[conbot]

I have a question about the pill!!! I'm returning to birth control after 6-ish months off of it. My pills are supposed to be started on the day that you start your period. My period has NEVER been regular, so today when I saw blood I automatically took my first pill. Now I'm thinking that I might just be spotting. Is it okay to go ahead and keep taking the pills, or should I stop and start on a day when I'm 100% sure? I'm not too worried about messing up my periods, but I am worried about pregnancy. Any help would be greatly appreciated

Keep taking the pill, you'll be fine. The period you get on the pill isn't a "natural" period anyway and is only triggered when you stop taking the hormonal pills and switch to the placebo pills. So just keep taking them, and your body will adjust to the cycle of the pills.

You can also use this side effect of the pill to postpone your period when you're going on vacation, or just because. Doctors (in Canada at least, not sure about the US) have agreed that taking the hormonal pills for up to three months without a break is safe. So you could change your cycle so that you only bleed four times a year.

[eleanorrigby2008]

I have a question about the pill!!! I'm returning to birth control after 6-ish months off of it. My pills are supposed to be started on the day that you start your period. My period has NEVER been regular, so today when I saw blood I automatically took my first pill. Now I'm thinking that I might just be spotting. Is it okay to go ahead and keep taking the pills, or should I stop and start on a day when I'm 100% sure? I'm not too worried about messing up my periods, but I am worried about pregnancy. Any help would be greatly appreciated

[chelseabiondolil...]

So, the Onion ran, well, An Onion story about a new "Abortionplex" opening in Topeka, KS... And the link got passed around until this frothy outrage started up on facebook...

Because people thought it was real.

And at first I was totally freaked out that anyone would ever, I mean... THE ONION people. But then I thought, no. You know what, I can get mad or this can be fun.

So, now it is real: http://www.yelp.com/biz/abortionplex-topeka you can even add your own review!

Here's the original Onion story: http://www.theonion.com/articles/planned-p...tionplex,20476/

The Yelp thing will probably come down soon, so add a review while you can.

[foryoursplendor]

Thanks for the feedback.

I've considered an IUD for years, but a friend of mine became pregnant with one and ended up going full term, giving birth. The whole pregnancy was terrible because she never knew if the IUD was going to damage the baby at all (it didnt in the end, thank goodness). I know her story is extremely rare as it is one of the most effective methods, but geez... although I really like the idea of the non-hormonal option.

I could never take pills. When I tried, I had monthly UTI's. So painful and then voiding the birth control in the first place because of having to take antibiotics. It was ridiculous.

This nuvaring sounds okay from what I've read, or possibly the patch.

[ketto]

I don't think there's a search option within threads but I find that it's usually easier to go back and re-read old conversations.

I was on nuvaring for a couple of years and I loved it at the time but after about a year I got my first ever yeast infection, and then I had one every month for 6 months until I finally got off nuvaring. It seems like this happens to some folks but not others. Since then I'm very sensitive to yeast and eat a certain diet to try and avoid it.

I wish I could go back to using it because it felt a lot freer, I didn't have to remember anything everyday, and I could wear it during sex. I'm actually thinking about an IUD at this point.

[foryoursplendor]

I know this isn't updated a lot any more, but I trust the info/opinions on this site more than a lot of others. I'm not the greatest at navigating this forum, but it seems like there are probably some really good entries written about nuvaring on here somewhere. Is there a search option I'm not aware of, not sure how it works.

Anyway, I've been on the depo shot since 2002 and I need to swtich to something else. I've heard horror stories about when people go off of depo. Any experiences anyone has on this would be appreciated.

I think I'm going to switch to nuvaring, so again, any experiences anyone has with the nuvaring would be great!

Thanks in advance

[lux]

bump

[ketto]

epi, I think doctors usually recommend 3 months because it will take your body at least two to get into the new rhythm.

