it was; I will say however that it was not Canada, Mexico or Greenland.

So, if you're planning of having children in the future, don't consider this as an option. If you must know, birth control works just as great as condoms, and when the two are used together, you have a (0.00174%) chance of ending up like Britney Spears after her wedding night...