Birth control survey!

[Michelle.LeaParticipant]

@bgm i dont get the condom hate myself either.. when i used them, they were fine? nothing is as good as skin on skin, but it was never a deal breaker or anything..

[Elanie MayParticipant]

Condoms definitely aren’t a dealbreaker for me, either. They work and stuff. But I don’t like stopping in the middle of foreplay, and I think it would be nice to be lying in bed early in the morning or late at night and be able to just spontaneously start sexytimes without thinking about getting up, etc. And although he’s been really good about them and doesn’t complain, I know that he prefers sex without them. One of the benefits of monogamy is not having to use condoms!

If for some reason I can’t handle hormonal b.c., we can go back to condoms and it’ll be okay, but I’d like to try without.

[CaraParticipant]

I´m not taking the pill right now, because I´m not in a relationship and I don´t have sex very often. (Let´s be honest, only once this year. God, I need some action. Summer break is fortunately only 3 weeks away)

Anyway, when I did it was free until I was twentyone and since then I had to pay about 30€ for a 6 month package. I didn´t gain weight or anything and my skin is always really good (Yay) so I like the pill. But I´m always paranoid so I usually used condoms on top of the pill. I do think there´s a difference between with and without them, but it doesn´t annoy me so much that I´d risk fretting about being pregnant.

[jlyfshParticipant]

I’m on hormonal bc first for heavy periods/terrible cramps and then later on for cysts and have been since I was 16. I took nordette for the first 12 years (I did try and go off bc when I was in my early 20s but it was a bad decision ending in a cyst and I was only off for about a year before going back on) and then switched to errin when nordette starting affecting my blood pressure and giving me terrible headhaces. Other than the issues at the end I haven’t had any issues with either and I’m very happy with Errin. Errin has no estrogen so my periods are a little heavier than when I was on nordette, but thankfully the are nothing like the one I had when I was a teenager!

Really talking to your doctor is best because there are so many different options. It does take some people more than one try to find one that works.

[RangerchicParticipant]

I tried the ring and loved it but my insurance wouldn’t cover it either – $80 bucks a month – no way! And my sister is on Mirena and loves it. I would like to get that too but again my insurance says it goes to my deductible (which of course is so high as unattainable without a major catastrophe) so the cost would be $900. Sucks. So my husband and I use the withdrawal method which has worked for us for 12 years and counting. I actually like it better because I think I’m allergic to sperm/come since when I was on BC and he didn’t withdraw it would always burn weird. Never asked my doctor about it though.

[lets_be_honestParticipant]

My advice, whenever anyone asks about birth control, is to just throw caution to the wind, live a little and hope you don’t get pregnant. You only live once! Take some risks, makes life more exciting!
Also, if you really, really don’t want to get pregnant, just stand on your head for 14 minutes after sex.

[CatsMeowParticipant]

I use Lutera/Aviane (also known as Alesse, I think?). It’s generic and goes by many names. I’ve been on it for over 10 years now. It is the first and only birth control I have ever taken. I have never experienced any side effects whatsoever, my periods are like clockwork, and I’ve never been pregnant.

I guess I’ve been pretty lucky, eh? I know other people struggle to find one that’s right for them.

[CatsMeowParticipant]

Oh, and because it’s generic I think it’s only about $30 WITHOUT insurance. With insurance, it’s like $4.

[sarolabelleParticipant]

being Catholic, I have never really liked the idea of birth control other than just not having sex while you are ovulating. A woman is only fertile for 24 hours out of every month….

anyhoo, my resistance against birth control is currently a topic of heated discussion for my fiance (soon to be husband). For the past two years we haven’t had sex. But come November we will.I know my body so well….but probably will start taking the pill. I got Yasmin, just haven’t taken it. I love my fiance more than I love the Catholic church’s teachings!

[rachelParticipant]

Listen to lbh, she’s the expert, and has only gotten pregnant once!

