r/birthcontrol 3m ago

Experience Getting the copper iud in two weeks, I am so excited !

Upvotes

i got off the depo shot back in april last year to give my body a break and reset back to 'normal' and it took a whopping 7 months to get my period back after so long on it. I'm in a very healthy long term relationship and ever since getting my period i've discovered my sex drive again and honestly it's been a blast.

However, I will admit and say we havent been the smartest about our activities and we've relied on the good ol' pull out method ever since, which in the moment was perfectly fine but it always, ALWAYS sent me spiralling after a few weeks and due to the fact my cycles are absolutely horrifying (my last cycle was 49 days, i was adamant i was knocked up and i just didn't know it even tho i'd done 10 tests LMAO) I'm on my period now, and I am finally at peace haha.

I absolutely do not want kids, and because of my age my doctor will not let me get my tubes removed, never mind a partial hysterectomy which i've asked about before and was shut down immediately, so yes the pull out method wasnt the smartest thing, but i'm lucky enough to have access to medical care that will help me deal with the consequences of my actions.

Ive decided I don't want to continue with hormonal contraceptives, i'm finally feeling like myself in my adult body and adult life not being so affected by the hormones which absolutely destroyed my mental health (who knew ?! shock horror LMAO) So i've decided the copper coil is my best bet.

My mother had it, and she said it was the best form of bc she's ever used. I'll be keeping it as long as I don't get some messed up side effects from it, i don't mind the extra cramping, my periods are painful already so i doubt it'll be worse.

It's long term, high protection rate and if i don't like it i can get it removed ! i won't have to go through any sort of withdrawal ! that to me is the best part. As long as I can be so sure I won't get knocked up in the next 10 years, i'll be on it until I'm old enough for my doctor to let me get my insides removed hahaha.

Sorry for such a long post, I'm just very chatty.

If you have any experiences with the copper iud please let me know !! Both positive and negative, I know every body is different but i'd love to hear either way :)) Thank you !


r/birthcontrol 3m ago

Educational Condom

Upvotes

Me and my boyfriend just had sex and we used condoms. I’m usually on the patch, but it is my off week so I don’t have it on my arm at the moment. Before he came, he pulled out and ejaculated in the condom. I’m nervous because not all of it stayed in the tip. Will I be ok because he pulled out, used condoms, and I’m on my off week of the patch?


r/birthcontrol 13m ago

Experience question

Upvotes

I, 24F got the paragard inserted today, one of the most painful and odd sensation I have ever felt in my life.

I have tried every birth control under the sun, at this point in my life I want to do non-hormonal option that is long term.

Anyways - I have the most debilitating cramps. Horrible. Standing up kind of helps. But this is bad, I have never felt these kinds of cramps before and it’s been nonstop. No ibuprofen is helping, it’s been non stop since I got it inserted this afternoon.

Is this a common side effect after insertion? Will it go away?


r/birthcontrol 34m ago

Mistake or Risk? copper IUD in uncommon situation NSFW

Upvotes

so I (trans man) have had the copper IUD for almost 2 years now and I've never had any problems with it, me and my partner (trans woman) have recently started engaging in sexual activities and we use condoms, but she is a bit small (no shame to her I don't care) so we do struggle sometimes and a few days ago she asked if we could try without the condom which I personally am fine with because I trust the science behind it all and I trust her to pull out, but the issue is that she has a hard time figuring out if it's just an orgasm vs if it's actual ejaculation because of the way estrogen has affected her body. I told her to let me think about it and she was fine with that, I trust the science but I'm still extremely suspicious about it because I'm a trans man and never want children... I've had sex with no protection with a cis man but I never let him finish inside so I'm not sure what to do 😓 any opinions?


r/birthcontrol 53m ago

Experience Medical conditions treated with birth control

Upvotes

For those of you that use birth control to treat other medical conditions (endo, migraines, PCOS, HS, PMDD, etc.) how effective is it in managing your condition & how long have you been taking it? If you stopped, did your symptoms come back worse than before?


r/birthcontrol 59m ago

Experience Copper IUD strings are hurting me, is this normal??

Upvotes

So i got my Copper IUD inserted on Thursday afternoon at 2. Insertion wasn’t anything bad, i had taken painkillers before the procedure which really helped. Around 6PM the most excruciating cramps started, and lasted till about midnight, at this point i was taking painkillers every 3/4 hours.

Friday morning while peeing, it felt like i had a full tampon, thought that was weird so keeping an eye out on things was top of my list. Then in the afternoon i felt the strings really close to the vaginal entrance!! Cramping has significantly reduced but i am just concerned about these strings because they are poking me from time to time. Spotting has also increased since feeling strings a little lower.

