Birth Control question

I myself am back on the depo provera, had hard time remembering the pills each day same time. I also went back on this as it is free. Spending money each month for pills and supplies was not wothr it to me when something can be free.

Side note: My state is considering having druggists stop selling the pills if the are morally objected to it. Knowing my luck mine would and then where would I be?

Hey, Munchie, just a heads-up here (not to be a fear monger, I just think it's important for women to inform each other of stuff like this) - I've now had one GP and one gyno caution me against depo provera. Seems there have been some new, respected studies that show a close link to osteoporosis (sp?)/general calcium loss and getting a depo shot. So if you keep using that, maybe think about taking calcium supplements. Or look into a Mirena coil (especially if there is any history of osteoporosis in your family) which is what both docs have recommended to me as a safer alternative. Only prob. is that they can apparently be difficult to fit, especially in women who haven't had kids, which is why I haven't got mine yet - waiting for the magic window (apparently one of the final days of your period) to coincide with a day that I can actually get time off to go to the doctor! 

I'm on depo and have heard for a while about the calcium loss.  So I drink lots of milk and eat lots of yogurt & cheese - i.e., keep calcium in my diet naturally.  Of course, I'm not counting calories or fat grams or carbs or anything else.  I'd rather get my nutrients from food than from pills, if possible.

 

I want to get the mirena coil when I move to Leeds this August since the nuva ring was giving my bf and I probs. Anyway, i had gone on their site and all they mentioned was after you had kids, I was thinking it was a conservatively viewed company that didn't want you to have sex before marriage or something. I didn't realize it was hard to fit. I'm not having kids anytime soon and still would like to have the benefits of the coil. I suppose I'll be w/ AnneR and waiting for the window of opportunity to knock.

I didn't realize it was hard to fit. I'm not having kids anytime soon and still would like to have the benefits of the coil. I suppose I'll be w/ AnneR and waiting for the window of opportunity to knock.

Don't worry too much about it - I had a long chat with the doctor about it yesterday and she just said to make an appointment during the waning days of my period and take ibuprofin before-hand 'cause it can be a bit uncomfortable for women who haven't had the benefit of a bit of stretching from child birth. She didn't say it wasn't possible but just that it was a bit more tricky....

Okay, thanks! I will keep that in mind

Umm.. I hope I don't come across as insensitive, but if you don't naturally get your period, why does it need to come artificially? (as in, couldn't you just live without?) I only wish...

No no, you didn't come across as insensitive. I have Poly-Cystic Ovarian Syndrome also called PCOS.  Meaning I get little cysts when its my "time of the month".  So in order to have children i have to take some special pill, and if that doesn't work, i have to use other methods...

any questions feel free to ask...i honestly don't mind!

xx.Viv

  No no, you didn't come across as insensitive. I have Poly-Cystic Ovarian Syndrome also called PCOS.  Meaning I get little cysts when its my "time of the month".  So in order to have children i have to take some special pill, and if that doesn't work, i have to use other methods...

Speaking also as someone who suffers from PCOS...there appears to be some physiological necessity for sexually mature (non-menopausal) women to have regular periods (or being pregnant in lieu of) -- although like every other medical thing, the doctors & research go back & forth on this one.  Here is the thinking:  if you don't have a period with some regularity (say every 2-3 months at least?) -- your uterine walls can thicken to the point where it may lead to precancerous cellular tissue growth & that's not good.  There needs to be a regular shedding of that uterine wall tissue -- which is what having the period achieves.  At one time, when I was having spontaneously occurring periods only once or twice a year -- I was put on Provera, a hormonal med -- but I don't believe that it's a birth control med (though I could be wrong).  I didn't have to take it every month -- as long as I had a period every two or three months, the doc was fine with that.  (Provera you take a pill orally for 10 days & then later on in the month, you'll have a period.)  I never had to worry about birth control really (just protection from STDs) because I wanted a baby desperately (to no avail).  For inexplicable reasons, once I was about 37(?) -- for the first time in my life, I began having naturally occurring regular periods - weird.  But I'm still not fertile (apparently).  There are new PCOS treatments out there now (compared to when I was undergoing treatment about 10 years ago) but I fear it's probably too late for me now (nearly age 41).  Oh - also PCOS is its own birth control really -- because you don't successfully ovulate.  The eggs don't mature fully & release -- which causes them to make little cysts on the ovaries instead -- like what Vicki said.

C

Thank you vicki and carolyn!
That was very informative--I was confused, because the period you get when on the pill/ring/plaster isn't a "real" period as such.
Thank you for clearing the PCOS issue for me!

  Oh - also PCOS is its own birth control really -- because you don't successfully ovulate.  The eggs don't mature fully & release -- which causes them to make little cysts on the ovaries instead -- like what Vicki said.

C

Be careful about this! It is tricky to assume you don't ovulate- this isn't always the case with PCOS. Everyone is different- I have PCOS, meaning that I have cysts and other symptoms, but I ovulate. I'm also on Dianette which is a bc pill that is known to help with PCOS symptoms.  Having PCOS doesn't make it impossible to get pregnant- it may make it more difficult to get pregnant for some women and  also increases the risk of Miscarriage or Ectopic pregnancy.

It would still be wise to use birth control if you don't want to get pregnant!

Be careful about this! It is tricky to assume you don't ovulate- this isn't always the case with PCOS. Everyone is different- I have PCOS, meaning that I have cysts and other symptoms, but I ovulate. I'm also on Dianette which is a bc pill that is known to help with PCOS symptoms.  Having PCOS doesn't make it impossible to get pregnant- it may make it more difficult to get pregnant for some women and  also increases the risk of Miscarriage or Ectopic pregnancy.

It would still be wise to use birth control if you don't want to get pregnant!

I stand corrected.  I was speaking from my own experience in that I know I do not ovulate -- I don't ovulate normally, I don't ovulate taking Provera and I don't ovulate taking Clomid.  My PCOS has meant an impossibility of pregnancy (for me so far & the clock is really ticking down at this point).  I have wanted to get pregnant for about the last 15 years -- so birth control was never a concern here.   Sorry - didn't mean to misinform or mislead -- see your doctor if you have questions or problems with PCOS, that's the sensible thing.

C

right, i'm getting so sick of having NO libido.  it's really starting to depress me and i take it out on DH.

does anyone chart, or do the taking charge of your fertility thing?  I would always use condoms...but i'd use another back up method on my most fertile days. 

I chart and definitely recommend the book Taking Charge of your Fertility.  If you use condoms all the time though, why do you need a back up method on your most fertile days?

in case it broke!!!!! 

i guess i'm a wuss.  i know a lot of people who use that as their sole BC method

<sigh>  Oh to be young & beautiful AND fertile!  (wish I had those worries)

Taking Charge of Your Fertility is an awesome book and I think it ought to be used as a text for high school girls!! And every woman ought to chart for a year or so, just for the experience of it. It's so interesting to do.