I don’t talk about intimate things often and let me assure you, this post will not be intimate in the way you think it could be. There will be no crazy sex stories here, you can go find an erotica section online – this is not it. Today, I wanted to share my experience with birth control. I know most women think about the options but many are afraid to speak about it.
Besides the traditional rubber, I have been a semi-long term user of birth control pills. I have been on a number of different ones ever since I got my first boyfriend at the age of 17. As an overly cautious person, I wanted to be absolutely sure there was no way I could get pregnant. I was willing to pay the couple of dollars a month for the daily pill in order to keep those worries at bay.
My initial reactions to The PillI don’t remember the first brand of birth control pill I was on but I know it wasn’t as difficult to keep track of taking it as some women think it is. I set an alarm on my phone for a time that I knew I would always be able to take it, for me it was 4:30pm, and I took it daily. Sometimes I was late by a few hours, but thankfully you don’t have to be super precise about the time for it to work. Also, you can use a scheduler for taking the Pill. This option wasn’t around back then though so I didn’t utilize it at the time.
The time I started taking this particular birth control, I was also nervous about one of the dreaded side effects – weight gain. As an already average/slightly-fluffy girl, there is no way I would be okay with gaining any extra weight. I ensured that the OB-GYN knew this. To be on the safe side, this was also the time I started practicing self-hypnosis for weight loss. The result? I lost 15 pounds after starting birth control without even noticing it. The power of hypnosis, I tell you – it’s amazing. This is why I’m so passionate about it. But anyway, back to my story…
Everything was fine until a few months in when I started getting increasingly more irritable. It didn’t help that I was in a mentally abusive relationship. I found myself getting depressive and wanting to cry at little things. I would think of the most depressing things and cry about them at night. I sometimes cried about stupid things during the day too. None of my friends knew. The only time someone saw what was going on is one night when I was really depressed and bawling my eyes out at night and I asked my mom to sleep with me that night. She said it was probably the birth control that was making me all loopy. I laughed through my tears and I hoped she was right.
I got switched to another birth control pill – Yazmin. This one was supposed to be better. It was supposed to be specifically designed for people with mood issues due to PMS (oh yeah, I also developed an intense attitude problem: everything was irritating to me and I snapped on people numerous times without much reason). The mood issues got better but my boyfriend and I broke up (finally) and I didn’t see a reason in continuing the birth control.
Then I got older…The next time I went on the pill was when when I went to college. I was prescribed Loestrin Fe 24. I didn’t use it for a long time the first time I was prescribed it but I went back on it my Junior year when I started dating someone more seriously. This pill was supposed to have a minimal amount of side effects – no weight gain and no mood issues. Everything was fine and dandy for the first few months again but this was the time when my relationship with food was very up-and-down which caused a lot of low self-esteem. This, combined with my previous relationship and detachment issues, has lead to some minor depressive spurts. After about 7 months of taking the Pill, my sex drive was completely gone and I was no longer interested nor excited about getting intimate. Additionally, my relationship with food become more disordered and this caused more stress in my life. I went off the pill to get my hormones back in order. My boyfriend and I broke up 2 months after that for reasons unrelated.
The Pill for other reasonsI was off the pill for almost a full year after that, until 2-3 months ago when I went back on another form of birth control pill. For the first time, though, this was not done for the reasons you usually use birth control. For some odd reason, my hormones have been out of whack (which I think might be due to losing + gaining weight) and my period started acting really weird – I would not have it for 2 months, then it would come back, then it would come back 2 weeks after that, then it would be gone again for 2 months. It was extremely unpredictable and very annoying to keep track of. When I went to my OB-GYN she said I should just get back on the pill to get my hormones back in order. I do wish she did a blood test I asked for though, just in case there was something else that was wrong. Best pill Anyway, the new pill she put me on is Lo Loestrin Fe 1-10 which is the lowest dose of hormones you can get in a birth control pill at the moment which also means the least amount of side effects. I haven’t had any issues with it so far and my periods have been regular and a lot lighter. I guess only time will tell how this one affects me in the long run!
I like using birth control because it makes me feel more in control. I like the obvious benefit it provides but I have also saw a benefit of improved complexion from using the birth control pills as well. I think the thing is that each pill works differently for everyone – so it’s mostly all about trial and error. You can find out which form of birth control would work best for you from Bedsider’s Method Explorer. While the only one I have used is the Pill, I have friends who swear by other forms – such as the copper IUD. It’s really up to your lifestyle choices and other factors that determine what birth control is right for you!
