Hormonal Contraception: The Pill [General Discussion]

Brandon Lopez6 said:Man, let me tell you. I had these freaking dark circles under my eyes 🙂. They just vanished after a month or two 🙂

Oh, great. Just what I needed. You totally ruined my day. :-)
Look, this is a massive headache. And honestly? Even though I’d rather die than deal with these hormones, it looks like it’s the only way out—even if it’s just a temporary fix...
Heading to the OBGYN next week, so we'll see what the doc has to say about all this :-)

Maria Newman14 said:I tried using Evra patches, but they just didn't work for me. Around the third week, one of them started peeling off, which caused some spotting. The instructions say if a patch loses its seal, you should start a new pack and a new cycle immediately 😕 so, that’s exactly what I did. Essentially, I was supposed to skip a period. But a week into this new cycle, I started bleeding again. I took the patch off right away and decided I was done with them entirely. To be specific, I removed it early in the second cycle following the initial issue where the first patch peeled. That bleeding felt just like a period. It’s been a month since then, and I still haven't had a regular period now that I've stopped all contraception.

Is it possible I messed up my cycle by switching patches mid-stream, or should I just go buy a pregnancy test? 😢

Of course your cycle is off, because the patch didn't stay on for the full duration it was supposed to. I suppose you could compare this to someone taking birth control pills but stopping after 10 days instead of the usual 21. It disrupts everything because your body isn't getting the hormone dose it expects, while at the same time, you've interrupted the natural hormonal rhythm. The bleeding you experienced probably wasn't a real period—it was likely just withdrawal bleeding. Ideally, you should have checked in with a gynecologist before stopping, as they might have prescribed a full cycle of pills to stabilize things. Since you've already stopped, maybe you just need to wait for your body to realize what happened and restart its own hormone production. In theory, you might be waiting up to six weeks for your next period, though I guess it varies from person to person. Or, you could see a doctor now, and they might suggest a single cycle of pills to get things back on track. This is all assuming you aren't pregnant, of course. I really hope you're using backup protection, because you aren't protected anymore now that the patches are gone.

Sophia White8 said:Of course your cycle is off, because the patch didn't stay on for the full duration it was supposed to. I suppose you could compare this to someone taking birth control pills but stopping after 10 days instead of the usual 21. It disrupts everything because your body isn't getting the hormone dose it expects, while at the same time, you've interrupted the natural hormonal rhythm. The bleeding you experienced probably wasn't a real period—it was likely just withdrawal bleeding. Ideally, you should have checked in with a gynecologist before stopping, as they might have prescribed a full cycle of pills to stabilize things. Since you've already stopped, maybe you just need to wait for your body to realize what happened and restart its own hormone production. In theory, you might be waiting up to six weeks for your next period, though I guess it varies from person to person. Or, you could see a doctor now, and they might suggest a single cycle of pills to get things back on track. This is all assuming you aren't pregnant, of course. I really hope you're using backup protection, because you aren't protected anymore now that the patches are gone.

My doctor gave me pills but told me to start them on the first day of my period, and I've been waiting a week now. I'm fully aware that I'm not protected since I took the patch off. But seriously, how effective is it if you use a condom just before ejaculation rather than right from the start? Ugh, I know I sound like I'm fifteen...

Thanks 🙂

Maria Newman14 said:My doctor gave me pills but told me to start them on the first day of my period, and I've been waiting a week now. I'm fully aware that I'm not protected since I took the patch off. But seriously, how effective is it if you use a condom just before ejaculation rather than right from the start? Ugh, I know I sound like I'm fifteen...

Thanks 🙂

Not exactly reliable or recommended...

Hey ladies!
So, here’s the deal—yesterday a friend of mine reached out asking about emergency contraception. She was looking for a way to handle things after the fact, and since I happen to have a full blister pack of Novynetta lying around that I don't use anymore, I suggested she take three pills followed by two—you know, the old 3+2 method. But then she hits me with this—she says that wouldn't even work if she waited too many hours after the actual encounter. Apparently, she wouldn't be able to get her hands on any emergency contraception for over 24 hours, so she thinks the timing would throw the whole thing off.

Is that actually true? I don't know—I’m leaning toward thinking they might be right, mostly because at the end of the day, we’re talking about the exact same thing... just with a different number of pills involved. 🤔

Any of these pills can work as emergency contraception. They all follow the same routine: take the first dose within 72 hours of intercourse, then the second one 12 hours later. Dosages:
• Diane 35 – 3 + 3 tablets
• Yasmin – 3 + 3 tablets
• Cilest – 3 + 3 tablets
• Logest 5 + 5 tablets
• Triquilar, white tablets – 3 + 3 tablets
• Trinovum, white tablets – 3 + 3 tablets
• Stediril – m – 3 + 3 tablets
• Stediril – d – 2 + 2 tablets

Copied from this link: http://www.cybermed.com/forum/diseases...questions

(Keep in mind this was posted around 2008, so some of these might be discontinued now.)

