Methods of Birth Control

[irishjewel413.livejournal.com]

So I made an appointment with a gynecologist to talk about methods of birth control. I'm going to inquire about the IUD and Depo shot first but still look into the pill. I was on Cryselle and it worked well aside from the weight gain. I'm looking everywhere to find info on forms of birth control that won't make you gain much weight but so far it seems all the pills make you gain weight and my sister said the Depo shot does too. I'm mostly interested in the IUD however I read that they can be up to 1000 dollars to put in! I do have insurance, however it's medicaid/horizon nj health so I don't know if it would be covered. If not, well then that's out of the question. As of now I have condoms on hand if and when sex happens, although in my last experience as most of you have read we used withdrawal and I had a panic attack for a good week or two until I got my period in which I said aloud "Yes!!" when I saw the blood lol.

Someone here mentioned they have epilepsy too and I should take that into consideration. I'm glad you mentioned it because I didn't think about the effects any new birth control could have on my seizure meds. My sister says I shouldnt think about the IUD because apparantly her friend had it and something happened and it ruptured something, and it could give you problems for trying to get pregnant in the future. I'm just really confused, all I do know is that I cannot keep having panic attacks every time my partner withdraws and he's so sure of himself and I'm a worry wort because we didn't use condoms.

Sure we could use condoms and I'm all for that, but sometimes when you're in the moment withdrawal seems to end up being the better option then pulling out condoms, plus the annoying thing about most guys, a lot of them like to say "Well I hate condoms so lets do it this way". I don't agree with that, better to be safe than sorry. So that's why I'm taking the initiave to get on the pill or some other form of reliable birth control so these panic attacks won't happen again if we do use the pull out method or he accidentally ejaculates in me. I'm just not relishing the weight gain :o(

Comments

[queensugar.livejournal.com]

Studies have actually found no correlation between the combined hormonal birth control pill and weight gain -- in a review of 39 studies, (http://www.fhi.org/en/AboutFHI/News+Releases/pr2003/april222003researchfindsno.htm) there was no statistically significant difference between control group users and users on combined HBC pills. I believe that Depo Provera is the only method of hormonal contraception that has been proven to have a link to weight gain, although this varies highly by individual and many users will not experience any. Anecdotally, some users do report that they gained weight on the pill, but it's worth weighing the statistical evidence versus the anecdotal evidence and reconciling that with your own feelings on things.

Anyway, first and foremost: have you checked out our Vulvapedia entries on Hormonal Birth Control (http://www.vaginapagina.com/index.php?title=Hormonal_Birth_Control) and Non-Hormonal Birth Control? (http://www.vaginapagina.com/index.php?title=Non-Hormonal_Birth_Control) They may be a good place to start gathering information, and contain lots of links to other sources.

As far as the IUD goes -- IUDs are extremely safe. A complication such as your sister's friend has are extraordinarily rare, and it's unfortunate that based on a single highly rare complication she would say you shouldn't even think about using the most effective method of reversible contraception in the world. Basically -- further research will give you a better idea whether or not it's right for you, but I would not discount it entirely based on an apparently anecdotal report of an extremely rare complication.