I don’t “hate” condoms, and I don’t think they make that much of a difference during sex. But, honestly, smelling like a combination of latex and sex afterwards? For some reason that combination makes me want to gag. I always get rid of condoms as soon as I trust the person I’m with and have had the appropriate std talk. (to be fair, I’ve mostly been in serious relationships, so I haven’t ditched condoms with very many people)

[JKParticipant]

@sarolabelle it´s not actually true that a woman is only fertile 24 hours. More like 5-7 days (considering how long sperm lives etc).

http://www.americanpregnancy.org/gettingpregnant/ovulationfaq.htm

[mandaleeParticipant]

@rachel- Yes, I agree with you all the smell after sex. Just thinking about makes me not want to eat lunch. I’ve actually only had to use condoms for a few months in my life. I made every guy (a whooping 3) get tested before we started having sex, because I disliked them so much. My husband swore he’d only ditch condoms with his future wife when we started dating. That lasted about three months haha Good thing we ended up married!

[FireStarParticipant]

@JK – actually I am going through all of this now since I’m trying to get knocked up (that’s the medical term right?) and while sperm can last 3-4 days (for normal men) the egg has a window of about 24-48 hours to be fertilized before it isn’t viable for fertilization anymore. Which really make the people who get pregnant on demand kind of magic. I swear my best friend just has to have a man look at her hard and she gets pregnant!

[bittergaymarkParticipant]

Sure condom’s are a pain, but they don’t suck. And honestly, for the passive partner? Meaning all you women out there, I don’t see how you actually would even feel any difference either? Seriously… And you know what actually sucks? HIV, AIDS, or an unplanned pregnancy. Moreover with the absolutely INSANE amount of letters here that deal with supposedly monogamous after only a few month boyfriends who (surprise. surprise! went out and cheated!) — I think many of you are all being kinda, sorta stupid about this.

Moreover, the amount of downlow man on man sex out there that actually happens would BLOW. YOUR. MINDS. Hell, the last hot, young that tried to pick me up tossed out the “oooh, I have a fiance’” tidbit in a misguided attempt to sweeten the pot by letting me know he, was, um… supposedly straight. And you know what? Nobody EVER would have guessed he was gay. Nobody. Seriously. Nobody. (Other than the dead give away that he was buying me drinks and whispering obscene things in my ear…)

But honestly, I think far too many young women today put themselves needlessly at risk. You want skin to skin sex? Get married. And even then — know your partner for YEARS — at least two…

Hell, I’ve been saddled with condoms for over twenty years now. Yikes, spanning four decades! December 1989 till now… Yeah, time flies… Sure, I’ve had two chunks of time off in long relationships where we got very serious and very committed… And sure, it was NICE not using condoms… But when those relationships fell apart it wasn’t the lack of condoms that left me crying…

Condoms work. In my entire life, I’ve had one condom break. ONE. And that was one we should have seen coming because we had been at it too long and far too roughly… So, yeah. Condoms work. Much more effectively than all your pills and whatnot. Or, wait? Are all these mysterious “unplanned” pregnancies I constantly keep hearing about actually not that quite surprising…due to slips ups deliberate or not quite so accidental as I always claim…

[JKParticipant]

@firestar: Yeah, what I meant with my comment (expressed myself wrong) is that to be sure you won´t get pregnant you really have to abstain pretty much a week, a few days on either side of ovulation to be sure. Even then it´s not 100%

With my 1st we were trying for 6 months, me checking the days, keeping my bum on a pillow and legs in the air for 20 mins after sex, etc. etc. Also, it turns out that the month I got pregnant I hadn´t actually ovualted when I was meant to (and thought I had), but a week later, so when I did the 1st hpt after a day of being late it was negative, I had to wait another week for a positive (I was convinced I was pregnant!)
With my 2nd I got pregnant on our first try, one one of the only days we even had sex that month (my MIL was in the ICU at the time, so my husband was majorly stressed).

Good luck TTC!

[Author]

Posts