Poll: Contraception

[OctoH]

Combination of me using condoms and her being on the pill.

 

[Dags90]

Also, and this may be definitely is the sangria talking, but where is NuvaRing?

It's a convenient, once monthly vaginal ring. You just shove it up your gash and fish it out three weeks later. It's totes convenient!

 

[Zelcor]

Used condoms but my girlfriend is on the pill quite frankly it's HEAVENLY

 

[Aesir23]

I'm not sexually active but if I were I'd probably choose to take the pill along with insisting that my boyfriend use a condom. In my view it's always better to have a backup in case one fails. My sister's friend was on the pill and she still ended up pregnant... With twins.

 

[BathorysGraveland]

Speaking from inexperience here, I guess I'd have to use a condom, since I don't plan on ever having relationships, I'll probably be going from girl to girl on a one-time basis where things such as a pill don't exactly apply.

If I ever do have a relationship and settle with one girl though, I'd prefer she go on a pill. I've been told condoms don't affect the enjoyment or pleasure, but I don't know man..

 

[Zelcor]

I've been told condoms don't affect the enjoyment or pleasure, but I don't know man..

It's a lie a dirty dirty lie

 

[Ryan Minns]

Condoms but only a brand I can't remember right now, all the larger sizes of other brands are so fucking tight around the base it literally starts to hurt within a few minutes. What's worse is all 3 supermarkets near by rarely restock. GF is on the pill but she worries a lot so she wants me to wear a condom often which I am fine with as long as I can find the ones I can actually use

 

[Rule Britannia]

(Not had sex)

I will use condoms, although, if whomever I may be having intercourse with offers to use the pill (and stick to it) I will go with that.

 

[DementedSheep]

The pill AND condoms. I actually know a girl who has become pregnant more than once while on the pill and it doesn?t help with STDs so I would never rely just on that.
I'm surprised anyone picked IUD. I hear they are horrible.

 

[Blow_Pop]

I have used multiple different ones.
I'm currently on the pill and being abstinent...until september.
I just switched back to the pill after using the NuvaRing.
And I used to use the patches before I ever started with the pill back when they were still new and then got linked to cancer or whatever and I decided I hit the genetic lotto already as it is I don't need help in THAT department so I switched to the pill.

And I use condoms/dental dams(depending on the genitalia of the person I'm sleeping with)

Though, I'm kind of always on some form of contraception in addition to either sexually active or abstinent because my cramps will make it hard for me to do anything otherwise. So I am essentially on contraception 365 1/4 days a year.

Edit:

Also, and this may be definitely is the sangria talking, but where is NuvaRing?

It's a convenient, once monthly vaginal ring. You just shove it up your gash and fish it out three weeks later. It's totes convenient!

Not when I took. I had to replace mine once a week. And it felt...awkward putting it in and taking it out. Plus it did funny things to my body. Like having me go a month and a half until I finally had my period and then completely incapacitating me for 2 days with cramps worse than any I've ever gotten. Plus, I have irregular enough periods as is, I don't need something else further fucking with them, which is always fun going in for birth control or whatever to your gynaecologist and them asking when your last period was and having to guess because you stopped keeping track after high school when they started really getting irregular(oh the looks I get from the doctors at planned parenthood when I tell them "I THINK it was this day but I'm not sure since I don't keep track" and then having to explain WHY I don't keep track anymore). (And it would worry me too much if I were sexually active and had something that completely stopped my periods altogether.) Not a fun experience. But I suppose, as with everything, different things will affect different people.


Also, I'd like to point out to everyone who's saying they'd like their partner to be on the pill, the pill is NOT the only contraceptive a woman can take/have. And their are non hormonal versions of contraceptives for women who don't want the hormonal ones that work just as well.

When I spoke to my doctors about it, he said there was a chance it could make my periods heavier and because my pill had already done a fabulous job of that, I didn't want to risk it ._.
They can make them lighter but knowing my luck it wouldn't.

You know, exercising can help. Though for me it makes me have a heavy 2-3 day period and then I'm good for however long my body decides I need to go before having another period. Damn my irregular periods.....

 

[Colour Scientist]

cheaper than the pill, in the long run.
no more period! you can't imagine how great this is. not just for me, but also my boyfriend, we can be really spontanious.
you can't forget it, nor can you puke it out.
did i mention you will skip the period?!