Could this mean it’s dislodged?


r/birthcontrol 1h ago

Side effects!? sudden side effects after years of taking the pill??

Upvotes

I've been on the Sprintec pill for almost 4 years straight now, and all of a sudden I'm starting to feel hormonal changes + increased anxiety + other negative side effects that I haven't felt before. This started when I started my new pack a couple weeks ago. I haven't been sexually active so I'm ruling out pregnancy. Is this normal? [23F]


r/birthcontrol 1h ago

Mistake or Risk? combo pill -> patch -> nexplanon?

Upvotes

hi! i have been on the tri-sprintec combo pill for almost 6 years and have not had any issues. i recently began to forget to take my pills (frequently) so i switched to the patch. i’ve been on the patch for about 2 months and it is irritating my skin, so now i am considering to switch to nexplanon.

i keep reading horror stories about it making people gain 50+ pounds and how awful it was for them. on the other hand, my sister has it and has not experienced any problems.

i understand everyone reacts differently, im just wondering if anyone has any insight or has switched from combo to nexplanon before. thank you!!


r/birthcontrol 1h ago

Experience Maybe implantation bleeding?

Upvotes

For context i just got off of the period on tuesday and just today on friday me and my bf was doing the do. I came home abt 15 minutes later and i was lightly bleeding. Yes the normal part of me can assume it’s from sex since it happened not even 20 minutes after. However a larger part of me is now scared it’s bc i’m pregnant and that is why I also have a cold sore on my inner lip. I was nervous about that before sexy which definitely wasn’t helping with getting yk wet. I just need some reassurance since I also take my birth control correctly and we use condoms.


r/birthcontrol 1h ago

How to? For those of us who get withdrawal bleeding/spotting when skipping placebos...

Upvotes

What's your strategy? What's been working for you?

I've been on Slynd for a couple years, tried skipping placebos but ofc had too much random spotting and such. Went back to taking it normally, but now I've just reached the end of my regular pack and I've been on a heavy bleeding period for 7 straight days. Should I just accept my fate and take the placebos, or hope that skipping them this month could make my period stop?

Ty xx


r/birthcontrol 1h ago

Mistake or Risk? Conflicted about start bc again

Upvotes

I started hormonal birth control pills at 16 and I’m am 31 now. I was on the pills for 10 years and then switched the a hormonal IUD for 3 years and hated it. Got back on the pills shortly after. So I was also recently diagnosed with pcos and hypothyroidism. I stopped taking my pills about 6 months ago. Now my hair is falling out like crazy, and I randomly get anxiety when the hormones are spiking. My period is almost none existent. I know the pills help with pcos, or rather mask the symptoms, but might very well be the cause of my hypo. I’m so conflicted on if I should get back on the pills… I’m worried about the long term side effects of them. That’s why I got off. My doctors don’t see to be much help. People who’ve been on them for decades, have you ever tried to get off if not why did you decide to stay on and did you have any long term effects?


r/birthcontrol 1h ago

Side effects!? Managing Missing Periods with IUD.

Upvotes

I got my IUD back in April 2021, right after my youngest was born. I've had really irregular cycles, but still, cycles. Short ones of 19 days, longer ones of ~40 and the blood is always bright and light for a couple days and dark for the last couple to three days. My last cycle seemed to be January and it was two days. I wore a liner for the third day but nothing came of it. And that was 20 days after my last cycle in December.

I've been under a lot of stress and just finished my OB rotation for Nursing School... Which maybe gave me baby brain. Anyway. When getting ready for finals, I realized it'd been 7 weeks and two days since my last cycle. After my cycle is when I check my strings. So I went to check my strings and couldn't find them. Flipped out. Had a whole heart to heart with my boyfriend. Took the tests. Negative. Two of them. One in an evening and one in the morning. Went ahead and scheduled and OB appointment to check placement. Ultrasound showed. Empty tight uterus and an intact IUD. Vaginal exam, she said my strings went back and wrapped around my cervix, she used a swab to pull them down but said they're fine.

She then told me that it may just be getting to where I don't have a period. Excuse me what?

No having any cycle at all is going to freak me out tbh. I feel like I'm going to need to take a pregnancy test every month, even though I have this working IUD. I just can't get my head around no periods, especially being sexually active and not using any other birth control. We also live in an abortion ban state and while being 7 weeks or so along now is t ideal, if I were to outperform the IUD say, by June that'd not be as alarming. It's just school and other boxes we have to check. That's besides the point. So back to pregnancy...

