"the pill"

this may sound kind of rediculous, and i do feel like i should have interrogated my doctor a bit further when i had the chance, but i've been on the pill for about two weeks and i guess i was just wondering about basic experiences?

how are the periods? pre-periods? any difference in sex?

how long exactly do you have to wait for it to be fully effective against pregnancy?

when you don't use a condom, i assume it's a bit messier... any tips on how to deal with that?

being new to the whole deal i'm just looking for some general idea of what's going on.

and don't worry, i certainly plan on quizzing my doctor if i dont figure some stuff out otherwise.

 

i heard one week but i usually wait a month. you might loose some sex drive. it sucks.

 

ok i'll try to see how well i can answer these...basically, its a lot better than a condom, b/c u dont have to worry about messing around w/ changing them and if they break or not...as long as ur w/ one partner who doesnt have diseases their better anyway...the pill does not prevent getting stds! (that may sound like a dumb statement, but more ppl dont know it than u'd think)

the first three months is when periods can be kinda shaky on where they are, thats what my doctor says anyway. periods usually become lighter, but it really depends on the person and how high of an estrogen level you're taking. im on a low estrogen one and my periods are about the same as they used to be, maybe a little lighter...my friend is on a higher estrogen one, and she barely has a period. periods oviously land on where the inert pills are. mine sometimes starts a day early, like it'll start on the last day of a regular pill, but my doctor said that its close enough that its ok, its basically b/c i'm on a lower estrogen level. the difference in sex i experienced is being able to have it whenever w/o the messing around w/ a condom, which is a lot nicer, b/c then you can keep going w/o having to worry about swtiching but anyways its hard for me to compare w/o a condom, b/c i was on the pill before we did anything w/o a condom

one full cycle of the pills...so one month

its not messier, its cleaner, b/c you dont have to worry about the condom...just make sure you pee after sex. otherwise, some of his fluids could get into your urinal tract and if left there, u could get an infection (seriously, make sure you pee afterwards, or else its a pain if a little bit leaks into the wrong tract and you get an infection)

edit: actually, i just realized, it is kind of messy w/ the vagina full of cum, sometimes it can leak... (my bf has been out of town for a month and i guess ive just forgotten w/ the lack of sex n all ) anyways, i guess, since i'm going to the bathroom anyway, i just put my hand to cover it up when i walk to the bathroom so it doesnt drip and just wash my hands when i get there (turn the faucet on w/ the hand thats not holding the juices).

ok, well, let me know if i didnt answer anything...i've asked my doctor lots of questions since i've been on the pill...but really remember to take it!! it wont work if u dont take it every day around the same hr. i never really had trouble remembering it...at first i had to get reminders from my guy and i wrote little reminder notes in my planner...but now its just natural to remember.

 

Yes, wait one full cycle. My cramps have significantly decreased. I bleed a lot less. Just make SURE you take the pill at the same time every day or you risk the chance of getting pregnant. Plus your cycle can get screwed up. I messed up one month and my period came WAY early. I got on patch to avoid THAT again.

Also, only go without a condom if you know FOR SURE that your partner is clean. If you are not monogamous, you still need to use a condom to protect yourself against STDs. (I sure you know that, but it has to be said!)

 

hey..

someone told me that you should give the body a break for a month every now and then. True or not?

 

I've never heard of that and wouldn't reccommend going off then back on. When you go off the pill your chances of becoming pregnant increase when you first get off. Then, you get back on a month later? That would mess with your body more, I think...but I'm no doctor. Talk to a dr. about that one.

 

sugrmag,

so, if you take the pill continuously for years, your period remains constant and never fluctuates? Because I was on it for a year, then my cycle went a little strange despite being on the pill and my boyfriend told me that his sister said you should give the body a break from the pill after about 9 months.
So I'm confused.

 

I've taken all sorts of pills and all that for hormone imbalances or otherwise I'd have terrible periods every 2 weeks so I like to think I know a thing or 2 about birthcontrol. Right now I'm using the patch though because I always forgot the pill for 2-3 days and then my period got all screwed up until the next pack...that's never fun. So here goes:

My periods are very predictable, they only last about 4-5 days as opposed to the regular 7 that I used to have, sometimes I have cramps but they don't make me break down in tears from the pain so that's ALWAYS a plus, and the sex is no different. It hasn't improved and it hasn't gotten worse...and I think the horny factor has stayed the same as well...I don't think it affects much in the sex department, for me at least.

