The Birth Control Thread - Because Aunty Flow Motherfucking Blows

[lurk_moar]

I have yet to see a birth control thread.

My PMS as a teen was very tame, sore breasts and a little tired. Now, I feel like a half-decayed zombie. I am sick and tired of being sick and tired.

I have been a the depo shot for about a year now. The initial side effects were way worse than PMS. The second shot was still pretty horrible. The third shot was not bad at all.

It seems like just before I get my next shot, I feel like absolute crap. I am sitting here with a heating pad on my stupid uterus. I had no PMS in January and February, but in March it's payback time, I guess.

I am thinking about switching to the Xulane patch so that I get continuous hormones. Making appointments to get the shot seems more inconvenient to me. Sometimes, I have to go in on the days off from work (it's weird being at work on my days off) or go during work. I can only get my shot during certain hours despite being an employee. I still do not understand why the clinic only has a couple of nurse only visits a day, PITA. I would rather pick up a box of patches from the pharmacy. The pill option is unattractive to me because I work a lot of swing shifts. I do not have a regular work schedule. I basically take my vitamins before my first tooth brushing of the day which is not even God knows when.

 

[Arm Pit Cream]

Birth control is awful for women and directly related to causing them more mental health problems. Shit should be totally banned, it's predatory and barbaric.
Why can't you just used condoms or have a kid? You'd be far more happy and fulfilled in the long term.

 

[Smaug's Smokey Hole]

Condoms suck and it ruins my enjoyment. I'm pro-pill and pro-pill accessories(like depo, Plan-B and SSRIs).

 

[Not Really Here]

Look into the non-hormonal copper IUD that lasts up to 10 years.

 

[From The Uncanny Valley]

Tried it once. Made my migraines worse. Still holding out hope for another alternative

 

[StraightShooter2]

Maybe ask yourself if the misery is honestly worth the price of the loser you're sleeping with. I'm sure the best birth control is simply not having intercourse - this is why I don't go to the bars or clubs and hook up anymore, it honestly hasn't been worth the psychological stress since my early-mid 20s, and I've somewhat matured past the adolescent mindset that sex with as many women as possible is a major life goal.

 

[MerriedxReldnahc]

Sending feels for your uterus, friend. That is not a good time.
I don't have an opinion on options other than the pill, I get not wanting to deal with that if you can't take it at the same time every day which I think you're pretty much supposed to.

Spoiler: pill talk n shit

I've been on the pill for over 10 years and have had nothing but positive results. As a teen I had PMS symptoms such as "shitting out my internal organs in alphabetical order" and "my legs are being crushed by an invisible trash compacter" so that wasn't a very good time at all. My prescription has been changed a few times, usually just something being swapped out for the generic version or a similar dose based on what's available. I don't think I've ever noticed any difference which the exception being the first pill I was put on, which might have been too high a dose for me. I was on it for maybe a few years and at one point my periods stopped entirely. I got switched to something else and everything started to work as expected again.

My mom learned recently that once you get around 50 you should check with your doctor to see if you even HAVE ovaries anymore. Her doctor thinks she went through menopause without realizing it and that she should stop taking them for a while and see what happens. Now my mom is worried that without the hormones, the menopause symptoms will actually kick in and she'll turn into a raging bitch.

 

[Banworld]

Birth control is awful for women and directly related to causing them more mental health problems. Shit should be totally banned, it's predatory and barbaric.
Why can't you just used condoms or have a kid? You'd be far more happy and fulfilled in the long term.

Birth control is generally bad for societies, period. The moments you tell people they can fuck with no consequences, they do. Whilst 99.9% of the time it goes perfectly well, if you have a society of just 2000 people fucking once a week, you have at least one unplanned pregnancy a week. (I know, technically this decreases after the first pregnancy but the point still stands.)

After this, then dad runs away because he just wanted to bust and mum is left with the kid with society writ large paying for it. Society has to pay for it economically, via taxes. They have to pay for it politically, as unmarried mothers create voting blocks. And they have to pay for it socially as fatherless men are overwhelmingly involved in crime, especially crime against women.

One of my most controversial opinions is that birth control should be illegal, and I didn't come to that conclusion lightly. I used to think it was a 'privacy of their own room' kind of deal, but technology and its consequences is something that all of society gets a say in. Especially when it comes to children, that society ultimately exists to protect and nurture.

 

[verygayFrogs]

Spoiler: Powerlevel + gender reveal???

Long story short if I didn't have birth control pills the first time I would've gotten my period, I would've been either hospitalized or dead bc I was bleeding very heavily for 45 days straight.

 

[Luna Mothews]

I have two friends who are on the patch and they seem happy with it. Do not get depo, it's notoriously shitty and sketchy. But overall just be honest with your doctor, and if you're experiencing side effects, don't be afraid to say anything.

 

[StraightShooter2]

Birth control is generally bad for societies, period. The moments you tell people they can fuck with no consequences, they do. Whilst 99.9% of the time it goes perfectly well, if you have a society of just 2000 people fucking once a week, you have at least one unplanned pregnancy a week. (I know, technically this decreases after the first pregnancy but the point still stands.)

