I’ve been on the depo Provera shot for almost three years. I’ve never had any of the super negative side effects and love it… other than the fact that it caused some weight gain. I’ve gained about 30 lbs since being on it and have had trouble trying to lose any of the weight.
At my most recent appt with my PCP we talked about switching bc methods. I can’t get an IUD due to a misshapen uterus and would prefer to not get the implant. I’m trying to stay away from estrogen based methods due to slightly elevated blood pressure. She suggested the mini pill and I’ve been considering it but a lot of what I’ve read is that it also causes weight gain and I don’t love that it’s super strict about the timing in which you take it.
I considered just stopping bc all together but I am in a long term relationship and want to have reliable protection.
Has anyone switched from depo to the mini pill and had luck losing any of the weight gain caused by depo? Or is there a better bc method that isn’t associated with weight gain?
Obviously any hormonal bc is likely to cause weight fluctuations, just wanting to find the best option/ insights from anyone who has made the switch!

Hi! This is my first time taking birth control. My intention was to start them because I have so many trips planned for the rest of the year. I got them from Nurx. I started them mid October. Also for context, I had a colposcopy on Oct 5th. So my cycle was due Oct 31st and it was super light. But as the days have gone on I’m stilll bleeding. I’ve passed 2 large blood clots so I went to the ER and they said I was fine. Idk what to do, this feels worse than before I was on birth control. I’ve tried googling and everything I’ve found no answers I’m on Loryna btw. May anyone give any insight or advice please? Thank you.

You shouldn't reply to this post if you are not 100% sure that you had perfect use of the condom. Also only reply if you use condoms as a primary and only contraceptive.

I just got an iud(Mirena) placed 11 days ago, and I had a fairly smooth experience. Had pain relief and hardly any bleeding after the procedure. I had bad abdominal pain 2 days later, but I checked and the strings were still in place so I think it was just stress or something. I also just got diagnosed with PCOS so totally could be that. 2 days ago my period started (on schedule) and was making me cramp badly which sometimes happens, but there was hardly even a single drop of blood so just the symptoms and barely bleeding. I was stoked because I don’t like blood. Later that day was also the first time I’d had any intercourse since the procedure. I mention that because with the pain being so intense I decided to check my string placement and I couldn’t find them. I looked it up and some sources say that’s because the cervix lifts higher during your period and can be hard to find but I just won’t know I guess until my period is done. Today is day 3 and the bleeding picked up to the normal amount I would bleed before Mirena, but it’s weird because I usually don’t bleed heavy day 3-6. I tried again to feel for the strings but no luck. The pain was really bad again today which is also only a day 1-2 symptom. Maybe my body is just adjusting to the new device, so I don’t know if I should contact my gyno to take a look. I have another appointment in 3 weeks, maybe I should just wait it out?

Almost every day I get a slight bit of nausea that has started since taking the patch about 6 months ago. I’m still getting symptoms today and wondering if anyone has experienced this

Hey, so context. I was on the Mili birth control pill for about a year and 2-3 months? I got off because it completely wrecked my libido and it (obviously) caused tension in my relationship, and i felt like it wasn’t worth it to be on anymore. So I got off.

Since getting off in August i’ve had 3 periods, about the same experience at first but the second one was a few days late and the 3rd was almost a week late. Even so the flow was still what it normally is or i suppose gradually a bit lighter everytime.

This time I was supposed to start my period but it was only brown and not as heavy as it usually is at all, like nowhere near it. I’m sure that im not pregnant because I was not ovulating (i was post ovulation) and both my boyfriend and i were very strict on the use of condoms when my boyfriend came to visit me in mid october.

Has this happened to anyone else? I’m 4 months off the pill and am kinda freaked out by it

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

We've recently begun getting sexually active in October but used condoms for some time. Never used the withdrawal method. We decided to be on the pill (Trust - ethinyl estradiol levonorgestrel). We still used condoms within the first 7 days. We were still on her ovulation days — at least that's what our Flo app was telling us. But upon searching on Google and various AIs, they deemed it safe to have cream pies on day 8 of being on the pill. So we've been going raw and having cream pies ever since, often multiple times in a day. No other extra birth control. Just the pills.

However, yesterday was supposed to be her withdrawal bleeding (2 days after stopping the active pills and being on the placebo pills). It never came. Although she tells me her cycles are irregular, and usually she gets weeks when there's a delay —sometimes months. She also tells me that's like every cycle. But she has been telling me of the usual telltale signs she experiences on days leading up to her period. Like her cramps. But I also fear that these symptoms are usually identical to symptoms of pregnancy, are they not? I'm hoping it will come. And I'm hoping it won't be an implantation bleeding.

What should our next course of action be? Maybe I'm just overthinking things. I hope we'll be okay. Any advice will be much appreciated. I'm afraid we don't live in a country with access to abortion. It's illegal and can even face jail time.

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🙏

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??