I'd find that unnerving. I like having my period every month, it's a message that says 'you're not pregnant. CONGRATULATIONS!'

I tried the pill a long time ago (in my early 20s) but it reduced my sex drive. A LOT. Which my boyfriend at the time didn't much appreciate. So on the pill, I could safely have all the sex I wanted to, but I had no desire to do so.

Did you try different brands? I was on a pill called Yasmin and I didn't want to have sex at all for nearly two months and I was really moodly and irrational. I thought there was something wrong with me emotionally but I changed brand and everything went back to normal in about a week.

And I used to use the patches before I ever started with the pill back when they were still new and then got linked to cancer or whatever and I decided I hit the genetic lotto already as it is I don't need help in THAT department so I switched to the pill.

I was considering the patch but a good friend of mine was using it and now she has a baby. I know that happens with every kind of contraception but because it was someone I knew, I was completely turned off.

 

[Esotera]

Oral contraception is a synthetic form of pregnancy hormone(s). It tricks lady parts into thinking there's a bun in the uterus/ova released. Naturally, the body shuts down reproductive functions when it thinks there's already a fetus/egg up in there.

I know, it just never really struck me before that men don't have a similar function and are always on in a reproductive sense. Which is why we haven't seen a decent male contraceptive yet, as there hasn't been an obvious target.

 

[gazumped]

Once I'm off the blood thinning medicine (have to take it for six months to ensure the clots clear out) I'm going to get an IUD, can't really get it while I'm on the medicine though because both things make you bleed heavier on your period and there's a risk of becoming anaemic.

The exact same thing happened to my wife. IUDs work perfectly, also reduced the impact of her period by quite a lot as an added bonus.

But do yourself a favour and ask for an aneasthetic before they place the thing. Don't agree to let a GP do it without any form of sedative, unless you're a big masochist.

Out of interest, when did your wife have it put in? My Godmother made a similar comment about the pain (when we were having a chat about my options the other day) but she had hers put in over 20 years ago, I hear that more recent models are less of a problem, or is that just reassuring BS?

 

[the doom cannon]

condoms are ftw. the lady is paranoid that various female contraceptives will do weird things to her, which this thread definitely suggests. I get mine online at condomdepot.com, and damn those japanese ones....you should try them if you are able to

 

[Thaluikhain]

More than a fifth of people responding are virgins, it would seem.

 

[Elementary - Dear Watson]

Always condoms... even if the girl is using something else! No other contraceptive protects against infections and deseise as well as pregnancy! And it's a good habit to get into!

 

[Kathinka]

cheaper than the pill, in the long run.
no more period! you can't imagine how great this is. not just for me, but also my boyfriend, we can be really spontanious.
you can't forget it, nor can you puke it out.
did i mention you will skip the period?!

I'd find that unnerving. I like having my period every month, it's a message that says 'you're not pregnant. CONGRATULATIONS!'

it was a bit irritating in the beginning, but when you have an implant, you really don't have to worry about it, it's pretty much guaranteed that you can not get pregnant. my period before the implant, even on the pill i was on with 14-16, was really really irregular, so not a good indicator anyway. it was also very painful for me, so for me it's like the best thing ever.

 

[Starik20X6]

I'm not a massive fan of them but I err on the side of caution and use condoms. That's one mistake I'm not prepared to make.

 

[MelasZepheos_v1legacy]

it's not nearly as good as 'bare back'.

The worst bit is the awkward stopping and fumbling. Nothing kills the mood more.

Try having the woman put it on. Makes it part of the foreplay and is about the hottest thing ever.

I usually combine various forms. I had more than enough promiscuous sex when I was younger with other partners who were similarly active to make me very very cautious about proper protection from STDs. As for the pregnancy issue, since nothing is 100% it's better to double up I think. I tend to take the rather irrational view that if the typical use failure rate of condoms is 15%, then for every 100 times you have sex there are 15 times when the condom does nothing. I'm well aware that it doesn't really work like that, but that's still a terrifying figure to actually contemplate. (the pill is 8% by the way) Hopefully the 15 times the condom doesn't work the pill will catch it and the 8 times the pill doesn't catch it the condom will.

 

[Harbinger_]

My girlfriend uses the pill and I'm always paranoid until that time of the month comes along.