Had an awful time on implanon, scared to try other hormonal contraceptives, don't really want to go back to just condoms..
Any advice? What is your favourite method?
Thanks guys
Ive got the exact same problem, you could spend 30-40 years on contraceptives, i really dont want my body to be hormonally controlled for all that time, and it just messes your head up. i have implanon atm but having that out ASAP, Ive just bought a book "taking charge of your fertility" reccomended by someone here and downloaded an app that you input your temp and discharge descriptions into and it plots your days that you're fertile. so on days that Im not fertile Im going to use no contraceptives. on days that i am fertile Im going to use a cap, look it up, its totally non hormonal, it just covers your cervix so sperm cant get to the egg. or if we want sex right away, putting the cap in is effort we will use condoms as a last resort, but neither of us like them. Im ussually the initiator of sex so I'll put my cap in just in case he agrees if i want it, no problem if he doesnt though, just take it baack out
Progesterone doesn't agree with me, I've tried various pills, implant and injection
I've got an appointment to see about having the iud (copper coil) as it's hormone free.
The only downside to it is that sometimes it can make your periods slightly longer and a little more painful, but as I only have 3 day light ones that isn't an issue to me
I didn't know the coil was hormone free. I thought it was just like the implant but more out of the way ha! Either way I've been a total wuss about having the thing in my arm so I'd like something I can remove myself. Have also suffered with awful, heavy and prolonged bleeding with the implanon and it's just sooo debilitating! The coil is low on my list of things to try but thanks anyway!
The idea of simply tracking your temp/dishcharge really appeals to me. And sounds like the least invasie method out there.. Will it work out for people with irregular periods do you know?
The combined pill worked really well for me, but I had to come off of it for health reasons. Progesterone doesn't agree with me at all, I hated implanon and the mirena coil gave me loads of side effects as well as constant pain and cramping. I couldn't try the copper coil as I have endometriosis, so for the last year I've been using fertility awareness and it works great :)
We're trying to conceive now anyway, but the fertility awareness method is a great compromise if you don't like wearing condoms as you only have to use them for a week or so per cycle (or abstain). Being hormone free is wonderful, I'd highly recommend it. And the book Y&F mentioned is amazing for FAM!
It depends how irregular your periods are, it may be more difficult but it can work as long as you get to know your fertility signs really well. Again, that book has a lot of info about irregular cycles to help you :) (I can't find my copy to tell you though) X
you'll find that hormonal contraception really messes up your periods, so they might not be as irregular as you think. mine are currently non existant so i wont be able to start until my body recovers. the app looks mega clear so you'll see quite quickly whether its working or not. i got the one boo recomended to me called kindara, its free. i really like the idea of knowing and controlling my body and letting it run naturally.
there are two coils, one is hormonal in action, the other is mechanical, i believe the copper coil just makes your womb inhabitable, i could be wrong though. it just looks too scary for me. i really want no hormones but not condoms, so that only leaves fertility awareness and cervical cap, i think they'll work perfect together
just rad a quick bit o the copper coil, it releases copper to mess up the fluid inside the womb and make it inhabitable.
one thing thats always worried me about some contraceptions is that if i got pregnant, i would keep it, even though i was trying to prevent it. i dont see how you ca remove a coil without harming th efoetus, and i always worry about how hormonal imbllances could affect the pregnancy.it may be something for you to consider or it may not be, if you'd end an uplanned pregnancy i guess it doesnt matter how th contraception would affect a pregnancy, there's obviously very little info on it though as no pregnant woman would consider putting her baby at risk to test it
Have you only tried one hormonal contraceptive? I know how offputting it can be after you have horrible side effects with one, but they're all worlds apart in that respect. I think it could be worth having a chat with your doctor, as they'll be able to give you sound medical advice and, hopefully, make an educated guess at what would work for you now they know the implant doesn't.
From what I've seen, every pill (and indeed non pill) out there has both horror stories and 'omg this is the best pill ever' stories. Neither really help determine if it would work for you. I went for a very popular and, at the time, highly praised pill and it had me curled in a ball of agony vomiting profusely (among other things). Needless to say that little miracle pill did not work for me (although now the internet is filled with horror stories and cries that women should never use it. The pill hasn't changed, just the online opinions). I'm currently on a mini pill which has more horror stories than anything, but is fine with me. I barely notice I'm taking it, and I've had awful crap with every other type of pill I've taken so there can be one that agrees with you. It can be unpleasant to really unpleasant trial and error process, but you never know; your doctor may be able to get you the right type of contraception first time once they know what side effects you were struggling with. Either way a better idea than ending up pregnant trying to track irregular cycles for fear of giving hormonal contraceptives another go surely?
If you really aren't up for trying another hormonal one, I'd defintiely wait for your periods to settle properly after coming off the implant before trying to use the timing methods. I don't know enough about how they work with irregular periods to offer advice because it's that exact reason that has stopped me trying it out, it's just a bit too risky for my liking.
