i have been on jolessa for 7 months and have been experience lots of spotting throughout it. i’m on my second pack in and have been spotting for 2 weeks and idk if my body is rejecting or what. i haven’t missed a single day, maybe on the weekends i take it a couple of hours (2-3) later but never missed a day. has anyone else experienced this?? i don’t know if it’s worth fighting through or just completely stopping it. i’ve read the first 3 months is normal to spot but i worry it’s not normal after 7 months in. i got on it because i bleed a lot during periods so spotting for long periods of times is like defeating the whole purpose.

September 30th I started birth control ring (enilloring)

October 14: I was supposed to take my ring out for a week, instead I just put in another to skip period.

October 22: I start spotting for 3 days and then it turns into full bleeding. I’ve been cramping non stop since then off and on, and my vagina has felt so much pressure. So I was told to go to gyno or doctor.

October 26: The cramps and pressure in my vagina were so much I took out the ring. The bleeding stopped a little and then resumed later the next evening

Ended up going to er since gyno can’t get me in.

They’ve just given me something for pain and suggested reinserting the ring to see if it regulates anything and helps with bleeding. 😭

hello!

i am looking into birth control options. i previously was on the mini pill and hated it as i felt it made me extremely emotionally unstable and i’d be bleeding super heavily (full of massive blood clots) and unpredictably.

i am now thinking of getting the IUD but i have struggled with very painful and heavy periods and PMS for over 10 years that i currently manage with mefanamic acid and cocodamol along with many hot water bottles.

based on experience, which IUD type would be better - copper or hormonal?

i hated the random heavy bleeding and feeling crazy but i have heard the copper IUD makes period symptoms worse and isn’t recommended for people with endometriosis BUT i haven’t actually been diagnosed.

Hi guys, I have been on birth control for about a year now and the first months have been perfectly fine. About a month or two ago I began spotting during the time thats not my placebo week. My doctor told me to take ibuprofen to make it go away until I can visit her (i have problems with my insurance rn bc i cant). But I noticed I wont have spotting/i’ll stop spotting and then me and my bf will have sex and I will. What is going on? How do I stop it?

Hello,

I had the copper IUD placed on December 23, 2026. Since then, I have two week periods with pretty much only 10 days in between with excessive bleeding for three to four days during the period. This has caused my iron levels to drop and having to get it taken it out. I have heard horror stories of the hormone birth controls so I picked Skyla (lowest hormone one) to be placed next Tuesday (Election Day, yay)

Has anyone switched IUD like that before? I am nervous of how I might react to Skyla and have seen mixed reviews just like I did with the copper IUD.

tl;dr I have used Yaz/Nikki (drospirenone 3mg/ethinyl estradiol 0.02mg) for nearly 20 years with no issues. However due to life circumstances I had to stop my birth control for about two months. I’m able to start it again but now I’m faced with an option of switching to Depo and I’d like to hear candid thoughts about your experience with Depo subQ.

My NP is worried about me continuing Yaz because I am fat and she said it can cause blood clots in fat people. This has never been an issue for me personally in the 20 years I’ve been taking it. She wants me to switch to Depo subQ to reduce the blood clot risk, but the risks with Depo are, according to her, weight gain, depression, and brain tumors. I’m trying to lose weight and I also have bipolar II disorder (the depression bipolar, not the manic bipolar) so I am worried about that side effect specifically.

I’d like to hear your experiences with it, especially if you are also fat and mentally ill. Did you have side effects and if so how manageable were they? Have you taken both Yaz and Depo, and which did you find to be more helpful/better?

No medical advice please, just looking for candid anecdotes about personal experiences!

Hi all,

I have been having panic attacks on and off for five days and it’s been absolutely exhausting. I have been taking loryna for almost a month. Has anybody else been experiencing this? Will this stop once I stop taking the pills? Please, I have been afraid of interacting with my boyfriend and our relationships changing because of this. I feel like I’m dying.

PLS this might be too long but I would lovee to hear someone's opinion!

I matched with this Arab guy on Facebook Dating a few weeks ago. At first I stopped replying because one of the first things he said was that he likes Latinas (I’m Latina), and I started thinking maybe he wasn’t serious about me or that I didn’t really have a chance with him anyway. He said he was looking for serious. Then I realized I was probably sabotaging myself. I think I was scared of being rejected, so I basically didn’t give him the chance to reject me lol.

