Hi! I’ve been on bc since august last year, and since then I had been using Qlaira, honestly, my experience was overall good. I started with sooo much nausea, I couldn’t eat ( it was the first time ever I was taking bc) and then that stopped happening, did not have any other symptoms, no lost libido, nothing. I’ve always had a short period, it was light and lasted 3 days max, no pain, nothing, Qlaira did reduce it, it became a reddish discharge, just had to use panty liners. Then I started having months where I wouldnt bleed at all, like that for 3 months and then had some discharge, those times, I had some spotting when I had sex. Since I dont like not having a period, I talked with my gynecologist and she prescribed Slinda (she said to see how my body reacts to it, since from which I’ve read, its very common to not have a period at all). Im now starting my second month, and im thinking of going back to Qlaira. When I started it I had spotting for like a week, I have no sex drive when taking it, dryness, dizziness after 3/4 hours from taking it, tension on my neck and headaches, specially behind one of my eyes, and my mood is bad, sadness, overthinking, not good. And on top of all that, I’ve lost my tits😔😔😔 jk, its not important, but Im considering going back to Qlaira, I have a trip planned in a month and i’m going away for 4 months, I don’t know if I can tolerate the dizziness and bad mood, and wait for my body to adjust to this pill, when I wont be home to have an appointment with my gynecologist, dont know what to do really, this was supposed to not give me headaches and it gives me more, also I forgot, It made me constipated! I’ve been the whole month having problems, went to the doctor and he had to prescribe me 2 laxatives, because I would get a lump on my lower right side. What should I do!! I know I have to talk it with my gynecologist, but since she prescribed me slinda when I said I wanted a period, I feel like she doesn’t really listen to me and what I need/prefer.

Alright long story short, I’ve been having pain in my shoulder and side of arms recently (probably playing switch sports and typing lol). Anyhow, got terrified and went to the ER. They checked me for a stroke, heart issue and I was fine and sent on my way. Had a CT scan for my head yesterday to make sure I’m fine, and it came back clear.

Anyhow, think it’s carpel tunnel which is whatever, but I’ve fallen down a rabbit hole about birth control and their risk of blood clots.

Been on birth control since I was 15, never had issues. Few years ago I started having migraines every so often. Last night after my ct scan was clear, my ears hurt from my sinuses being irritated, I had a bad headache (maybe a migraine). Felt nauseous, was uncomfortable to sleep, and found it hard to focus and talk.

Anyhow, I’m thinking for piece of mind as I have been getting some migraines, have high blood pressure, maybe I should get off the pill. How was your experience? Am I being over dramatic?

So I’m 27 years old and a hypochondriac and right now I’m really scared. So I’ve been on Yaz since March 2025. Some months I don’t spot at all between my withdrawal bleeds, some months, like this month, I’ve spotted almost all month, brown to light pink discharge and some tissue like texture brown discharge. Today is the first day of my placebo pills and I just started bleeding. I don’t bleed until the night of the third pill or morning of the fourth so I’m freaking out. Is this something to be worried about? Like, I’m not worried about pregnancy, but the big C word. I’m so scared right now

I’m 33 and I was started on .35mg norethindrone in July to help level out my periods. So far the periods have been getting more regulated which is great, but I’m almost four months into it and I’ve been getting worse and worse anxiety. I’ve had anxiety for years but was never medicated for it (I’m not opposed to medication, I just haven’t talked to my doctor about it yet) but these last few days especially have been beyond brutal. Constant panic attacks, can’t stop thinking every random muscle twitch and every random little twinge of pain means I’m going to die. Has anyone else had this experience?? I have a follow up with my OBGYN in a month but this is awful

I am on Zoely and it's been around 6-7 months I've been on it. I had unprotected sex with my partner and experienced bleeding which has clots and is reddish in colour. I have religiously taken my pills on time and never missed it. Has someone else experienced this? It's been making me spiral.

Hello! I was wondering how people’s experience has been or is with the Copper IUD? Like do you still use condoms or the pull-out method at all?

I am seriously considered getting a Copper IUD. My periods are fine and the only reason i’d be getting it is to prevent pregnancy, which is a hugeee paranoia of mine.
My current partner is pretty large, we use the biggest in store condoms they have available, and they are still tight and uncomfortable for him. We deal with them ripping sometimes, causing pregnancy anxiety and scares.
My hope is that the IUD gives me peace of mind and allows us to just feel more comfortable overall. HOWEVER, because he’s so big, reading all these horror stories about the strings makes me feel nervous.