[epinephrine]

I just went on the pill last month, mostly because my skin just keeps getting worse, and also because you never know where the single life will lead you and there's every possibility that I'll end up with sleeping with a guy eventually. So I talked to the gyno and she recommended Yasmin, a high-dose pill which is supposed to be effective for acne control. I've taken hormonal birth control in the past, but it's mostly been low-dose pills, and I experienced more side effects on those. On Alesse, one of the lowest-dose pills on the market, I had 2-week periods and recurring yeast infections. I quit taking that one pretty quick. On Tricyclen, which I was on for years, I experienced nightmares and really, really sore breasts. I also blamed my moodiness and lack of sex drive on the pill at that time, but the truth is it was probably more due to the dead-end relationship I was in.

So far, things are going well for me on Yasmin. I haven't experienced any side effects other than persistent spotting - does this ever go away? On the upside, I haven't had nightmares or mood swings, and it also seems to have eliminated my cramps. The acne isn't going away at all, though. Nothing's changed on that front. It's been so long since I was on the pill that I don't remember how long it usually takes for your body to stabilize with the hormones - will the spotting go away if I wait a bit longer, and will my skin eventually start to clear up, or is one month enough to tell me that it's not the right pill?

(((doodlebug)))

[doodlebug]

Wow, I haven't been on hormonal birth control in over a decade, nearer to 2 decades. But when Soulman and I broke up (he is "fixed"), I went to the doctor and got the depo shot, planning to have random sex and get over him. (The breakup only lasted about 2 weeks. And yeah, I would have used condoms, too, but I don't trust them enough to keep me pregnancy-free.) I was planning to go on the IUD, and depo was the interim solution till I could get into the gyno. Not a choice I would necessarily have made if I were not in an angry, determined state of mind. Anyway. Enough justifying.

Holy fuck, I've been a mess. I just got my period on Monday, and I feel like I had 2 fucking weeks of really bad PMS beforehand. Normally, I don't get much for symptoms: 2 days of breast tenderness, 1 day of free-floating anxiety, and a half a day of very mild cramps. But on the depo? Holy crap. I've been a mess.

I had to confess my birth control expedition to Soulman on Saturday, because I wound up sitting on his stairs crying my face off, over the fact that I'd washed out a coffee cup for myself and left it on the counter, and he grabbed it and used it for his own coffee. It just hit me like, "You are so fucking inconsiderate, why am I even with you?" Like he even knew it was my cup. Honestly. Crying my face off, taking EVERYTHING personally. Luckily, Soulman is a sweetheart. He asked me what was wrong and I told him everything - he just put his forehead to mine and held me.

I hate this. I can't wait till it's worn off.

[stargazer]

So, I didn't know where to post about another good encounter at Planned Parenthood. Even though I have health insurance, I wanted my money to go some place I would feel good about. The facility near me is clean and the staff is extremely nice. I met with a P.A. who was extremely friendly, talked about various forms of birth control with me, and shared her own experience with different types of BC. I left feeling so relaxed and comforted by the experience. When I made my donation to PP when I paid for my BC, the staff was so grateful.

In other news, I was a big supporter and fan of the Today Sponge. Well, in 2008, they stopped making them AGAIN. I only had 1 partner last year so I wasn't really in the need for any BC (I had some sponges stocked up from before. ) What do you know...the Today Sponge is back on the market!

Thought I would share the news for Busties looking for a reasonable priced OTC BC.

[likeanyother]

Huh, that's interesting, thanks ladies. I talked to my mom about it and she said she got them both times she was pregnant, so I'm thinking it's hereditary hormonal (or something like that). I've also some extra stress in my life lately, so it might be related to that as well, but I haven't had one since my last post, thankfully.

I am going back to planned parenthood in a couple weeks though, so I'll talk to them about it and see what they say.

I was also looking into non-hormonal birth control, since ideally I'd rather not deal with the effects of taking hormones at all, and I discovered VCF (vaginal contraceptive film), which seems promising. Has anybody used it? I'm curious as to how difficult it is to, ya know, insert properly. Also, I read that it can cause UTIs, which is something I've had a problem with in the past. Has anyone tried it?