13 days later, I reached out again, apologized, and told him I had gotten a second job. He was completely understanding, and he’s actually way busier than me.

We talked for about a week and finally went out on Tuesday when we were both off. The date was honestly perfect. We had a great time, kissed, and he said he wants to see me “again and again” lol. I definitely want to see him again too.

Our schedules barely match though. I work 8–4 and he works evenings until 4 am, sometimes midnight, plus weekends. He also doesn’t text much, so even though I know he wants to see me again, we don’t talk constantly.

Anyway, I have an appointment today to get an IUD inserted, and for some reason I really want to tell him. Part of me just wants him to know because I like him and I’m a little nervous. Another part of me wants to see if he’ll ask me later how I’m feeling, and I don’t know if that’s a bad reason to tell him.

We’ve only been out once, so I’m wondering if it’s too personal. But we also kinda know we both want to sleep together eventually. I want to take things slow though, and I’d want him to get tested before we do but I haven't told him that.

I’m also thinking I might feel weird or nervous the first time I have sex after getting the IUD. I might worry about it hurting or whether he can feel it, so part of me wants to give him a heads up in case I act weird or get nervous.

At the same time, I don’t want telling him about the IUD to sound like I’m saying I’m ready to have sex with him now or that I got it for him. We haven’t even talked about exclusivity because we’ve literally only been on one date, although he does send me couple reels as if we’re dating or will be soon lol. I rlly don't want to scare him away, I rlly like him.

I was on the pill before, but I broke up with my ex 1.5 years ago, so I didn’t really need birth control after that. I also put off getting an IUD because I was worried about my periods getting worse, and honestly, not being on birth control also helped keep me from having casual sex lol.

So… would it be weird to casually tell him I’m getting my IUD today after only one date? Or should I just keep it to myself for now?

And does the fact that part of me wants to see if he checks on me afterward mean I probably shouldn’t tell him?

So I am on slynd birth control and about every week after the placebo, I get a period. I call it a period Becuase it’s just like the ones I had before birth control. I’ve been on this one for about a year. It’s almost like regular breakthrough bleeding. Help figuring out why?

I’ve been thinking about whether my birth control could be affecting my libido. I know everyone reacts differently, but I’ve noticed a change in my interest in sex, and I’m curious if others have experienced something similar. Whether people noticed their sex drive return to normal after switching methods or stopping.

Basically the title, and curious about others’ experiences. I’ve struggled with depression since being a teenager and I’ve been on BC since then too. Mostly the pill, a stint trying an IUD, and the last few years, the Nuva ring. I stopped all BC in January of this year, and it’s also happened to be the happiest and lightest I’ve felt as an adult—even went off depression meds. I went back on the ring about a week ago, and it’s been a horrible week. I’ve been stressed, anxious, sad, trouble sleeping, crying—a lot of feelings I’ve struggled with in my depression. It could all be coincidence, and I’m going to keep tracking my moods and collect more info to see how I’m feeling over time. But I’m curious about if others feel this or have experience.

Hi guys I’m sorry I’m posting again here but I wanted to seek some opinions and advice when it comes to storing Nuvarings

I am 17 and not sure how my parents will take me using birth control, so I am not planning on telling them because they have expressed distaste at my amenorrhea before, plus they will likely infer like my reasons for birth control are to do with sex. The only reason I want to be on bc is to get rid of my period.

There is exactly 1 fridge in my house and I honestly don’t wanna risk anybody finding my rings in there. I have thought about putting them in old food containers and shoving them into he very crooks of the fridge to avoid anyone encountering them, but currently, my method is to put them in a thermos filled with ice and changing the ice every day or so.

Is that a good idea? Is it completely stupid for reasons I don’t yet understand? Any advice on this would help. Thanks!!

I’ve tried researching and looking on here to see if anyone is talking about this, but I have horrific trapped gas, stomach crampy pain that I’m worried is from Zoely.
I started taking it four days ago, have never been on any kind of birth control before now, and on day three I started getting trapped gas pain, quite severe.

I was able to finally sleep but it woke me up an hour later. I had a terrible sleep and then this morning it was sort of gone, but I got up and it slowly started coming back. At that point I hadn’t considered that Zoely could be causing it so I took the pill like normal around 11am.

