Trans man on testosterone needing help deciding on a secondary BC method

[0h60dd4mni7.livejournal.com]

Hey everyone!

I’m a trans man who takes testosterone, but often go without it due to money issues and needle anxiety. I’ve currently been off it for 3-4 months but plan on starting up again very soon.

I’m in a monogamous relationship with a non-trans man, coming up on our one-year anniversary. We have sex pretty often (at least several times a week, sometimes more than once in a day) and it’s always PIV. Sometimes we start out condom-less and put one on once things move past a certain point, and sometimes he puts a condom on right from the start. He knows his body very well and we’ve never had any close calls.


I DO NOT, under ANY circumstances, want to get pregnant. Lately I’ve found myself thinking, hours after sex, when he’s not around “You’re playing Russian Roulette, and if you get shot, it’s your fault.” Which is a terrible thing to think about sex, especially awesome, loving, safe sex with one’s committed partner. So I’m looking for a second BC method to mitigate that anxiety.

Currently I’ve narrowed down to Implanon and Mirena. My main concerns are:
a) Making sure the method doesn’t decrease the effectiveness of the testosterone, once I start it again
b) Cost (I’m a student with little to no income. I have insurance through my mom's work but I think I’m going to have to call and see what they cover, and my phone anxiety makes that an unfun prospect)

So do y’all have any thoughts on my specific situation, whether just advice about Implanon versus Mirena, other methods that might work better, or general advice that came to mind when reading this? I’ve done a lot of research, but I feel like there’s probably things I’ve missed or just haven’t thought about, and so I wanted to ask this community to weigh in. The only methods I’ve ever used are condoms and spermicide, so venturing into dealing with other methods is a little overwhelming.

Thanks in advance!

Comments

[0h60dd4mni7.livejournal.com]

Thanks for clearing that up. I'd heard about a medication that makes insertion easier (I believe the phrase used was "softens the cervix" which sortof horrifies me, but hey, if it works), do you know anything about that?

[elfbert.livejournal.com]

No worries - some doctors have really weird issues about giving IUDs to people who haven't given birth. I think it's some sort of old-fashioned myth that's somehow hung on in some people's minds? So there are all sorts of odd reasons they give to 'back up' their beliefs!

That's something called misoprostol. I didn't have it used on me, so all I know is what I've read over on iud_divas. I just took ibuprofen and co-codamol (which I think is Tylenol 3, in the USA?) before my insertion. And it did hurt - but for me, it was totally worth it :)

I wasn't having periods or withdrawal bleeds at the time, as I was taking a PoP which had completely stopped my bleeds. But if you are still having periods/withdrawal bleeds from hbc, then while you're bleeding, the cervix will naturally be softer anyway, and that's when most health professionals prefer to do insertions :)

[knittinggoddess.livejournal.com]

Elfbert is right, misoprostol is used to soften the cervix. I also had my (no babies) cervix numbed, which had a hugely positive effect on my insertion!