I know i have to be missing something.....BC question.

[tinyblackdot]

Ok so what in the H E double hokey stix, can i use for BC? My Dh and I are having a VERY rocky time right now, and untill i know that we are going to stay together i dont want to chance ANYTHING!

I have tried:

The pill....i cant take it everyday, i just cant. I hate taking meds, and then i end up missing a day, and then i start spotting and then its all down hill.

Depo: made me a raving b@tch! And i gained weight and had horrible headaches.

The Ring: It hurt me....it gave me horrible cramps.

IUD: I have a retroverted uterus, and already had my IUD escape my uterus and decide to just hang out next to my stomach....not doing that again LOL!

The patch: i just dont trust it, and it gave me a rash

Condoms: They irritate me, and they are great for a back up method, but not something i want to have to rely on.....but at this time that is what we are using.

Anything else? I wish there was a pill you could just take like once a week...that would be perfect! LOL! Or the norplant, i would do that if they where still around.

Most where used before i had my dd, so would it be possible for the reactions to be different now? I mean should i try the depo shot?

[texaspeach]

Or the norplant, i would do that if they where still around.

norplant isn't around, but implanon is

[Marlet]

Yup I was going to suggest Implanon. Only one stick and not as long use wise but it would work. I knew a girl who had one and while she said it was weird having the lump under her skin you get used to it.

[eirual]

I felt that everything sucked and there was no right answer until I found The Fertility Awareness Method. It was my a-ha! and my "why didn't anyone tell me this before??" I felt ripped off that everyone clumps Natural Family Planning into one unreliable clump and assume it's all the Rhythm Method....NOPE! All along there had been a reliable, non-pharmacutical, non-sensation blocking, non-irritating solution.

If you haven't yet, check out Toni Weschler's Taking Charge of Your Fertility.

It really is effective and while I could never remember to take a pill, popping a thermometre into your mouth once a day (even less once you get the hang of it) came easier and had no side effects.

[Maurine]

Condoms

I don't want to make sort of "duh" suggestion but I also don't like using most condoms because it irritated me (on the pill now but we're TTC in about 2 months). I found out that it was the spermicide that was irritating me, so we used Trojen ENZ lubricated without spermacide.

[Mrsboyko]

First off, Depo is the devil so I would never recommend that to anyone for any reason. I can give you more details, but basically it sucked for a long time after it should have been gone.

Condoms, while not perfect, are what we re using. Look into a spermacide free kind and get some good lube instead. THe spermacide ones left me itchy and overall uncomfortable for like 2 days after. Check out "beyond seven" and "skinless skin" brands.

[3 little birds]

I don't recommend depo either. It made me infertile for 18 months after I stopped taking it. I am not comfortable with the hormones sticking around that long.

[BarefootScientist]

FWIW, I second everything eirual said about FAM.

[tinyblackdot]

Originally Posted by Maurine

I don't want to make sort of "duh" suggestion but I also don't like using most condoms because it irritated me (on the pill now but we're TTC in about 2 months). I found out that it was the spermicide that was irritating me, so we used Trojen ENZ lubricated without spermacide.

yeah we had that issue too, and we get the non spermacide ones....but it seems that EVERY time we use a condom i get some sort of infection. EVERY single time! It gets really old.

[tinyblackdot]

Anyone used a diaphram?

[phatchristy]

Originally Posted by eirual

I felt that everything sucked and there was no right answer until I found The Fertility Awareness Method

Did depo a long time ago, and MY GOD did it mess me up...weight gain, all sorts of nastiness and I lost my sex drive.

I will not do anything hormonal. So, for the last 11 years or so we've done FAM and also used condoms during the fertile periods. We use the naturalamb or the polyeurathane...they're the best sensation wise!

And all DC have been planned

[tinyblackdot]

Originally Posted by phatchristy

Did depo a long time ago, and MY GOD did it mess me up...weight gain, all sorts of nastiness and I lost my sex drive.

I will not do anything hormonal. So, for the last 11 years or so we've done FAM and also used condoms during the fertile periods. We use the naturalamb or the polyeurathane...they're the best sensation wise!

And all DC have been planned

How long did it take you to get pg when you where trying?

