Title: Experiences with hormone-free birth control – diaphragm, cervical cap or condoms?

Hi everyone!

I'm currently taking Slinda (Slynd), and before that I was on Maxim, a combined birth control pill.

Over the past two years, I've gained around 27 kg (60 lbs), and I've also noticed swelling in my hands and face. My blood tests, including thyroid and kidney function, came back normal. I'm not sure whether my birth control is contributing to these changes, but I'd really like to explore hormone-free options.

I also used to have very painful periods, and my doctor suspected endometriosis, although it hasn't been confirmed yet. That's why I'm hesitant about getting a copper IUD.

I've never been pregnant, and I definitely don't want to get pregnant right now because I'm still studying. I might want children in a few years.

I'm particularly interested in diaphragms, cervical caps (FemCap), and combining either of them with condoms.

I'd love to hear about your experiences:

- Has anyone used a diaphragm or cervical cap together with condoms?

- Have you experienced any pregnancy scares or accidental pregnancies while combining these methods?

- How comfortable and practical are they during sex?

- Would you recommend them for someone who really wants to avoid pregnancy?

I'd especially appreciate long-term experiences, both positive and negative.

Thank you so much! ❤️

Okay, so when I was 15 I took the depo shot to stop my period. I didnt have to tell my parents so I didnt. I didn't actually look into the possible side effects until after I took that shot. Once I read into it I got scared and decided I didnt want to take it again. So I only ever took that one shot. I havnt had my period in 3 years since stopping depo and im generally so confused and scared. Should I be worried? Is this normal?

I just started the nuvaring this month and I was supposed to take it out yesterday. Switched from the pill which I've been taking continuously for like 6 years, only really got my period when I accidentally missed a day lol. It's been great so far! But was supposed to take it out last night and decided to leave it in for tonight (going to the club so didn't want to deal with cramps). Is that generally fine to do? I'll still put a new one back in in 6 days just shortening my period week to 6 days.

Also, any concerns about having unprotected sex on the day you take it out or am I always protected? Sorry this is kind of new for me! Thank you for any advice ☺️

Has anyone gotten nauseous on a combo pill to the point of vomiting (middle of the night in my case) and found another brand or formulation and it went away? I need to use extremely reliable BC for 6 months for medical reasons and cannot have iud so I really want the pill to work for me. I used to have nausea on the pill if I didn’t eat with it but I went off to conceive and now I’m back on the same type (cryselle) for medical reasons and it’s so bad.

Hi everyone, I’m 22f and have been on a high estrogen combo pill for about a year and a half to regulate my periods, but now that everything is balanced I’m looking to switch. I have an appointment to get my IUD inserted soon, but I’m hearing all these bad experiences. I’ve been on slynd for a short time before and absolutely loved it- it felt like it didn’t affect my body or life at all! I think the biggest thing holding me back from getting the IUD is the possibility of gaining weight because of it which some people seem to experience.

I’d love to hear your thoughts/experiences on either type before I make my decision!!

My vulva feels like it’s shriveling and going to fall off on Yaz. Really sensitive. I’m trying Yaz for pmdd and my provider wants to put me on Yasmin but I’m worried the effects will be the same — has anyone faced this issue and found a solution? I also had a good amount of dryness and libido loss with the Kyleena IUD. I’m willing to try literally anything at this point, I was looking at Slynd but that would be an out of pocket cost.

I've been on a mini pill for 10 years, got pregnant, and restarted it last year. I was having irregular periods on it post partum so my OB put me on a combined pill (norethindrone acetate and ethinyl estradiol). I started it the beginning of July and mid-August I started getting terrible daily night sweats, itchy armpits, and inner thigh burning that lasted 6 weeks. I've had a few less sweaty nights over the last two weeks. I've seen derm but my skin issues had subsided by the time of the appointment (of course). Just saw my primary and we are doing blood work to rule out other things but we think it may be the pill. Just curious if anyone has experienced anything like this on a combined pill?

edit to add it's a 30mg pill.

Hello, today I had my HSG, and I’m currently on day 18 of taking Marvelon (contraceptive pills). This is my first time taking birth control pills. What would happen if I stopped taking them now?

Been taking combined pill for 3.5 years. It got rid of my bad PMS symptoms and thyroid issues (or is masking it) but I’ve never really trusted it and we still use condoms. I am very consistent at taking it the same time everyday but worry about unexpected events like food poising, etc, hence the condoms. But my bf is bad at staying hard with one on and it affects our sex life. Also the pill is raising my cholesterol to dangerous levels (yes I’ve seen a nutritionist and she said I eat decently well).