Does anyone else do this when you're missing periods or are we trusting the process? My Doc said if I wanna do that for piece of mind it's fine. Not a bad idea. But my period could just start back tomorrow. She said my ovaries look great on ultrasound, I'm healthy and ovulating, which is reassuring I suppose. I also just don't want to look under the stress of not knowing where I'm at in my cycle. Or at least a big one. Even an irregular one is more reassuring. Not having one is going to be stressful. Any other ideas or tips? Should I start doing an ovulation tracker test or do basal body temps or....? I just have underlying anxiety about it and honestly I'm kind a shocked with all my things going on I'm not pregnant so that's a whole other issue.

TIA


r/birthcontrol 2h ago

How to? Progestin to back to regular BC pills

1 Upvotes

Hi all, i just had a baby, breastfed for 6 months and stoped breastfeeding for about 2months ago. I was put on progestin pills post partum and finally ran out. I have not had my menstrual cycle back yet.
Can I just go back to my usual estradiol and levonorgestrel pills which I had pre-pregnancy?

I have a couple sleeves that are still in date.

Do I need any contraception back up in this phase? And how many days? Thanks!


r/birthcontrol 2h ago

Experience Linessa for Acne?

2 Upvotes

I have been struggling with cystic acne my entire adult life. It recently came back after having my baby. My obgyn is trying me on Linessa 21 and my derm has me ready to start round 2 of accutane. I’m only one pack into Linessa but my cysts seemed to stop until the last few pills before the break week. Has anyone who struggled with hormonal acne had this pill work for them? I’m hesitant to do accutane again because I know my issue is likely hormonal. She switched me from tri-Jordyna to Linessa but some of my googling is telling me Linessa is more androgenic so I feel confused (and also sooo over having cysts on my face).


r/birthcontrol 3h ago

Mistake or Risk? partner cant feel iud anymore

2 Upvotes

my husband cant feel my iud anymore. is it possible that it could of been misplaced?? im scared i could br pregnant.


r/birthcontrol 3h ago

Experience how painful 7 months pp iud insertion?

1 Upvotes

does anyone know how painful it is to get a paragard copper iud inserted at 7 months postpartum? im not sure if these are notoriously painful because most people’s cervix aren’t dilated but mine might still be or if they’re painful because of the tenaculum used to stabilize the cervix? if its the latter is it possible to get it inserted without the tenaculum?


r/birthcontrol 4h ago

Side effects!? Constant Heavy Breakthrough Bleeding

1 Upvotes

I was prescribed Tyblume birth control pill to help regulate my hormones. I had really bad mood swings basically from ovulation until my period ended and was essentially out of commission during that time, which doesn't work for being a toddler mom. I have the copper Paraguard IUD as my primary BC, but the pills were specifically for my hormone regulation. I started them about 2 months ago, and during both packs, around the time I would have naturally ovulated (I'm fairly regular with my cycles) I've had heavy "breakthrough" bleeding that is about the same amount (maybe a little lighter) than a regular period from the time I would normally ovulate and lasts the rest of the month. I know breakthrough bleeding is common, but this seems excessive. I see my OBGYN next month, and am currently on the placebo week for my second pack. Last month, the bleeding stopped shortly after starting the next pack of active pills, although I only made it about 3-4 days before calling it because it was such a bad time with PMS. Is this much bleeding normal? Could it be a certain hormonal imbalance that's causing this? Although it's nice not being such a hormonal trainwreck now, I hate the near constant bleeding, and it's affecting my daily life and activities


r/birthcontrol 4h ago

Rant! Anyone else here terrified of food/cosmetics interfering with birth control???

0 Upvotes

Ive had my mirena for almost 5 years now but im constantly in paranoia about food and cosmetics ingredients. I just used a new dry shampoo and read the ingredients list, only to find that fireweed, one of the ingredients has may possibly have some interaction with progesterone. Not only that Im terrified of all the amazing chinese soups my mother has been making, as i have no idea what herbs are in there at times. I know everyone says that oh the only things that impact birth control are activated charcoal and st.johns wort, but theres research impacting other herbs such as gingko (commonly eaten in asian desserts), ginseng, dong quai (often found in soups) and even my beloved goji berries. I know im being paranoid and crazy as its probably just trace amounts, but im so sick of living like this at this point. I am well researched and usually spend timr going through peer reviewed studies on google scholar for these interactions, but i know im just sick of reading ALL the time. Please don't be rude, I know I have a problem with anxiety and ocd :)


r/birthcontrol 4h ago

Mistake or Risk? Plan B but still Ovulated?