I just dont trust the NFP. I mean, i guess if you have the time to chart and keep a schedual and think before your in the heat of the moment than its fine, but im just not in the situation for an "oops".

Even when i have been on BC we still used condoms, we are VERY careful.

[eirual]

The great thing about charting is that you know. You always know. You know if you have to be cautious and you know when you can let loose. I started charting when DS was 15 mos and I was in an intense year of teacher's college when I was pulling all nighters and up at 5am to get the bus. It really is just taking 10 seconds to temp (you don't even need to record right then if you get a thermometre with memory). The benefits (knowledge, hormone-free, effective, worry-free since you don't need to worry about oopses or wonder if you're preggers- you always just know by what your body's telling you) WAY outweigh the cons (....sometimes I forget to temp or just don't feel like it....life goes on) in my opinion.

You don't want hormones, you don't want barriers, and you don't want chemicals. Aside from abstinance, I'm not sure you're left with many other options. You can always just continue with what you're doing until your confident in FAM if you choose to give it a shot.

[hottmama]

You could have a latex allergy, that would cause you to have itching and burning after using a latex condom. I do, and it sucks, I thought it was a recurring infection until I figured it out. Try non-latex condoms (male or female).
You need to use spermicide with a diaphragm, which wouldn't work if spermicide irritates you.

[Nickarolaberry]

We use the Fertility Awareness Method and on "high probability" days we use Vaginal Contraceptive Film (it's a teeny piece of clear film you insert beforehand; it does NOT irritate me like regular spermicides).

[Sailor]

They have non latex condoms - maybe that would help with irritation. Also, I found that no matter how much wetness there was, I absolutely needed to put lube on the outside of the condom. Otherwise, there would be irritation. We used lambskin condoms with some lube, and didn't have problems after that.

I know condoms aren't that fun ... but, I was a lot like you in that, when I wasn't ready to have a child, I didn't want to take ANY chances. I mean to the point where I had a copper IUD, and we still used condoms.

[mrs*kewpie*pie]

fam doesn't work for everybody but it really isn't a huge hassle either

i just kept my thermometer by the bed so i could temp 1st thing and then checked my cervical fluid throughout the day went i went to the bathroom

there are some good free sites you can use to chart it all but i liked useing pen and paper...i just copied from the tcoyf back pages

you've got 3 signs you can look at to see if your fertile or not: your temp, your cervical mucus, and your cervical position so you know that you know....(although i never checked cervical position)

and you can easily use a bckup method while you get used to charting

also have you seen the study that came out recently re withdrawal...its actually almost as effective as condoms

from the guttmacher institute

The best available estimates indicate that with “perfect use,” 4% of couples relying on withdrawal will become pregnant within a year, compared with 2% of couples relying on the male condom. More realistic estimates suggest that with “typical use,” 18% of couples relying on withdrawal will become pregnant within a year, compared with 17% of those using the male condom. In other words, with either method, more than eight in 10 avoid pregnancy.

heres a link to their full statement on the study

http://www.guttmacher.org/media/nr/2.../15/index.html

so maybe that would be an option either as primary or more like ly as back-up

i haven't seen anybody mention the sponge yet either....so that might be something else to try

theres also the cervical cap....

thats everything i can think of. hth

[EnviroBecca]

Another vote for Fertility Awareness Method with backup methods!

I never got the hang of temperature charting, but even so FAM has become so easy for me that we don't need anything else anymore! Now I do it all by checking my cervical fluid and just paying attention to how I feel in my abdomen and nipples. Earlier, I used an Ovulens saliva monitor daily, and that was pretty easy and useful.

An important thing to remember about FAM is that at fertile times you only have to abstain from intercourse. You still can touch each other or have oral sex. As long as you and your husband aren't "all or nothing" types, that'll make it easy!

[texaspeach]

Just want to chime in and say that FAM is effective if you follow the rules. If you get burned out and tired of it (like I did - I charted for 4 years), it isn't the best method. If you want something you don't want to have to think about I would look into something else - especially if you're going through a rough patch with your DH

[springmama]

Crown Skinless Skin condoms feel great - and dh and I hate condoms. I really agree with you though that there isn't really anything great out there. We always end up using withdrawal 99% of the time.