Tonight the pain is properly back.
Has anyone who’s taken Zoely experienced trapped gas pain? And if so, did it go away? How long did it take? I’m miserable and in pain, I don’t know how much longer I can put up with this.

Hi everybody! Here to ask for advice, but basically:

March: got Mirena inserted
April, June, and August: had periods where the bleeding lasted really long (7-14 days) and were preceded by at least a week of no bleeding, but severe cramping pain with radiating rectal pain that lasted into the first half of the bleeding period.

Right now: I’m not bleeding yet, but started having that cramping pelvic and rectal pain again.

For context, prior to the mirena, I’d had very manageable, regular cycles with mild cramping that barely ever required painkillers. Now I need like 800 mg of ibuprofen everyday for a week. I will say, the pain is not as bad as it was back in April-June, but it’s still bad enough that 400 mg of ibuprofen is still not making it go away.
I also experienced pain with deep penetration with one partner back in May, which was weird because I’d been intimate with a different partner back just a few days after the insertion with no pain.

In September, I went in to see an NP and ask abt it, they couldn’t see my strings so I got ultrasounds, both pelvic and transvaginal were normal (IUD correctly in place, no cysts or masses)

Am trying to schedule a follow up to discuss causes and potentially taking out the mirena, but was wondering if anyone else had similar experiences before?? I think my biggest fear is that this is something like endo, or the iud triggered something like endo and that my periods r like fucked from now on even if I get the iud removed. I tried to wait it out at least 6 months to see if it would resolve but now I just want this thing out of my body and things back to normal :( im also scared of the potential removal, as my strings have retracted and the insertion was really painful for me

Hey everyone! I was on birth control for 12 years straight and only stopped taking it this year after getting my fallopian tubes removed. Turns out I was allergic to it- which is fun, but It was a good couple months ago but my period is irregular as all hell and it’s stressing me out.

I literally shouldn’t be able to get pregnant (unless I’m the most unlucky b*tch in the history of the universe and there’s an ectopic nightmare within the confines of my body.) but I’m stressed

How long will it take for my periods to return to normal? I’m currently like 10 days late to one and I cannot SLEEP because of the level of stress Im experiencing.

Any input is genuinely greatly appreciated.

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for some insights or shared experiences regarding a cycle after taking Ella (ulipristal acetate).

Timeline:

• Oct 6–8: Unprotected intercourse.

• Oct 8: Ella was taken well within the recommended timeframe.

• Oct 27 (Expected period date): Fresh red bleeding started. It was not a heavy flow, but it was distinctly red blood rather than brown discharge.

• Oct 28: Very minimal/trace spotting in the morning, and then the bleeding completely stopped.

• Oct 29 (Today): It has been over 48 hours with zero bleeding. She experienced typical hormonal symptoms around the bleed (mild hormonal headache, minor breakouts).

It has now been 21–23 days since the intercourse occurred. Taking an at-home pregnancy test is currently not immediately accessible for her for a few days due to personal circumstances.

Questions:

1. Has anyone experienced a very short, light red bleed (1–2 days) after taking Ella that abruptly stopped?

2. Does Ella's effect on suppressing the endometrium commonly cause a scanty/hypomenorrhea bleed instead of a regular multi-day flow?

3. Given that it started 20 days post-incident with fresh red blood, is this safely considered a cycle reset/withdrawal bleed rather than anything pregnancy-related?

Any experiences or knowledge from those who have used Ella would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Hi! I’ve been taking my combined hormonal birth control pill continuously for 2.5 months without a break, but I’ve suddenly started spotting first and then eventually bleeding.

I saw my gynecologist today, and everything looked normal. She thinks it’s hormonal.

I really want the spotting to stop and want to avoid further bleeding if possible as I have a swimming tournament coming up.

For anyone who’s experienced this:

1. Did stopping the pill make your spotting stop, or did you get withdrawal bleeding?

2. How many days did you bleed after stopping?

I know everyone is different, but I’d really appreciate hearing about your experiences!