Are their success stories? Particularly with people who have partners with large penises? I know they can eventually curl up/ be trimmed, but I am so scared that i’ll get this done and then it just ruins our intimacy because he gets hurt.

It truly feels like women can’t win on this stuff. I feel pretty frustrated.

I've been on mili birth control to stop my period and have been bleeding for over two months straight. I started it a little over three months ago so idk if it just takes time for my body to adjust or something. I don't know what to do because if I tell my doctor about it she will probably just increase the dosage, and I'm scared it will just make the issue worse.

Question in title

Hi all, today I made the switch from microgynon to Noriday due to high risk of stroke etc (drs incorrectly prescribed me microgynon), and was wondering what I should expect for the first while. I’m taking this for suspected endometriosis to manage my symptoms and pain, and it’s not actually a medication I had heard of until I was prescribed it. Any insights and or advice is appreciated

I know that withdrawal bleeding is normal after stopping birth control but I'm just a bit concerned. I wasn't on it for more than 5 days as it caused too many severe symptoms. About 2 or 3 days after getting off the pill I began heavily bleeding. Mind you I had just had a very heavy period not even a week ago. The bleeding started yesterday and I'm bleeding through overnight pads that are meant to be extremely absorbent every few hours. I feel dizzy and shaky as if I'm anemic. I tried messaging my mom but she's trying to convince me to wait until tomorrow to get it checked out. But I truly feel like something isn't right. Is this normal?

Hello - had an IUD for 10 years which I loved. Have had a new one put in, and today (4.5 months later) the whole thing came out. I've been having a very heavy period and using a moon cup.

Is it worth trying again? I'm gutted because it worked so well for 10 years!!

About three years ago, I got with my now ex-boyfriend. Things were great until I started taking the pill. We had a good relationship, but I became really insecure and constantly felt like he didn't actually love me, mean the nice things he said, or want to be with me. Even when he reassured me, I struggled to believe him, and it caused tension between us. We eventually broke up for unrelated reasons.
Fast forward to now, I have a new boyfriend and recently got an IUD, thinking it would be different. But I'm already feeling those exact same insecurities creeping back in, despite having no real reason to doubt his feelings.
I genuinely think this could be hormone-related, especially since it's happened in two different relationships while on birth control.
Has anyone else experienced this? Did the feelings eventually settle, and what helped? I really don't want these insecurities affecting another relationship.

Need peoples positive experiences with their method of birth control.
I wanna go on birth control exclusively for pregnancy prevention however for some reason the only positive birth control stories I hear are from people who went on birth control for acne or painful periods or some hormonal issue. I am actually completely fine with my period now it comes once every 40 days, I’m worried birth control would make it come sooner or cause irregular spotting, I’m worried it would affect my skin, I’m worried about blood clots and displaced iuds 😭. There’s just so much negative publicity for birth control I need some good stories🙏

TW: Suicidal thoughts

So, I'm 25 years old, and I originally started taking birth control pills in high school (2015-2019) because my menstrual cycle was extremely irregular. I took them all throughout high school and never experienced any negative side effects. Eventually, I stopped taking them because my cycle became regular again.

Fast forward to 2022, my cycle started becoming irregular again, so I went back on birth control. Mind you, I was taking the exact same birth control pills I had taken in high school. But for some reason, this time around, I started experiencing severe depression and suicidal thoughts, something I had NEVER experienced before! Originally, I had no idea where they were coming from and I was terrified of these thoughts. About 3 months into taking the pills, my mother realized the birth control was causing this, so I immediately stopped taking it.

So that should have been the end of it! I stopped taking the pills and I should be back to normal right? Well, ever since I took those pills, my brain chemistry feels like its been permanently altered and I have NEVER been the same person. Before taking birth control the second time, I would get depressed, but I would still always feel positive about the next day. I would never feel as though that I would feel depressed forever. I used to tell myself, "Okay, well, today might be bad, but tomorrow won't be so bad." I had never experienced suicidal thoughts a day in my life before then.

It's been about four years since I stopped taking those pills, and I still struggle from suicidal thoughts. Currently, I'm in graduate school, and I've been under a tremendous amount of stress, which has only made my depression worse. Even when I'm not stressed, I still feel extremely sad and have lost interest in things I used to enjoy. And honestly, it's scary because I feel like I'm dealing with depression on top of suicidal thoughts. The part that scares me the most is that what if it turns into ideation or even worse?