Copper IUDs are great, though don't get one if you already have debilitatingly painful and/or heavy periods, they tend to increase that a bit. I went from very light periods to light periods with mine. Mirena is the hormonal version of the IUD. They're not really scary, they're tiny little things and do a great job of quietly guarding your uterus. I can't tolerate hormonal contraception at all. Well, I can't tolerate the progestogen-only stuff, and they can't put me on the combined stuff (e.g. the Pill or Nuvaring) because I get migraines. Pregnancy, now that's something that's scary, that increases the risk of all sorts of things. The failure rate of copper IUDs is 0.4%, and for Mirena it's 0.1%. With condoms, it's 15% and with the combined pill it's 5%, although both of those may be underestimated. So all methods have their risks, and with condoms it's more about the risks of pregnancy. They remain great things for STI protection, of course, but please don't think they're foolproof contraceptives, because they have a significant failure rate.
I''ve got the mirena coil (just had my second one fitted) and it's the best thing I've ever done for myself. I had very heavy debiitating periods and nothing worked for me at all, and as a severe migraine sufferer the mirena was suggested becase the thinking was it could be effortlessly whipped out shoukld it ccause me problems. Touch wood though it's never given me problems, it's completely got rid of my periods - bar the occasional day or two of spotting. I rarely get pain either, both of which are totally awesome for a full time wheelchair user. However I'm wanting to start using it as a contraceptive method but I'm terrified of pregnancy as due to the nature of my disease I would have to have any pregnancy terminated. I've lost count of the times I've askeed for an elective hysterectomy but the docs have always said no. I hate condoms and they make me a little sore, but obviously would use them initially for safety and all that. I need advice!
Mirena is the most effective contraceptive around, even better than tubal ligation, it that's any help. I can't have kids for medical reasons either, it's why I've always beem on one of the more reliable long term methods rather than the pill or condoms, and as a result I've never had a pregnancy scare. Hysterectomy definitely means you won't get pregnant, but I wouldn't fancy early menopause. I have enough issues with my hormones already.
Did Mirena help with the migraines? The one benefit I got on Depp was no migraines, although the side effects thoroughly outweighed that for me. Plus no pregnancy, of course. I'm glad to hear it's working out so well for you.
I've had less migraines than I used to whilst I've had it fitted, and although I've still had a few I've needed horse tranquilizer pain pillls for still, it's been less.
I can't get my head around how this could be more effective than sterilisation? I thught that would be foolproof.
Mirena made my headaches so much worse, I guess it affects us all differently! Some people I know love it, but there's an equal amount who hate it (including myself) so I'd never recommend it personally. However, if you want hassle free contraception and you have heavy periods (therefore making the copper coil unsuitable) it could be useful.
Well the heavies were what it was given to me for in the first place. I was ridiculously heavy, like severed aa main artery heavy.
So nice to hear from so many of you!
I have had irregular periods forever but just put it down to prescription drugs messing things up. I'm 20 now but was always on something various health reasons. Whilst on pregabalin I went about 10 months without a period.. It's been about a year since I've had anything stronger than ibuprofen and I feel generally quite great now. Implanon however has given me so many issues - constant bleeding, painful boobs, worst periods ever, lack of libido(so depressing), awful skin etc- that I really just want to let my body return to normal and do it's own thing. At least for a while.
It seems tracking won't work out for me any time soon. Can only hope that it will one day. I'm just too irregular right now and even though I know i'd probably be able to deal with a pregnancy scare, I'd rather not risk it. Such a nice idea though *sigh*
I suffer from headaches too, one of the reasons I was plagued by prescription drugs throughout my teens. If it could help with the headaches then I might be more inclined to give hormonal ones another chance?
With all that's been said, I'm still none the wiser. Lovebirds_x mentioned that each option has thier own horror stories, so I guess trial and error really is the only way forward. Im getting my implanon removed on the 4th so going to try and have a chat with the nurse asap.
It's nice to see that I'm not the only one suffering (:
My OH had two rounds of implants which worked (apart from her having no periods at all while they were in).
I ended up having the snip which works for us as it means we can be spontaneous, I've always hated condoms.
Hi Ian, when did you have the snip?
If you don't mind me asking how did it go, and have you had any side effects?
I considered it previously, finally mentioned it to my doctor but the appointment letter never came through from the clinic - now I've got to start the process again!
What do you mean by irregular cycles? I've been reading my book and it's showing the difference between fertility awareness and predicting by cycle length, it's said that everyone's cycle lengths are different, ovulating on day 14 is a myth and most importantly, your cycle lengths aren't the same every time, that's why this works. So if you just have a varied cycle length it should still work perfect for you.
are you currently sexually active? If not, or you can use non hormonal alternatives (smermacydes, cervical cap, condoms ect) then I'd advise taking a break from hormones and letting your cycle run free. Mine is a right mess on the implant so I have to wait a while once I'm off it to start using fertility awareness, so I'll use the cap and condoms in the meantime.
it might end up a case of trying everything until you find one you like though. They all work differently for different people and everyone wants different things
i have the implanon implant currently and it is dreadful ive had spotting and also huge ammount of weight gain litterally i am as big as i was when i was pregnant it is such a dreaful contraception. Also tried cerazette pill before i got preg and i had misscariie don it which tempted me not to use it again xx