After this, then dad runs away because he just wanted to bust and mum is left with the kid with society writ large paying for it. Society has to pay for it economically, via taxes. They have to pay for it politically, as unmarried mothers create voting blocks. And they have to pay for it socially as fatherless men are overwhelmingly involved in crime, especially crime against women.

One of my most controversial opinions is that birth control should be illegal, and I didn't come to that conclusion lightly. I used to think it was a 'privacy of their own room' kind of deal, but technology and its consequences is something that all of society gets a say in. Especially when it comes to children, that society ultimately exists to protect and nurture.

Sure, but only people who are incredibly naive and/or have never/barely even had sex think there "no consequence" - so the idea that everyone fucks as much as humanly possible is myopic - just like how not everyone becomes a chain smoker simply because cigarettes are legal for purchase.

Not to mention that I think some people - like the guys who pay for Twitch titty streams or OnlyFans are so lazy and inept that even if the knew they could have sex, they would probably rather just masturbate in their basement rather than having to put on some clean clothes, shave, or take a shower.

 

[Anne Hyroe]

Are you somewhere that you can talk to a specialist nurse rather than just a GP or practice nurse? If you’re not planning to start a family any time soon then a non-hormonal IUD may be a good option, just be prepared for the first couple of months to be unpredictable as your body gets used to the changing hormones.

 

[Bland Crumbs]

I am sitting here with a heating pad on my stupid uterus

I think I spotted(lol) your problem: Your uterus should be IN your body.

Condoms suck and it ruins my enjoyment. I'm pro-pill and pro-pill accessories(like depo, Plan-B and SSRIs).

 

[Not Really Here]

Are you somewhere that you can talk to a specialist nurse rather than just a GP or practice nurse? If you’re not planning to start a family any time soon then a non-hormonal IUD may be a good option, just be prepared for the first couple of months to be unpredictable as your body gets used to the changing hormones.

For the copper one

Source

 

[Smaug's Smokey Hole]

Birth control is generally bad for societies, period.

That's working really well for Africa, the Middle East, "Asia" and other places. I'm pro-BP and abortion, people are going to fuck. I'm also very pro-pill and abortion in Africa, the Middle East and "Asia" and other places as well, I'm not a hypocrite wanting to keep white people gold all to ourselves,

 

[Banworld]

Sure, but only people who are incredibly naive and/or have never/barely even had sex think there "no consequence" - so the idea that everyone fucks as much as humanly possible is myopic - just like how not everyone becomes a chain smoker simply because cigarettes are legal for purchase.

Not to mention that I think some people - like the guys who pay for Twitch titty streams or OnlyFans are so lazy and inept that even if the knew they could have sex, they would probably rather just masturbate in their basement rather than having to put on some clean clothes, shave, or take a shower.

The point is not that people think there's completely no consequences, the point is it takes a very serious consequence and removes it almost entirely from peoples conception of their actions. I don't think people fuck as much as possible, nor do they need to - it's simply a matter of scale and circumstance. If you have something that works 99.9% of the time, and you roll the dice enough - you hit that .01%. And if the society is large enough, you create a non-negligible population out of that .01%. Sure, not everyone becomes a chainsmoker because cigarettes are on the market - it's a question of whether or not those chainsmokers impose a cost on the rest of society high enough to warrant the banning of the sale of cigarettes.

There's reason to believe previous generations may have had more sex, but it was overwhelmingly in the context of a committed union that was expected to raise children - with strong social pressures to enforce that. Now it's the opposite, people have more sex outside of that union than in it, if they form said union at all.

 

[lurk_moar]

I am on birth control because PMS totally destroys my quality of life. It's worse than having the flu. You can't live your life feeling like a half-decayed zombie half the time.

Asexuality is my main birth control method.

 

[Smaug's Smokey Hole]

There's reason to believe previous generations may have had more sex, but it was overwhelmingly in the context of a committed union that was expected to raise children - with strong social pressures to enforce that. Now it's the opposite, people have more sex outside of that union than in it, if they form said union at all.

Previous generations also had 8 kids. Kids can be planned now instead of being the equivalent of a drunken Amazon order using the One Click Checkout button. Without birth-control would have to learn how to time 69's or something.

 

[georgyjobe]

I'd like to hop into this thread to add that of the two types of pill, you do not need to take the combo pill at the very same time every day. Just one every 24 hours. So if the pill seems right for you in every way but forgetfulness, ask about being on a pill with both progesterone and estrogen.

The patch has pretty similar side effects to most pills though, so it's up to personal preference.

 

[C.Elegans]

At least in the country I grew up in, the pill is often given automatically to young women who go to the GP with tiredness and fatigue. If tiredness is the only reason for taking the pill, make sure you get a blood iron test to make sure you aren't anaemic. I had to live with undiagnosed anaemia for almost 10 years until I moved country and got an iron test because my original doctor just gave out the pill without any testing, and anaemia symptoms are much worse during a period.

Look into the non-hormonal copper IUD that lasts up to 10 years.

This really is the best form of contraception for most women because it doesn't increase the risk of blood clots, breast/uterine cancer or mood swings like hormonal methods do. It doesn't help at all with PMS or tiredness though so it might not be your best option.

Edit: This isn't really related to lolcows, so maybe it should be in the "health and fitness" section of general discussion?