yeah...it sometimes does have negative side effects for certain people. Actually I was told that the best is the shot since it's A)the most reliable and B) makes it so you only get your period once every 3 months, which as a guy, I 100% approve of on so many levels!

Ya know, honestly, if my partner refused/wasn't able to be on birth control, I would take the male version in a second. As Limer can attest to, condoms can be unreliable at times, and it would totally be worth it for the peace of mind from month to month.

I was actually on the shot for 7 years, not a period once in that time. I can defnitely attest to that being a wonderful thing. Unfortunately it caused be unimaginable migraines way too often, so now I'm exploring life without it and have found that after 6 months, I STILL have no period. Not such a good thing if you look at it from every angle...


Oops, TMI sorry guys


But, that's very considerate of you Panda, you know, to undergo the side effects for your lady of choice.

heh, it's more of a responsibility thing. Having a child before I'm ready, to me, is one of the worst things I could possibly do. I'm pretty keyed up on someday being a father....and I want to do it right, when I'm ready with someone I love.

I feel much more confident with the protection afforded by birth control over condoms. The alternatives are either an abortion, or having a child before I'm ready.

Neither option apeals to me in the slightest.

Yeah, those options are pretty darned awful.

I also just found out from school that the stats say condoms are only 92% effective now rather than the previously assumed 99%.

well birthcontrol taken correctly is 99.9% effective, which is pretty good for me.

As for the 92% effective....I'd imagine that's only if they're used impropperly (no good seal) or if they break and the morning after pill isn't used (why you wouldn't, I have no idea)

Even with that though....I only trust condoms for short term usage. And even then I'll still worry.

the guy i'm seeing believes that his genes are no good to be passed on, and because his whole family have a history of serious depression and schizophrenia, he's not interested in inflicting that on some poor kid. i can totally see his point, also, i don't want kids yet. although i do one day. but the upshot is, we need to be reeeeeeall careful.

Well, then for you I'd suggest the shot. It's pretty darn reliable, you don't have to remember to take pills daily, and you only go in every three months for new shots. I'm only one of the bad stories, it was great except for the migraines, but I'm told it wouldn't have been a problem if I hadn't been way too overly prone to them in the first place.

i know i don't belong in this thread at all, but:

if you're talking about Depo-Provera, Alix, everyone should be aware that it was recently announced that nobody should be on it for more than 2 years at a time because it's been discovered that it can cause serious and permanent bone loss (the appropriateness or inappropriateness of this as a side effect of a birth control method, i will leave to your own imaginations).

just a heads-up.


<ducks out again, because i expect i'll never again actually have a legitimate reason to be in this thread>

does this mean that Alix has no bones?.....poor poor girl.....

*covers him up, hands him his security bankie*

the lovely lovely shot.


The ladies I have known who have taken the injection have had the same side effects. One is a bloating. Bloat bloat bloat. For some it can be a tribualtion, for others, a chance to go shopping.

The other is far more serious.....


They lost their libidos.



(Trojans break too by the way.)

Just about any hormone-based birth control affects one's libido, whether it's the pill or Depo or the patch or whatever. I was on Depo for 5 years, had maybe 2 periods the whole time (and those were triggered by illness, not ovulation), and while the weight gain wasn't ideal, it was much better than the OTHER kind of weight gain would have been at that time! It took me a year to have a period again after I stopped and another year after that to get pregnant, but overall it worked well for me and since it's safe during breastfeeding I may go back to it. But there's a progesterone-only pill that's safe too, so I'm going to try that first and see if I can actually remember to take it every day!

(But remember, birth control doesn't protect against STD's kids! Sorry, the teacher/mom in me had to throw that in...)

(Thanks teacher Jen, I was going to mention that too and now I don't have to harp on it.)

Dizzy, do they really withhold the pill from overweight women in the UK? What the hell is the logic behind that one? That sucks.

If you keep on using condoms (see Jen's last sentance, above), you might want to combine them with spermicidal gel. That way if the condom breaks, the odds of pregnancy are lowered. And it provides more lubrication, the lack of which sometimes the causes of condom breakage. Test it out first, though, and make sure you're not allergic.

the pill has a high risk of blood clots in those overweight

it's enough of a risk to not prescribe

and the injections are worse than the pill if one has mental issues (depression in particular) relating to hormonal imbalances

and they are particularily not reccommended be that the case

I was under the impression that spermicidal agents tended to do nothing particularly useful. That's what I read at least. Lube is always good though.

good lord, i didn't even know Jena had a baby! where was i?! i suppose this is why she's been posting less lately...

anyhow, i'd better crawl out of here, since i SO don't belong to this thread...

le sigh

quote:

Originally posted by Big Ass Panda:
does this mean that Alix has no bones?.....poor poor girl.....

Taps arm....feels like bones.
Libido, yes it does kill the libido. Fortunately it came back immediately and tried to make up for lost time...

p.s. I love Cobalt for caring, and I think and overly caring guy like yourself has a highly likely possibility of hanging out in this thread in the future...

quote:

Originally posted by Big Ass Panda:
I was under the impression that spermicidal agents tended to do nothing particularly useful. That's what I read at least. Lube is always good though.

No, spermicide is VERY useful. It's the spermicidal condoms that actually reach the 99% effectiveness.

FYI-I go to school for nursing, so my stats are usually the most recent.
not to be a snotty know-it-all, just to help with misinformation is all.

no problem, chances are the place where I got my information from which I can't remember, got their information from a place they can't remember, and so on and so forth. You know how 86% of all statistics are made up on the spot.