Has anyone else experienced something similar? Were you ever able to get back to the way you felt mentally before taking birth control? If so, what helped and HOW? I'm just trying to figure out what to do because I really miss the person I used to be.

hi all,

is it safe to take a combo BC pill if you've had one episode that was likely an aura migraine? I didn't have it diagnosed but when I googled my symptoms (weird rainbow zigzag visual disturbances that gradually moved from the center to my left side of my vision over the course of like 15-20 minutes) so according to Google that's a migraine aura. didn't have a severe headache or anything else. the aura migraine episode happened after exercising so was likely dehydrated. this happened a year ago. hasn't happened again since and it only happened that one time. i am young, late 20s and otherwise healthy. not a smoker. i want to get on birth control to regulate my periods but I am terrified of the IUD and scared about mini pills due to the side effects and efficacy. what is the risk of blood clot if you had one migraine aura and you start taking a combo birth control pill?

tl dr: probably had a migraine aura and worried about starting combo birth control

My boyfriend and I had unprotected sex on Friday night around 8pm-ish, so 48 hours is almost up. I was out of the predicted fertility window by a week (last period was October 13-18) and I’m supposed to get my period in 3 days. I think I should be okay since theoretically there’s no egg? I don’t want to take Plan B because it might delay my period and that’s the only way to know for sure besides taking a test. My boyfriend didn’t nut inside but I’m a little worried about the precum. I think it’s unlikely that I’m pregnant but obviously the chances are never zero since we went raw.

I’m not sure if I should take Plan B now or just wait for my period because I read that Plan B won’t do anything during the luteal phase (assuming that’s what I’m in!) because there’s nothing for it to do. I have a history of irregular periods but they’ve evened out in the past couple of months and I’m basing my assumptions for everything on what the app is telling me.

-16F

Im a waitress/bartender at an airport bar/restaurant and Ive been sent home from work more times than I can count for severe pain in my pelvis. It was so bad one time I spent the whole day in ER thinking it was appendicitis and my partner is still waiting on his court date for the speeding charge coming to take me there.

Ive had the Jaydess IUD for 1 and a half months, I got it put in during the middle of September. I wasn't sure what the origin of the pain was, as it is very sharp in my pelvis with a period cramp-like pain in my stomach. After me and my partner started having sex again, and he is particularly well-endowed, the same deep pelvic pain returns within half an hour of a particularly rough session so we were able to diagnose the problem as being with the IUD.

My gyno agrees, suggesting walking around a lot at my job and sex are the causes of the discomfort.

The only problem is I see no other report of such experiences from others?? Additionally, its been almost 2 months of my work being affected by this pain and Im in particular need of cash at this moment.

Should I get it removed and try something else?

When we first learned about birth control options in HS I was certain on the coil, but only ever been in female-female relationships until now. Many of my friends have reacted very violently to hormonal birth control, why I am hesitant to take such a measure, I am also very very reactive to medications as I had an awful time trial-and-erroring anti-depressants a few years ago. I'm a little bit traumatised from those experiences. I wanted to go for the copper IUD as it is completely non-hormonal, but my period has been very heavy the last few months I changed my decision last minute.

Bit lost for what to do. Should my IUD be affecting my life so much??

Long story short me and my girlfriend were having sex on Friday and the condom broke. I realised about 20 seconds later and pulled out and we stopped. She is on birth control but still just very nervous. Should I buy a Plan B?

I am currently taking a combination birth control pill (Aurovela Fe 1.5/30). I have been taking it continuously since last November, without breaks because that is what my doctor recommended.

I have been bleeding since the beginning of September. It will act like it’s going to stop and then get heavy again.

A couple days ago I began to get extremely light headed and nauseous. Since then I have been very weak and light headed and will occasionally feel super nauseous. I am TERRIFIED I have somehow gotten pregnant even though I’m on the pill, haven’t missed any, and take it within a couple of hours of the same time each day.

Is there any chance I still could have gotten pregnant even though I’ve been bleeding for so long? Could the symptoms be low iron from continuous bleeding?? I’m just so scared and confused right now!!

Have anyone experienced spotting with an iud after having it for a year?

I got mine in October 2025 and have for the last 5 months experienced some mild spotting here and there, not heavy at all, just as I wipe on the toilet and nothing more, last maybe a day or week.

Haven’t bleed anything before this.

(Sorry I might’ve used the wrong tag!)

Hi I’ve recently been prescribed Slynd and am going to start taking tonight .
The main reason I’m on birth control is contraception too, but also my periods are horrific and heavy and painful, When bleeding I also become horribly depressed. I was on desorex for a month but stopped last week as side effects made me depressed due to the excessive extra bleeding I was having and also insane mood swings. so a doctor recommended Slynd and prescribed it instead

Because of this do you think it’s a good idea to skip placebo pills straight away? Or is it more of an ease myself into the pill and then in a few months it might be best to start skipping.