My buddy actually did the same thing—took the morning-after pill and then her doctor at the clinic gave her a prescription for anti-nausea suppositories. Apparently, getting hit with vomiting or nausea is a real side effect when you're loading up on that many birth control pills all at once.
I'm not totally sure how many she popped, but I know she took them after the twelve-hour mark and used a suppository every single time.

Copying this question over from the LJES subforum...

I have a question regarding birth control pills. How reliable are they really? My girlfriend has been on them for 10 months now with zero issues, but we still practice withdrawal every single time. How safe is it to "finish inside"? That’s actually what we want, but there's this lingering fear...
Does anyone have first-hand experience to confirm if the pill alone provides enough protection against pregnancy? Or perhaps the opposite experience? 🙂

Look up the statistics online for those pills you're interested in—or the ones your gynecologist prescribed.

steelhound35 said:Look up the statistics online for those pills you're interested in—or the ones your gynecologist prescribed.

The thing is, I’m not looking for a math lesson. I want someone's actual experience. Does this work for you, or does it cause issues? That’s what matters.😉

There’s no such thing as personal advice here. Tablet efficacy is proven through long-term studies on specific groups of women, which is how those percentages are determined.

I just realized you mentioned your girlfriend is taking them. Did she not even bother asking her OB-GYN?

Matthew Doyle13 said:Copying this question over from the LJES subforum...

I have a question regarding birth control pills. How reliable are they really? My girlfriend has been on them for 10 months now with zero issues, but we still practice withdrawal every single time. How safe is it to "finish inside"? That’s actually what we want, but there's this lingering fear...
Does anyone have first-hand experience to confirm if the pill alone provides enough protection against pregnancy? Or perhaps the opposite experience? 🙂

Technically, you shouldn't even need to bother with withdrawal when you're on the pill because they're super dependable—Google it if you want the hard data. But, plenty of things can mess with the effectiveness. Like, are they being taken at the exact same time every day? Are you taking other meds? For example, certain antibiotics can totally tank how well the pill works, etc., etc.
Speaking from experience, I’ve used the pill during regular unprotected sex and I’m still not pregnant. 😁
But again, there are cases where a woman does everything perfectly (like those examples I just mentioned) and the pill still fails her.
The pill is never 100% foolproof.

Honestly, the best move is for her to just chat with her OB-GYN about all this. And hey, if you're really losing sleep over it, you can always just use a condom as an extra layer. With that combo, you wouldn't even need to worry about withdrawal, and if she still gets pregnant after that... well, then you're looking at odds similar to getting hit by a toilet seat falling out of a plane. Fate is just playing dirty with you then. 😛 🙂

A quick question for those ladies who head over to Canada to pick up their prescriptions: When you actually walk into the pharmacy there—do you find yourselves having to justify your presence or offer some sort of awkward explanation as to why you're buying them there—or is it a simple matter of just handing over the script and calling it a day?

I once bought two packs of Yaza at once while traveling through Canada; I simply showed them the recipe and paid. 😁 It’s almost as if you're shopping in America, except it's actually cheaper. 😳

Every single time I walk out with three packs of Logest, nobody even bats an eye 😉

One question... I'm on Diane 35... haven't had any action since July, and my OB-GYN told me to start on the pill. Does that mean sex is safe right away, or should I wait a bit since I didn't start them on the first day of my period?

William Brown62 said:One question... I'm on Diane 35... haven't had any action since July, and my OB-GYN told me to start on the pill. Does that mean sex is safe right away, or should I wait a bit since I didn't start them on the first day of my period?

I’m fairly certain the packaging for Diane specifies how long the protection lasts if you don't kick things off on the very first day of your cycle—and honestly, there's no way for you to know for sure if you actually ovulated just yesterday.

Yeah, they say it works if you take it between day 2 and 5 of your cycle... But since I haven't even had my period since July, I'm pretty lost here. Does it actually start kicking in after seven days in that case?

Is it possible for birth control pills to cause elevated copper levels in the blood (serum copper)? I’ve been on them for 11 years now (I'm 28). If they do, how long does it usually take for those levels to return to "normal" after stopping? My reading was 31.6, while the reference interval is 12.2 - 25.1.

Dear Madam,

Your inquiry regarding laboratory results has been addressed in the "Lab Results" thread. You can find those details here (please follow the link).