What birth control options are available?

Barrier methods. Examples include male and female condoms, as well as the diaphragm, cervical cap and contraceptive sponge. Short-acting hormonal methods. ... Long-acting hormonal methods. ... Sterilization. ... Spermicide or vaginal gel. ... Fertility awareness methods.

My experience : in case my experience helps anyone...

I posted a long time ago at the start of some of my issues related to hormonal birth control and didn't receive much help, which is ok because it was just a passing thought and nobody (medical professional or not) seemed to know what was going on. I figured I'd try to share my story as briefly as I can, because the biggest disappointment looking back was the silence surrounding the issues. I realized after I stopped (and had talked to many people about my pill probs) that many friends had similar issues and I wish I had known much earlier.

I started birth control in early 2017 because I was getting married a few months later and didn't want to deal with condoms. I first tried the Nuvaring (disaster, terrible physical irritation and discomfort, sex was more like torture with the ring and not fun at all). I switched to Larissia and was on that for ~3 years. I started having some worse cramping and overall pains that I didn't have when I started, so I attempted to switch (I was using Nurx) to a different kind (Junel FE) to see if it would help. Unfortunately it didn't, and my side-effects got worse. I was having symptoms similar to those of temporal lobe epilepsy, and my doctor in town referred me to a neurologist for some scans. ~$8000 (out of pocket, as a graduate student) later, the neurologist claims it's just migraine and offers me prescription migraine meds.

I felt really discouraged for a lot of reasons. 1) my body was not ok, these intense dejavu/dizziness/nausea spells would come out of nowhere, when I was driving or walking or getting ready for bed. There was no pattern, and it made me feel very much not in control of my body. 2) A general grief I have with doctors in the US is there's no expected price on things before you agree to it. I was desperate for help so I got myself into an expensive procedure that insurance decided not to cover. And not once did a doctor along the way even mention that I should try quitting the pill and see if that helped. 3) On top of all of that, I was suffering some mild memory loss of the last few years (honestly, looking back with a clear head I think this was more trauma from not receiving help from anyone) and just didn't get joy out of anything in life again. So yeah, discouraged is a mild word for it all.

I ended up reading the book This is Your Brain on Birth Control and it gave me the idea and confidence I needed to just stop taking the pill. The book is questionable in some ways so I can't recommend it for everyone, but for me it was a lifesaver just knowing that I wasn't alone. And that's why I wanted to post this, in case anyone here is struggling with things (maybe it's birth control, maybe it's not). I've been off the pill over a year now and though my negative side effects aren't 100% gone, they are very few and far between. The memories lost probably won't come back, but thankfully my husband has photos and patience for reminding me. (I'm almost sure this post will get quickly buried without seeing the light of reddit, but if anyone does read it and feels alone in their mystery medical issues that could be from birth control, message me! :)

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Milan Tomic

Hi. I’m Designer of Blog Magic. I’m CEO/Founder of ThemeXpose. I’m Creative Art Director, Web Designer, UI/UX Designer, Interaction Designer, Industrial Designer, Web Developer, Business Enthusiast, StartUp Enthusiast, Speaker, Writer and Photographer. Inspired to make things looks better.