I wish I could remember exactly but I'm 98% sure that you have to wait 3 months before it's fully effective. Your periods are usually regular by the end of the first pack, but if you're talking about actually controling birth, it's 3 months. But the ONLY way that it can prevent against pregnancy how it's supposed to is if you take it within about the same hour everyday...say between the hours of 8am-9am, for example. If you miss a day or you take it at some wacko hour that's completely different than normal, use a condom or something else for the rest of the month because it's very likely that you screwed up the "cycle" of things.

I don't have sex with males so I can't help you there, but I'm assuming that unless he cums in you, then it shouldn't be messier. You can always tell them to pull out if you're concerned about all that...plus it will probably help a little bit more in the "birth control" area. And like someone said, pee after sex. Even with masturbation pee after that too because you send all sorts of foreign bacteria up into your urethra and you can get UTI (urinary tract infections) or bladder infections...I get those really easily and I tell ya, it's nooo fun.

Now let me get all doctorly on you for a second here: Remember that birth control is not effective ALL the time!! My mom was taking birth control correctly, took it the same time everyday, never missed a pill, was taking it for quite some time and look, here I am! I think it's 1 in 10,000 girls get's pregnant or maybe it's 1000...I'm not sure, but 1 in something gets pregnant on the pill even when she's taken it right everyday. Then both of my aunts had both of their 2 kids on the pill and THEY were taking it correctly too...so there you go, 5 kids while someone was on birth control. It's not always 100% effective, that's why they tell you to use some other form of birth control along with it...condoms, foam, film, yada yada yada.

 

Vanilla,
I really am not sure. Some people just have cycles that are never "normal" with or without the pill. I would think that being on the pill for, say a year, your body gets used to the hormone levels that it has. Then, if you go off for a month, your hormone levels drop because there isn't the added estrogen and progesterone that the pill gave you. Then, you get back on, and those hormones increase, again. That just doesn't sound like a good idea...but, I could be wrong. My obgyn never said anything about "taking a break" to me.

 

thanks so much for all your answers!

okay a follow up question; this made me really nervous.

so i just finished week 2 today. (oh man this sounds so shitty i think i already know the ansewr to it).

i missed a day in the first week, and took 2 pills the next day like it said to. the same thing happened in the second week.

also, i take them at the same time every day... relatively. like anywehere from 8:30-12 at night. that doesnt sound close enough.

and shit. i'm really scared. i don't want to get pregnant at all. i'm just not ready for that yet.

as i said, thank you for all the advice. it's good to hear. i think i WILL go make an appt. to go talk to my Dr. asap.

//worry worry (sigh)

 

You have GOT to take them at the exact same time every day. Give or take an hour at the most. And every time you miss a day, the chances of becoming pregnant increase. I was having the same problem. So I got on the Patch. It really is wonderful. Maybe you should ask your doctor to prescribe that to you, instead of the pills.

 

My wife took the pill for about 12 years and we never used condoms. When you are married, you get close to a woman.

Her periods became more regular. Since she stopped the pill after my Vasectomy, they vary from 3 to 4 weeks apart.

It didn't seem to affect her much any other way. Early pills (the 1960's and 1970's) gave it a bad name because they had high-dose hormones. Current birth control pills are more civilised.

Condom-free sex feels nice for us men, and nicer for women. It is like comparing having a shower with having a shower with a raincoat on. The amount of come is not much, around a teaspoonful. Not terribly messy. My wife and I still have condom free sex and it is still not that messy.

There are different homornal forumulations in different types of pills. If one type of pill adversely affects you in any way, go back to your doctor or clinic and try another type rather than just giving up.

 

I think you've probably already screwed up the effectiveness of your pills for this month. I agree, try the patch. I've got the patch and it sticks all week (I put it on my butt) so it's safe there, no one can see it, and then it kind of reminds you itself that you need to get a new one each week. I have yet to screw this up and I've been taking it for months. We're talking about me, the one who's 17 and still has to have her mom lay her antibiotics out for her when she's deathly sick because she can't remember even that...so this is wonderful, and it works exactly the same. It's sort of hard to screw this patch up.

But yes, be very careful this month since you missed 2 pills already. It hasn't even had a chance to become effective yet so you weren't birth controled yet anyhow, but now it might take an extra month to regulate itself, I'm not sure on that, but it just makes sense that it would.

And with the hormone stuff, it's different for everyone. It depends on your bodies chemistry so the pill doesn't always affect everyone the same way. I think the pill is more safe now and the hormone fluctions aren't so traumatic to the body anymore. I know that when I was experimenting with which pill worked best and I'd be off of one for 2-3 months or something, my face may have broken out a little (we're talking a pimple or 2) for the first week or so, but all was well after that. I don't think the hormones are as high in the pills anymore.

