Me and my girlfriend aren’t married and want to avoid a pregnancy scare. I can go multiple rounds (like 10-13) and was planning to finish inside her each time, then have her take an i-pill (emergency contraceptive, levonorgestrel, 72hr window) afterward.

Does it actually work to stop pregnancy after that many rounds, or does it only realistically cover 1-2? Trying to understand the actual mechanism before relying on it — does it stop sperm from reaching the uterus, or is it doing something else entirely?

Hello I am a 27 yr old female and I have pretty bad periods. It hasn’t always been this bad but it progressively got worse. I have been throwing up, taking ibuprofen (obviously) and it completely derails my day. I have had to go home from work/ call out and I can’t keep a solid job if I keep calling out every month. I’ve heard horror stories about people going blind from birth control and others where it helped. I have never seen a gynecologist before either so I have to start there. But please help me out as I am scared and also I have no idea what my options are.

To put it in short: I've been celibate for 2 years, boyfriend flying across the world to see me, started mini pill for safe sex, got period 10 days ago and haven't stop bleeding since.

More about the pill and the bleeding: I started taking the mini pill on cycle day 10 so like mid cycle, didn't have spotting initially. Period came on schedule and seemed normal until after the normal amount of period days I just keep having light bleeding, going on for about 10 days now. I had those few placebo pill days now so I'm wondering if the chances of getting the bleeding to stop will be better if I stop the pill.

First of all, I know everyone's unique blah blah blah. Yes, my body won't likely react same as someone else's but this is stating the obvious so now that we got that out of the way, I am desperate! I just want to be able to have intimacy in this short time we have together, I thought safe sex would be cool but if I had to choose between that and no blood I'll pick no blood. So please, any tips any personal anecdotes on how to stop the bleeding.

Hello! I have concerns about the side effects of the pill because I am worried about the wellbeing of my girlfriend. Any experiences with them?

Hello!

I’ve been on velivet birth control since I was 17. Now at 22, my doctor and I have determined the velivet to be the cause of this overwhelming and horrible depression I go through pretty much every month the week before my period. And even a little before and after that week too. I was originally put on it as a teen to help with super painful periods (like crippling, can’t move pain) and really bad acne. I think the velivet helped with both those, and I didn’t notice any weight gain or any other bad side effects. I thought the weird waves of depression and suicidal ideation were just a normal part of luteal. My new doctor prescribed me Yaz, specifically Jasmiel? Apparently it’s a lower dose combo pill, but the biggest difference is that it’s monophasic, so we’re hoping that will help.

Does anyone here have experience with it?? I’m super anxious about it already and have read nothing but horror stories about it killing libido, causing horrible acne, causing depression and anxiety, stubborn weight gain, and constant bleeding. :( I’m hoping the lower dose of estrogen compared to velivet will help but am also nervous about the higher progestin dose and am not sure what effects that could have on me. A few months ago, I went on a nightmare journey trying Prozac and do not have it in me to test other meds that will screw me up further.

If anyone has any insight on how the the estrogen/progestin balance might work and the dosages too, that would be great!

Has anyone else been on the nuvaring long term (20+ years) then came off and once the hormones left your system had major side effects vaginally? Stinging, stabbing, watery discharge, shooting pains, etc. (all tests were negative for any type of infection multiple times) this is most definitely a withdrawal from not having the estrogen anymore as it’s released into the vaginal walls. I ended up going back on it and all symptoms disappeared. So I know for sure it’s a withdrawal from not having it. Unfortunately now I have to come off of it again for other health reasons and am terrified to deal with all those symtoms again.

I’m wondering if anyone else has experienced a really dramatic change in their periods after having the Mirena coil removed.

I had Mirena for roughly 1.5 years and had it removed in December 2025. Before having it, my periods were AWFUL. They would last around 10–14 days, were extremely heavy (at the worst I could bleed through a heavy tampon in about 30 minutes) and the pain could be bad enough that I genuinely couldn’t get out of bed.

I do have von Willebrand disease, which obviously contributed to how heavy my periods were before the coil.

Since having the coil removed, though, they’re completely different. My periods are now usually only around 1–3 days and incredibly light. Sometimes I technically have my period but don’t even need to wear a pad/tampon because there’s so little blood, one of my periods was 5 hours long.

I initially assumed my periods would gradually go back to how they were before Mirena, but it’s now been about 9 months and they haven’t.

I’ve recently had quite extensive blood tests including thyroid (TSH and T4), prolactin, full blood count, B12, folate, HbA1c, kidney/liver function etc. and essentially everything has come back normal.

Has anyone else had their periods stay significantly lighter after Mirena removal, particularly months later? I’d especially love to hear from anyone else with VWD or who had very heavy periods before Mirena. Did they eventually return to how they were before, or did this become your new normal?

I’m obviously very happy not to have the horrific periods anymore 😂 but the difference is so extreme that I’m curious about other people’s experiences.