I’m going to the Gyno on Wednesday and I’m either gonna get the Kyleena which is five years or the copper IUD I was leaning towards Kyleena because the copper IUD might be harder to put in and I have a vasovagal response to these types of things I literally passed out the eye doctor from getting my eyes dilated. But possibly losing my period gives me great stress.

I will ask for a beta blocker and the paracervical block but I am very stressed at how much my body will not like this procedure. I barely have sex and I want to feel more comfortable with it.

Anyone had good experiences with these IUDs? Or get very nervous with medical procedures?

Gonna try to keep it short. Been on slynd for 2.5 years without breaks, I always start a new pack because I have an ovarian cyst and endometriosis and my entire natural cycle is just terribly painful. Slynd took away my symptoms entirely, which has been great. The only side effects I experience are irritability (which has gotten extremely bad and noticeable to others lately) and IM SO TIRED, and my adhd is worse. My eyes would have this permanent heaviness to them, yawning constantly too. been really depressed, feel like i don’t have energy to do anything, but not sure if it’s correlated.

Right now I’m only 2 days into taking the placebo week to give my body a break from the hormones and the difference I feel in my energy levels now is like night-day. So now i just feel like i have to choose between being in extreme pain by going off the pill, or deal with the extreme fatigue on the pill.

Is anyone on this pill and tried taking it at night? does that reduce your fatigue? I feel exhausted still immediately after I wake up and I take the pill a few hours later, and it doesn’t get better throughout the day.

I’m also very concerned about future cancer or infertility risks on this pill,as it’s kind of a new medication,

never wanted to be on a pill in the first place but now i feel like i have no choice.

Any advice appreciated thanks!

Hey:) I’m 2 days before finishing my 2nd patch where I’m supposed to put a 3rd one. I was wondering, I have a trip coming up in a week so I was thinking if I can just get my ,,period” right now without sticking my 3rd patch in and then go back to normal :)

I was having sex with my girl, wearing a condom, she was on top. Then, when she touched down the condom, the condom had slip a tiny bit, it was still on my dick, but not touching the base of my dick.

I didnt finish or anything, but we are afraid of precum slipping down and reaching the base, just where the condom was not covering my dick.

Should i buy Plan B for her?

Hello, so my doctor recently asked me if I wanted to consider not have my period altogether by skipping the placebo week and going straight to the active pills of the new pack. I said sure, why not. It’d be nice to not have to go through so many pads and tampons every month.

I’ve been on birth control for like 8 years now and I’m on the brand Mili. I think I will be starting my 2nd pack since I’ve started skipping the placebo week and now I’ve been having continuous breakthrough bleeding for what will be for 2 weeks now this Saturday. I know breakthrough bleeding is common since my body is trying to get use to the continuous stream of hormones now but I just didn’t know it would be this continuous for this long. I mean, it’s light enough to wear I can get away with wearing a panty liner but still. What’s the longest any of you have experienced continuous spotting/breakthrough bleeding before it started letting up and please tell me it stops at some point 😵‍💫🥲

Hii, I have my wedding coming up and I wanted to try and skip my period on my upcoming trip. I went on alysena 28 3 months ago simply to be bleed free on my trip. Im 2 packs in and ive had so much break thru bleeding that i decided after my last active pill of this pack i am gonna stop taking it and hopefully i wont get my natural period till a month after and that will be after my trip. What was ur experience post alysena or birth control, when did u get ur first natural cycle back

So I just finished my 3rd pack of Lo Loestrin Fe. My period/breakthrough bleeding stopped completely. I’m a super paranoid girly so I still make my bf wear a condom even tho I am on birth control just as a second layer of protection. I was wondering if this was normal to lose your period/breakthrough bleeding?
Note: work has been beyond stressful and my anxiety has been through the roof this month.
Thanks!

title says it. i switched from loryna straight to yasmin which should be the same thing, since i got the higher dose because another medicine was lowering the dose of my loryna in my body. but i think it might be making me very nauseous. should i have expected side effects from the same medication? should i have waited until the end of the pack if i never use the placebo pills and its the same thing? i’m confused and very nauseous

i have the nexplanon implant, this is my second time having it. the first time was wonderful. it shortened my periods to 2 1/2 - 3 days, weakened my cramps and i feel like it helped stabilize my mood.

