What type of BC should I switch to?

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-10-2004
What type of BC should I switch to?
9
Sat, 04-10-2004 - 7:15pm
Hi,

I have been married for almost 11 months and my husband and I are talking about possibly starting a family in a year or two. I am currently on the patch. I was put on BC pills 5 years ago to regulate my EXTREMELY irregular cycles (like a period every 3 months). I am afraid that my cycles will go back that way when I go off of hormonal BC and I want to give my body at least a year to be off hormonal BC before we TTC. I am looking for something that will be easy for us (as my husband says, nothing that will require much planning, because our sex life is completely spontaneous). It doesn't have to be 99% effective because if I happen to become pregnant, we will be happy, but should be mostly effective.

Thanks for your help!

Kia ")

Expecting Twins - Our Lil' Ladybugs on August 7th, 2005

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-30-2003
Sat, 04-10-2004 - 9:21pm
Hi sydneyharrison001, welcome!

You sound a lot like me, well, at least the part about having a completely spontaneous love life. What has worked extremely well for me is a cervical cap. The one I wear is called Oves. It is a tiny clear silicone rubber cap that can be worn for 72 hours at a time. The only spermicide needed is a tiny bit in the dome before insertion. I wear my Oves continuously, removing it every 4th morning wash it, reapply spermicide and reinsert. Oves is disposable and I wear only one, reusing it, for my entire inter-menses period. At menses I discard the old one and insert a new one at the end of menses. During menses I wear a Milex silicone diaphragm for contraception and flow control.

When properly fitted and used correctly cervical caps and diaphragms are as effective as condoms. The thing is to get a good fit and develop a wearing regimen that fits your lifestyle. Once you decide on a wearing regimen: every night before bed, every afternoon before DH comes home or continuous wearing like me then make it a habit. Habit will allow cap or diaphragm maintenance to become a natural part of your life and you won’t think anything about it. The only problem I have with Oves is that some women who want one can’t be properly fitted as they only come in 3 sizes: 26mm, 28mm and 30mm. Many young or small women have cervixes smaller than 26mm and can’t wear Oves. Another silicone cap is FemCap that might work well for you and the standard (latex) cap in the U.S the Prentif is a good reliable barrier. However with latex you have to be careful not to use lubes or meds with oils in them as oils will cause latex to deteriorate rapidly. Both FemCap and Prentif can be worn continuously for 48 hours and come in a 22mm size as well as larger ones. Prentif is sold through Gyns in the U.S. Oves and FemCap are both popular in Europe and can be purchased over the Internet, but you need to have them fitted by a medical professional. If you want to know more about diaphragms and caps take a look at the FAQs on the Board’s home page at http://pages.ivillage.com/cl-judie_rae/id1.html If you have more questions just ask. Let us know what you decide, ok?

Good luck

      Jill

    

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-10-2004
Sat, 04-10-2004 - 9:30pm
Thanks Jill for the advice!

Two questions:

1. The cervical cap will allow my period to come as it would naturally? I assume this is the case, because that was what my original question was - just wanted to be double sure!

2. You mentioned being able to wear it continuously and removing it before my period comes on - what is I don't know when my period will come? The one thing I love about the patch/bc pills is that I know my period comes every fourth thursday. But I remember when I was not on BC that it would just show up when ever it felt like and I hated that!

I will let you know what I decide, but I also want to do a little research first - anything anyone can add will be greatly appreciated! I have an appointment set up with my gyn for my annual in July (she books up way in advace) and I figure that will give me time to figure out exactly what I want to talk to her about.

Thanks,

Kia :)

Expecting Twins - Our Lil' Ladybugs on August 7th, 2005

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-30-2003
Sat, 04-10-2004 - 10:28pm
Yes, the cap will allow your period to come naturally, however a cervical cap shouldn’t be worn during menses since the dome is so small that it will quickly fill, the flow will break the suction of the dome on the cervix and the cap will dislodge.

If you period appears with no warning, that could be a problem if you are wearing a cap. If you had any warning then you could remove the cap or check it periodically before you switched to flow control. That’s what I do with Oves. I can usually tell when I’m going to begin to spot, then I switch to my Milex. If your menses suddenly appears without warning there is another silicone barrier available called Lea’s Shield or the Lea Barrier that might work for you. It is less effective that a diaphragm or conventional cervical cap (Oves or Prentif) but it might be something to consider. Lea has a one-way valve in the dome that might work if you needed something that was effective during the onset of menses. I tried the Lea Barrier and found it heavy and bulky to wear, but worse it hurt my partner in almost all positions we used. That is why I didn’t mention Lea originally. It’s a ‘one-size-fits-most’ device and it just didn’t work well with our anatomies. You could ask your Gyn about Lea and see what s/he says. Most Gyns in the U.S; unless they are associated with women’s clinics or Planned Parenthood aren’t usually in favor of diaphragms or caps primarily because they take discipline to use consistently (correctly and for every act of IC) in order to be effective. So, if you are interested in using a barrier method, other than condoms, be prepared to be told why barriers are not a good idea.

Good luck

      Jill

    

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-30-2003
Sun, 04-11-2004 - 10:15am
Hi Sydney,

I was remiss in not giving you the links for the caps I mentioned. They are: for Oves http://www.oves.com/ , for FemCap http://www.femcap.com/ and for Prentif http://www.cervcap.com/ The Lea Barrier does not have a site that I’m aware of. However, see the FDA device approval information at http://www.fda.gov/cdrh/mda/docs/p010043.html Detailed information concerning possible side effects and effectiveness are available in the information on the links at the bottom of this document.

      Jill

    

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-10-2004
Sun, 04-11-2004 - 6:00pm
Thanks for the thorough info! I will check out those sites!

Expecting Twins - Our Lil' Ladybugs on August 7th, 2005

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Mon, 04-12-2004 - 8:22am
Have you ever read anything about charting your cycles?
Judie Cl for Birth Control 
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-10-2004
Mon, 04-12-2004 - 8:30am
Thanks for the tip, Judie - I was wondering about tracking stuff like that, so that I could be more aware of my fertility! Thanks!

Expecting Twins - Our Lil' Ladybugs on August 7th, 2005

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-15-2004
Mon, 04-12-2004 - 9:01am
I'm in the same situation as you as far as wanting to stop using birth control I'm on to switch to something that I can stop using myself such as the diaphragm to start a family within a year or so. We are also using condoms as a backup method until we are ready. I would recommend the book "Taking Control of Your Fertility" by Toni Weschler as well. I decided not to use it as a form of birth control but learned a great deal. If your not having regular periods or not at all it may show you if your ovulating or not which will come in handy later. That way if you run into problems getting pregnant you can show the doctor your chart of cycles and they may be able to determine what the problem is. Tracking irregular periods might even help them solve that too. I'm sure there must be some kind of medication to regulate periods beyond birth control which I would ask about. Good luck with whatever you decide! Maybe I'll see you around in the family planning board in another year:).
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-10-2004
Mon, 04-12-2004 - 11:34am
Thanks! I think part of my concern over paying attention to the birth control is that I am under it all concerned that I may have fertility problems and that is good advice that charting my cycles will certainly help my doctor in the future if I, God forbid, do have trouble conceiving! Good luck with your family planning - I will look forward to talking again in a year or so!

Expecting Twins - Our Lil' Ladybugs on August 7th, 2005