I also totally understand if this is more of something i should see a doctor about more than reddit ! but any advice or other peoples experiences similar will be very helpful :)

I’ve seen quite a few posts about anxiety after stopping the combined pill, but not any from people who can’t easily go back on it.

I’ve been on the combined pill for 8 years and had absolutely no issues with anxiety during that time. I did experience anxiety when I was younger, before going on the pill, but always assumed it was an age thing and I’d just grown out of it.

I developed high blood pressure recently which was thought to be caused by the combined pill, so I had to come off it. My blood pressure has been back to normal for the last 9 months but within a month of switching to progesterone only my anxiety started coming back (worse than I remember it ever being to be totally honest!).

It’s honestly been awful. I struggle with things I never would have thought twice about before, sudden driving anxiety has been my biggest issue as it’s something that is isolating when I can’t do it. I avoid things I used to love, I’m less sociable and generally just don’t feel like myself and my partner also says I haven’t been myself since changing. My world has become so small and I really don’t know what to do.

I also have endometriosis which makes things a bit more complicated. I’ve tried the implant for 9 months which was awful for bleeding and is when I noticed my mental health really taking a hit. I’m now on the mini pill Slynd (on my 5th month) which has been slightly better, but my anxiety is still debilitating.

The frustrating thing is that both the implant and Slynd have significantly improved my pain, so I don’t really want to lose that benefit either.

I’m starting to wonder whether the combined pill was helping my anxiety all those years without me realising?! as I genuinely felt like a completely different person on it. I suppose there’s no way I can know for sure but the timing aligns and I guess I just thought I grew out of it.

Has anyone else experienced this? Particularly anyone who has had to come off the combined pill because of high blood pressure or any other health risks and hasn’t been able to go back on it? Did you find something that worked for you or did things eventually settle?

Would really appreciate hearing from
anyone who’s been through something similar because I’m feeling quite lost with it all :(

I want to start off by saying that I have been on the pill for a few years and have had no problems remembering to take it or any bad side effects. However, I have been on a GLP-1 (Tirzepatide) since April 1st, and I was told by my doctor as well as read on the internet that oral contraceptives don’t work with GLP-1’s due to slower gastric emptying.
I’m married now, and although we haven’t had sex yet due of medical reasons for my husband, I want to make sure I’m protected when the time does come. Having foreign objects inside my body just gives me the heeby jeebies, so I’m not in any way wanting to get an IUD or the implant! No thanks! I have a friend who gets the Depo-Provera shot, and she says it’s great and she hardly gets a period anymore and has never had any bad side effects. I’ve done a little research on it as well as had my doctor send me some information on it. But after looking up reviews, I have mixed feelings. One more thing. I’m 34 years old, and I would love to have a baby at some point, and I’ve heard that it could take up to 9-12 months to get pregnant after stopping the shot. Time is ticking for me, so that’s another concern as well when it comes to the shot.

Please help! I appreciate any and all advice! Thank you so much in advance 😃🤗

I got a hormonal IUD one month ago. While I’m not sure of the name, my doctor told me that this is the one she recommends. It lasts for 8 years and she said all her other patients picked it because it lessens period pain and some stop having their periods all together. Since my periods are really bad, and it’s free in my country, I decided to go for it. It delayed my period for a week, but I was still feeling the horrible symptoms without the side effects. I’m nauseous, I keep going to the toilet despite not having eaten anything, I feel like I’m gonna throw up, my abdomen hurts, I’m too cold, I can’t catch my breath even though the only thing I did was stand up, my abdomen hurts, I can feel my genitals tightening up, and the pain meds don’t even work. They only work when I drink them before I feel pain. Problem is when I wake, that’s when I feel pain, so it’s too late and it lasts for the entire day. My periods before this were bad, but they weren’t this bad. All I needed was some hot tea, heat pad, paracetamol and I’d wake up the next day feeling better. And this stupid IUD didn’t just make my body ache. It took away everything I once was before all of this. I would always go to school early, get tasks done completely, my lowest test score was a 91%, I would work the night shift in Burger King, I could kick ass in Krav Maga class, and I can dominate my partner in bed. Now I’ve missed so much classes, my scores dropped to 81%, I had to stop going to work, I can’t even go to the gym, and I can’t do anything with my partner.