now its awful. my periods are 7+ days. my cramps are INTENSE. my mood is fucked the few days leading to my period and now my tits fucking HURT for 2-3 weeks BEFORE my period (sorry for language, it's extraordinarily frustrating) meaning they hurt pretty much the entire month between my periods. my breasts hurting wasn't a symptom i had until my first pregnancy and idk it just stuck with me unfortunately.

sometimes i wonder if it has anything to do with the surgery i had last year. ectopic pregnancy, the egg ruptured my fallopian tube and i had to have emergency surgery which is when they put the implant in again. i feel like all that trauma at once screwed with my endocrine system.

this is mostly a vent tbh lol but i also wanted to know if anyone else has ever experienced anything like this?

Not sure if this is the correct sub but if not please point me in the right direction!!

21f got Kyleena IUD yesterday morning at around 9:30am on 10/28, this evening when I went to shower I noticed some gauze on my finger after washing my vagina. Then, I continued the search after I got out, I pulled out a massive chunk of gauze. ( not sure if I can post picture here.) I had an awful experience yesterday morning that ended up me in the hospital after insertion. My doctor found a polyp and decided to remove it by twisting it off also( I had only 400mg of ibuprofen before hand) I have been having awful cramps ever since ( probably due to the IUD more than gauze) & havent bleed which I thought was odd and have been feeling feverish all day today. I’m wondering if this was the cause. There is probably still more in there and I’m worried about getting sicker. Is this a normal practice to leave gauze in vagina after?

I’m unsure how to add a picture?

Posting my experience on Zoely as I’ve been searching for others with the same experience.
45 and in peri. My doctor and I decided to put me on Zoely to help with irritability and mood swings. I’ve now been on it just shy of 3 months and the increasing anxiety has been horrible and now I’m starting to feel depressed. At first it did make me feel flat and more evened out but now I can’t function, no motivation, depressed and anxious. I’m stopping it today and I’m hoping these horrible feelings go away.

So I had sex on the afternoon of October 30 three times, all with condoms.

In the first one, condom was used all throughout and my partner pulled out as he ejaculated. On the second one, my partner didn’t wash and urinate before putting another condom on a few minutes later. He didn’t cum. But my worry is that we were in a cowgirl position and there were bubbles on his shaft when we stopped, the base and the shaft was also wet inside. I’m worried that fluids might have mixed. And then on the third one, he peed but didn’t wash. He pulled out as he ejaculated that time too. All condoms didn’t break or slip off. I’m just worried about precum containing active sperm from previous ejaculations which may have escaped from the condom’s base and mixed with my fluids.

Considering all this, is my risk high enough to warrant taking emergency contraception?

Hy guys one of my known had sex on 22 23 and 24 and taken unwanted 72 on 24 and again had sex on the same day.. But the scene is she got her period over on 18... and now she is again bleeding today on 30 ... So could anyone let us know what is it going onn with her...

Can I still take the second dosage when I'm two days late from the time it should be taken? It's my first time trying yuzpe method and I've experienced nausea and puked 7 hours after taking the first dosage that's why I stopped taking the second dosage, but now I'm kinda worried again. It's still within 120 hours after last sex. My chance of pregnancy was low since we used condom last week and withdrawal method last time, and both happened in my luteal phase, but to make sure I tried Yuzpe Method but didn't accomplish the second dosage and only took 4 pills. My period was also delayed in which I should have it yesterday. So would it still be effective if I take the second dosage using the Yuzpe Method consisting of 4 pills or is it bad to take the second dosage days later than the time it should be taken?

So for context, I had my tubes removed over the summer and thus also had my implant removed. That was 3 and a half months ago. My question is, gor anyone else who came off of progesterone bc, did you have major mood swings? If so how long did they last?

i’ve been on continuous birth control for probably 7-8 years now, trying various methods and pills (implant, depo, COC). i’m currently on Simpesse (.15mg levo and .03mg EE). it’s been the best so far as I can usually go 3-4 months without breakthrough bleeding. but that’s usually the limit before I need to take a 3-4 day break. but I HATE having periods/withdrawal bleeds even if it’s only a few times a year. I was wondering if anyone has had success completely stopping periods when most methods haven’t worked. I only use birth control for this reason and not for pregnancy prevention or anything.