[lux]

The guideline is, you should always contact a doctor if your migranes change, especially if you have started to have auras. Not that I've ever really done that, but 3 in 2 weeks sounds pretty bad. Having migraines with aura increases the risk of a blood clot when you're using hormonal BC. I found this out after I started, and I think it's strange that no one asked me about migraine when I got the prescription.

I don't usually suffer from auras, though it has happened once or twice. I often get migranes without the pain, the sweating, loose of control over my body, enhanced smell/hearing and nausea. I'm not sure if they count as migraines, and yeah, I should probably get in contact with my doctor about it:)

I've had a lot less migraines since I started with the nuvaring, which I'm pretty happy about, but I still haven't managed to shed the last day of the period migraines, just the starting day and ovulation day ones. My last day of period is also the day I put in the new ring, and I've found out if I put it in a couple of hours early, I can sometimes avoid the migraine.

[rubberdollz]

This may sound weird but when I was on birth control I would get headaches right at the end of my period. So my period would always start on a tuesday and end on a friday and friday would be the day of a massive headache andit would just drag. I don't think it was a migraine but the headache would put me out for most of the day. Then saturday, nothing. I never associated it with the birth control but now that I don't take birth control it never happens.

[likeanyother]

Has anybody felt they got migraines because of birth control? I started taking the pill about 2 1/2 years ago. About 6 months in, I got an aura without migraine, for the first time in my life. It was strange, but a one time event. Now, in the past 2 weeks I've had 3 migraines with aura. I have no idea what could be causing this. My roommate told me that she's heard that there's a link between the pill and migraines, especially with aura. But, I don't know why this would trigger it now, since I've been on it for so many years....

It really sucks though. I don't have health insurance and I guess I could call planned parenthood and let them know, but I don't want them to just take me off the pill since it's so easy, cheap and convenient.

Just wondering if anyone has dealt with this? thanks.

[angie_21]

If you're not having breakthrough bleeding then I imagine you are pretty safe using it for bc. It might have something to do with the cost of doing proper controlled testing or getting it certified as bc, maybe they haven't done that and so there still has to be a warning about it's use.

[bottleblack]

bottleback - I was on Diane 35 for 3 months. I had to switch to something stronger because I was having breakthrough bleeding all the time. And no, it isn't really supposed to be birth control. My doctor gave it to me because I had really mild acne and she thought I might want to "have it cleared up at the same time".. she didn't warn me either about the birth control part.

But that's the thing, it has the same hormones as other birth control pills, and it is technically 99% effective, like other birth control pills. I believe the reason they say it is not to be used as birth control, is because they don't want girls staying on it forever. It's mean to be temporarily used to clear up acne and then stopped, perhaps because of the high health risks like blood clotting, etc.
So right now I am using it as my only form of birth control. In terms of clearing up the face, I haven't really noticed much yet, in fact things were even worse at first, but I figure I might as well use up the three months that I paid for and then I can switch back to my old trusty Alesse if need be.

[candycane_girl]

I went on Diane 35 when I was a teenager. I don't think it helped my acne much.

I'm on Yasmin now and I seem to be having breakthrough bleeding as well. I want to ask my doctor to switch me back to Marvelon but she just gave me a prescription for the Yasmin. In addition to the bleeding, it feels like I'm crying at everything. I hate feeling so emotional. Tonight I teared up at an episode of Sex and the City. It's too much emotion for me!

[angie_21]

snow white - as far as I know, if you are having spotting at all you need a higher dosage to be safe. 3 hours should only be a big deal if you are on the progestin only pill.

[angie_21]

bottleback - I was on Diane 35 for 3 months. I had to switch to something stronger because I was having breakthrough bleeding all the time. And no, it isn't really supposed to be birth control. My doctor gave it to me because I had really mild acne and she thought I might want to "have it cleared up at the same time".. she didn't warn me either about the birth control part.