Bedsider is having a “What’s in Your Bedside Drawer?” Pinterest contest! Check out the cool prizes you can win here.
Besides the traditional rubber, I have been a semi-long term user of birth control pills. I have been on a number of different ones ever since I got my first boyfriend at the age of 17. As an overly cautious person, I wanted to be absolutely sure there was no way I could get pregnant. I was willing to pay the couple of dollars a month for the daily pill in order to keep those worries at bay.
My initial reactions to The PillI don’t remember the first brand of birth control pill I was on but I know it wasn’t as difficult to keep track of taking it as some women think it is. I set an alarm on my phone for a time that I knew I would always be able to take it, for me it was 4:30pm, and I took it daily. Sometimes I was late by a few hours, but thankfully you don’t have to be super precise about the time for it to work. Also, you can use a scheduler for taking the Pill. This option wasn’t around back then though so I didn’t utilize it at the time.
The time I started taking this particular birth control, I was also nervous about one of the dreaded side effects – weight gain. As an already average/slightly-fluffy girl, there is no way I would be okay with gaining any extra weight. I ensured that the OB-GYN knew this. To be on the safe side, this was also the time I started practicing self-hypnosis for weight loss. The result? I lost 15 pounds after starting birth control without even noticing it. The power of hypnosis, I tell you – it’s amazing. This is why I’m so passionate about it. But anyway, back to my story…
Everything was fine until a few months in when I started getting increasingly more irritable. It didn’t help that I was in a mentally abusive relationship. I found myself getting depressive and wanting to cry at little things. I would think of the most depressing things and cry about them at night. I sometimes cried about stupid things during the day too. None of my friends knew. The only time someone saw what was going on is one night when I was really depressed and bawling my eyes out at night and I asked my mom to sleep with me that night. She said it was probably the birth control that was making me all loopy. I laughed through my tears and I hoped she was right.
I got switched to another birth control pill – Yazmin. This one was supposed to be better. It was supposed to be specifically designed for people with mood issues due to PMS (oh yeah, I also developed an intense attitude problem: everything was irritating to me and I snapped on people numerous times without much reason). The mood issues got better but my boyfriend and I broke up (finally) and I didn’t see a reason in continuing the birth control.
Then I got older…The next time I went on the pill was when when I went to college. I was prescribed Loestrin Fe 24. I didn’t use it for a long time the first time I was prescribed it but I went back on it my Junior year when I started dating someone more seriously. This pill was supposed to have a minimal amount of side effects – no weight gain and no mood issues. Everything was fine and dandy for the first few months again but this was the time when my relationship with food was very up-and-down which caused a lot of low self-esteem. This, combined with my previous relationship and detachment issues, has lead to some minor depressive spurts. After about 7 months of taking the Pill, my sex drive was completely gone and I was no longer interested nor excited about getting intimate. Additionally, my relationship with food become more disordered and this caused more stress in my life. I went off the pill to get my hormones back in order. My boyfriend and I broke up 2 months after that for reasons unrelated.
The Pill for other reasonsI was off the pill for almost a full year after that, until 2-3 months ago when I went back on another form of birth control pill. For the first time, though, this was not done for the reasons you usually use birth control. For some odd reason, my hormones have been out of whack (which I think might be due to losing + gaining weight) and my period started acting really weird – I would not have it for 2 months, then it would come back, then it would come back 2 weeks after that, then it would be gone again for 2 months. It was extremely unpredictable and very annoying to keep track of. When I went to my OB-GYN she said I should just get back on the pill to get my hormones back in order. I do wish she did a blood test I asked for though, just in case there was something else that was wrong. Best pill Anyway, the new pill she put me on is Lo Loestrin Fe 1-10 which is the lowest dose of hormones you can get in a birth control pill at the moment which also means the least amount of side effects. I haven’t had any issues with it so far and my periods have been regular and a lot lighter. I guess only time will tell how this one affects me in the long run!
I like using birth control because it makes me feel more in control. I like the obvious benefit it provides but I have also saw a benefit of improved complexion from using the birth control pills as well. I think the thing is that each pill works differently for everyone – so it’s mostly all about trial and error. You can find out which form of birth control would work best for you from Bedsider’s Method Explorer. While the only one I have used is the Pill, I have friends who swear by other forms – such as the copper IUD. It’s really up to your lifestyle choices and other factors that determine what birth control is right for you!
Bedsider is having a “What’s in Your Bedside Drawer?” Pinterest contest! Check out the cool prizes you can win here.