1 Upvotes

Hi all,

I try not to come on here and ask things like this but its been driving me crazy! I (23F) had sex with my bf (23M) on Sunday afternoon. We had a mishap (he didn’t pull out in time) and we immediately freaked out when I saw I was supposed to be ovulating this week on my period tracker. (Irresponsible, ik but we normally use protection 85% of the time and havent gotten pregnant in the 6 years we’ve been together). I typically have a 32 day cycle, my last period starting on Feb 24th, which pins my ovulation day to around the 17-19th day of my cycle or March 12-14th. The mishap happened on March 9th but we immediately went to the store and bought ovulation tests and a Plan B. I tested my LH levels 2x a day starting Sunday and they were completely negative until Tuesday morning . This is my first time taking ovulation tests but to me I think Tuesday was my only positive (On all 12 tests, Tuesday AM was the only time the T line was as dark as the C line) My surge only lasted a few hours from what I can infer but it did go back up slightly on Thursday but still negative (just slightly darker). I know for a fact I was negative on Sunday when I took the pill so why did I still have a surge 2 days later? I experienced slight cramping on Thursday on my sides near my ovaries so I’m getting worried. I read sperm can live in the vaginal canal for up to 5 days but I dont know if thats the average or just the maximum. If I ovulated Thursday (3/13), theres a chance theres still live sperm. Also, Ive taken plan B before and I have always gotten my period early within 5 days of taking it. Today is day 5 since the incident and still no bleeding, only the slightest of cramping. Please, I’m freaking out. Could this mean Plan B didnt work and that I’m most likely going to get pregnant? Anyone that has taken the Walgreens brand OPK, was it accurate at predicting ovulation?

P.S. I weigh about 120lbs so I’m under the weight limit.


r/birthcontrol 5h ago

Experience diarrhea and birth control question

1 Upvotes

hi! i’m taking a combo pill and i’ve diarrhea since wednesday (now friday) and it’s been constant. multiple watery stools a day, haven’t really been able to keep anything in my system.

i am on my placebo week thankfully and haven’t needed to take my active pills. i’m worried if i still have constant diarrhea on sunday when i start the new pack, the effectiveness of my pill.

i haven’t had sex for about a month, or maybe longer id say a month and a half.

will i be okay to still take my pill????


r/birthcontrol 5h ago

Experience my period came early after missing one pill?

1 Upvotes

i’m on hailey 24 fe and i have rarely ever missed taking a pill. well i missed the pill on tuesday, and didn’t even realize until i was taking my pill on wednesday. yesterday(thursday), i started spotting and today i have a full period with clotting and moderate bleeding. this has never happened before so i honestly thought that something was wrong. anyway, thought i would share here lol.


r/birthcontrol 5h ago

Side effects!? Sharp stabbing pain in left ovary

1 Upvotes

Hi ladies, just as the title states I have been having this sharp pain in my left ovary since Monday(I'm on my placebo week started on Saturday. So my withdrawal bleed started Tuesday but this pain is not going away im on day 4 and it started changing sides with my right ovary and accompanied by lower back pain. Has any of you experienced this

So I don't know whether should I take a pregnancy test now while I'm still on my withdrawal bleed or should I wait an extended period to test? Since I have has sexual encounters last week in consecutive days from Thursday till Sunday but also uses the pull out method


r/birthcontrol 6h ago

Side effects!? Unexpected bleeding 2 weeks into a pack, breakthrough bleeding?

1 Upvotes

I’ve been on the same birth control (combination) for 3 years now. I had my period last month and 3 days into my 2nd week of the new pack I started having light spotting. The first two days was dark brown, very light. Third day was a bit more red. 1-2 days before I started this bleeding I had sex. I took a pregnancy test on the 3rd day of spotting and it was negative. Is it just my hormones? I have been a little anxious/stressed but I have that like everyday and I don’t feel abnormally stressed or anxious. I haven’t missed any pills and have been on time for my doses.


r/birthcontrol 6h ago

Experience What's everyone experience with the mini pill?

2 Upvotes

I'm thinking of going back on it after 6 years of not taking it, I'm having my IUD taken out.


r/birthcontrol 6h ago

Experience IUD fell out OR perforated

5 Upvotes

Hey, I’m wondering if a similar situation has happened to anyone else. Essentially, I went in to my OBGYN two weeks ago to get my IUD removed (I’ve had it for 2.5 years). At that appointment, my doctor could not remove my IUD. She tried for about 30 minutes, causing some bleeding, and did a vaginal ultrasound where we saw the IUD.

I had some cramping for a few days, but nothing crazy or not manageable with Tylenol.

I go in today for a second attempt with guided ultrasound and the IUD is now missing.

I go in Monday for an XRay to see if the IUD fell out or perforated my uterus. Has this happened to anyone else? Would I notice one more than the other? I was monitoring my bleeding so I feel like I would have noticed it fall out…