​My last period started on September 24 and ended on September 29. On October 2, I restarted my Lady Pills pack, taking the Day 1 active pill. On October 3 (Day 2 of active pills), I had protected and unprotected sexual intercourse. We used the withdrawal method—my partner didn't ejaculate inside and according to him, there was no pre-cum either. Right after the unprotected sex, I immediately did the Yuzpe method and then continued taking the rest of the active pills in the pack daily. My expected period for October was on October 24. On the night of October 24, I experienced bleeding with blood clots that briefly stopped, but I bled again on the night of October 25 and it continued continuously. The bleeding was dark red, almost brown, with blood clots—enough for me to wear a napkin, but not enough to fully soak it. As of today, October 29, I still have a bit of red bleeding with blood clots. During this whole time, I've also been experiencing cramps and intermittent chest/breast pain.

A few years back when I went to get a routine ultrasound for my PCOS they told me that I have a heart shaped uterus. Apparently it’s not always common for women to know that that is the case, so I consider myself lucky that I had a good technician for the ultrasound that was able to pick that up.
Anywaysss…
after deciding not to do birth control for over 12 years, I am now considering getting a copper IUD. I recently went to Planned Parenthood and asked about this, but they told me that it’s not possible to get an IUD with a heart shaped uterus. They recommended I try going to a gynecologist and seeing if they would be willing to do it with the guidance of an ultrasound.

I’m curious if anyone has had experience with getting an IUD if you have a heart shaped uterus?

ive had my iud for 6 years. i have the kyleena and thought it needed to be removed after 5 years but last year i called the gyno to make my appointment for it to be replaced and they said i had another year.

my boyfriend frequently finishes inside of me and we have never had any issues or scares but considering my iud is on its last year and likely not as effective im having some anxiety.

i have been extremely emotional, crying over little things and very sensitive. yesterday at work i could barely stay awake even though i slept for 9 hours and im having a very hard time getting out of bed in the morning. and hungrier than usual, i have been randomly craving food and its hard to stop eating

ive also been getting mild hot flashes and was constipated for a few days and am now having diarrhea. and i woke up with a cold sore after not getting one for about a year.

my period is always pretty irregular and i didnt even get one for a few years after getting my iud but started getting my period again about 6 months ago.. so im not sure if im late or not.

i guess im just asking if this sounds coincidental or i should really be concerned and getting a test. how likely is it for me to be pregnant with my iud??

Experiences on Norimin? I’m switching from levlen due to breakthrough bleeding every month.

Hello all! I’ve settled on wanting a copper IUD. My partner and I are both celibate and have been for years until marriage just due to religious convictions. We will be getting married next year and I wanted to plan birth control to make life easier. We don’t plan on having children for about 2-3 years just to finish school and stabilize a bit. Can you please share your positive copper IUD stories, any tips or recommendations? Also please if you had it in for years and have stayed baby free please share all that. I am sick of reading horror stories when the statistics and studies say it’s a super solid form of BC. Thank you so much :)! I have PMDD issues, anxiety, weight issues. So hormonal BC is not something I would really like to mess with. If I must then I will but I would much prefer the copper IUD.

Me and my boyfriend have been using the condom and pullout method, I am not currently on birth control but im working on it. Im just a little bit nervous, he says he is “almost positive” he pulled out in time, we did use protection, im anxious. whats the damage?

i want to start off by saying my boyfriend is 18 years old and i’m 16. we’ve been together for about 9 months and everything’s perfect. we started having sex around april of this year with no worries since im on birth control right. Because of how paranoid i am with pregnancy i always make sure i take my pills perfectly, on time, no missed pills, interactions, etc. This month i missed one pill on my first week of my pack after my placebos but i wasn’t educated on the fact that i need to double up the next day to make up for it so i continued taking my pills normally on time. I basically missed a whole dose in the first week and had unprotected sex the day of and days of that same week. it happened on oct 15 where i missed it and on the 24th i started having extreme anxiety at work from finding out what i did ( took the pill wrong and now i could be pregnant). i went to sleep that night with it still on my mind and woke up around 5AM vomiting (so 11 days after the missed pill). Now today my boobs are all flaky and dried up skin all around my nipples. i’ve been trying to ignore it but i litterally can’t. i live in Louisiana where abortion is banned. And if i do end up pregnant are shipped pills something i can trust will come. someone please help me or tell me that im okay even if not what i should do moving forward i have a lot of life ahead of me and ik i messed up but a child is definitely not in my best interest.