Which pill are you taking by the way? I might be able to tell you something about an individual one as well. Hehe, been there, done that.

 

just quickly before sleep, it's "desogen" i believe. thanks again!

 

not true for the combined pill.. with the minipill there may be an argument for not using it on an extended period (we're talking decades) as there may be a degree of estrogen suppression that over long term could lead to a degree of osteoporosis (thin bones) but then again a healthy active lifestyle would probably keep the bones healthy.

 

actually it's effective within one week if u start it in the first 4 days of your period and within two weeks if u start it anything after the first 4 days of your period. (trust me on this one.. I'm a gynecologist whose main interest is reproductive gynecology).

as for periods.. and premenstrual tension the combined pill is used to regulate periods and also as treatment against PMS and cramps.. having said that in some ladies it appears to make the PMS worse (probably due to their body not liking the synthetic progestogen used in the combined pill).

 

I've never heard it being affective in the first 4 days. I don't see how on earth you could be "controled from birth" in 4 days. I've researched and researched, gone through many pills and many doctors and no one has ever told me that. I think I'd wait the whole month to be safe. And I've also been told to take it the first (for example) sunday AFTER your period has ended...once again I've never had anyone tell me to start taking a pill right in the middle of your period. That doesn't make sense either. Why would you take a pill with hormones that aren't for the time of your period? Would that not screw your body up and make it wonder why it's menstrating while being fed hormones that are to keep it off?

Gynecologist or no gynecologist, I don't believe what you said. I say better safe than sorry...especially when it's something that makes absolutely no sense.

 

I agree with you. My own obgyn said that it takes a month for someone just starting BC pill, and a whole week if you switch dosages. I don't think anyone should believe that after 4 days the pill can be effective. Don't trust it.

 

okay there's some confusion here.. let me try and clarify this..

if u start the combined pill on the first day of your period starting then u will be protected immediately.

if u start the combined pill after the first day of your period then u need to use the pill for 7 days before u are protected. e.g. if u start the pill 5 days AFTER u start bleeding then u will have to use it for 7 days (i.e. day 12 after your period started) before u can stop alternative contraception (usually condoms).

the other thing to bear in mind is most pills start with the active ones for the first 21 days followed by inactive pills for 7 days (to allow a withdrawal bleed). there are some combined pills that start with the inactive pills first followed by 21 active pills.. in that case u will need to use the combined pill for 14 days before u can stop using alternative contraception.

bottom line.. your doctors SHOULD be telling u when u can stop using alternative contraception depending on the type of combined pill they prescribe u.. if they aren't ASK THEM!

on another note I did do some reading online after this cropped up.. it seems in the US for some odd reason you're all adviced to use alternative contraception for the first pack.. I suspect because they don't ask u to use the pill on the first day of your periods.

here's a website that's typical of the US

http://scc.uchicago.edu/instructionscombinedpillusers.htm

n here's one that's typical for the UK

http://www.surgerydoor.co.uk/level2/contraception_combinedpill1.shtml#9

 

no offence as my post was vague and could have been misconstrued easily and I've posted a more precise message above. however your post is equally bad and I can't even begin to answer some of the questions u raise simply because u don't have an understanding of the hormonal control of the menstrual cycle. suffice to say that u can start the pill at any time in your period. u can choose to believe what I say or not.. however I despair sometimes when I read all the misinformation going around on this board with regard to contraception and all I am trying to do is correct some of it.

btw assuming you start your period on monday and it lasts 4 days (ie takes u up to friday) and assuming you start the pill the sunday after your period stops.. what makes u think that you aren't screwing around with your hormones then? starting the pill on the sunday (ie day 8 of the menstrual cycle or seven days after the monday you bled as you recommend taking the pill) would mean that your FSH would have risen from days 1 to 4 of your cycle and this would stimulate an estrogen rise immediately that would continue to rise all the way to day 14 of your cycle. there would also be a concurrent rise in LH which is the trigger for ovulation on day 14. so as u can see from that starting the pill on day 8 would be smack in the middle of changes in your hormones that are already happening. do u really want to discuss the menstrual cycle and it's hormonal regulation? how can u say something makes no sense when u don't have the basic grasp of physiology needed to make sense of it?

sorry for the rant but u're questioning my integrity here. how about u explain why u think u're right then?