Contraception: The Poll

Been there, totally. Jizzing all over someone else redacted
― kenan, Friday, July 2, 2010 4:22 PM (2 months ago)

You wanna start some shit? Wait, don't answer that.

Aw man, you know I'm playin.

YAY LAUREL!!!

What kind did you get? If it's a ParaGard the cramps will be awful for the fist 6 months or so but it gets better. My advice is to invest in some maximum strength painkillers and stick with it! :D

Don't make me have to come back there and separate you two.

I don't know if I've posted this yet. but one of the other students had been using withdrawal as his only contraceptive method for the entire time he had been married--about two years. There was also someone who had been using the rhythm method as her only form of contraception for the five years she had been married. The rhythm method, not the basal temperature method. In 2009. Not for religious or medical reasons, but just because. (Both of these people were under 25, BTW.)

Aw man, you know I'm playin.

Of course! And I'm making poop jokes. The universe remains in balance.

Para! I never had cramps before, or not memorable ones, so I thought, how bad could a little cramping be? But they're still going....

Para! I never had cramps before, or not memorable ones, so I thought, how bad could a little cramping be? But they're still going....

Are you feeling any better now?

Better this morning! Not symptom-free, but better. :) Man, NO WONDER people don't like getting their periods if this is what it feels like!

Yeah, I have a Para too and rarely had cramps before insertion. The first couple days of each period for the six months following insertion were pretty awful. A lot of ppl get fed up during that time and get them removed but after six months it gets a lot better. Just make sure you are prepared and have your painkillers of choice on hand during those times. I've had mine for 4 + years now and my periods are like they were pre-IUD.

J. has a hot water bottle that she wraps up in blankets and whatnot and puts on her tum-tum, and that seems to help a good bit. So, maybe focused heat? I mean, I guess, maybe next time. She could tell you a lot more about cramps than I could, though.

Obviously.

There's disposable hot packs made for wearing on your lower belly for cramps, BTW. I've never gotten cramps, but I do get a mild backache.

"Tum tum" is a horrible thing to say.

It was meant as a compliment to "whatnot" more than anything else. I don't think I've ever said it out loud, and won't anytime in the foreseeable future.

Heat on my stomach makes me feel sick, it always has. I'd prefer an ice pack tbh but I think that makes muscle problems worse! Will prob just tough it out with painkillers, off to find some Advil....

The numbing effects of ice wouldn't penetrate far enough into your body to do any good.

It was meant as a compliment to "whatnot" more than anything else. I don't think I've ever said it out loud, and won't anytime in the foreseeable future.

I appreciate that.

maybe try naproxen (sp?) - the NZ equivalent is naprogesic, which i used to take and was the only thing that ever helped with my severe cramping (which on a couple of occasions was so bad i almost fainted). it's some kind of muscle relaxant.

nowadays i pretty much never get cramps but i get awful terrible lower back pain almost every time.

Naproxen is sold under the brand name Aleve here.

My pain is less of a pain and more of a presence--I feel two long ovals embedded on either side of my coccyx.

we love you Kenan, but "use a heating pad/hot pack" is menstruation 101.
I have a Mirena and no cramps.

lol Kate.

I never took menstruation 101! And Laurel said she'd never had cramps before.

One day a kid was called up to the front of class for show and tell. He drew a period on the blackboard.

"What's that, Jonny?"
"I don't know, but when my sister missed one Mom fainted, Sister left town, and Dad beat up the boy next door."q

BTW, I've always been bothered by the "If men had periods, they would brag about how long, painful, and heavy they were" thing. I mean, I can't think of any male-specific non-sexual bodily functions that men brag about.

are there any male-specific non-sexual bodily functions?

golf injuries?

Enlarged prostate.

Maybe that is actually sexual, in a way, but it's not sexy.

Which illustrates what I was talking about.

Not literally, I thank the stars.

Right. There's only one part of the male anatomy that's sexy (and useful) when it's swollen.

My nipples wish to argue slightly with you.

Worst menstruation euphemism I've heard recently: Shark Week

Oh, I like that one.

My nipples wish to argue slightly with you.

This is a memorable mental image.

Haha whatever pill I was on for the past 2.5 years is the one the new ob/gyn says is #1 culprit of all the bc pills to be a libido-killer. That's...awesome. (FWIW it was Desogen, I am now on Loestrin, which she says "gives you the most free T," one of those women who is on such good terms w/testosterone that she has a nickname for it.)

:-)

I've suspected for years that I have a slight testosterone imbalance--I have a low-pitched voice, I'm hairy, I have a large rib cage and broad shoulders, and I have a high sex drive.

One of the many pills I have tried made my hair start falling out and I still didn't have any sex drive. Damn you, testosterone.

Too bad it was the only one which didn't have any other side effects.

(on another brand now, got my hair and my migraines back pretty swiftly)

Already noticing a difference & enjoying my hormone-free life, btw. We will now return to our regularly scheduled programming.

my brother (28 and owner of one adorable yet surprise kid) has just told me that the withdrawal method works

i just

If you got good control, it can be pretty effective! Planned Parenthood sez:
Of every 100 women whose partners use withdrawal, 4 will become pregnant each year if they always do it correctly.

but then there's the always do it correctly caveat...

aside from the accuracy of that, and the stipulation that you got to do it right, you cant flush bedsheets down the toilet

Successfully used the withdrawal method for several years. (I had a bad reaction to the pill; my boyfriend always went soft as soon as he put a condom on; we knew we eventually wanted a kid so if I got pregnant it wouldn't be the end of the world.) As soon as we decided the time was right for a child, we stopped and I immediately got pregnant. (Went on to have several miscarriages but that's another story.)

withdrawal never failed me, but Rx birth control did

guys pls dont encourage him

I discovered my plan covers IUDs! I feel like I won the uterus lottery!

my plan = my insurance plan obv