I am new here to the board!!!!

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-29-2003
I am new here to the board!!!!
1
Tue, 04-27-2004 - 12:44am
Hey everyone, i was just lurking to find information on others who have used a type of birth control method that was/wasnt working for them. Let me explain a long time ago before i had my son i was on the depo-provera for about a year, well i stopped getting my shots and you know how it tells you that it takes up to at least a year for the shot to wear off, well it didnt for me. I had my son and got right back on the depo b/c i liked the fact that i didnt have a cycle well let's just say it messed my cycle and my hormones up. I stopped taking it b/c my hormones were so unbalanced. After the depo i tried the patch, i liked the patch but it didnt like me or at least my body b/c the patch would fall off like every other day,well my doctor told me to try a different type of soap and that my body has too many oils on it even though i dont use lotion or anything of that but i did what i was told and still the darn patch would fall off, so that's the sec birth control method that hasnt worked for me. So the doctor put me on seasonale b/c it was new on the market and got really good reviews plus she was trying to balance out my hormones since the depo messed my body up, so i said let's try it, she gave me the sample pack to start off with which is the 3 month pack, i took a pill everyday at the same exact time and did what i was told to do, everything was fine and i was loving the seasonale. I started into my 2nd pack and that's when i started spotting, i thought i couldve been pregnant b/c that happened when i found out about my son, went to the doctor and found out i wasnt pregnant, she told me there is some breakthrough bleeding but it should stop in a couple of weeks, well i stayed on the seasonale and now instead of spotting, i am having a major full-blown period that has lasted for a month already. It's making me weak b/c i feel i am losing alot of blood, if that makes any sense. call my doctor and now they want me to stop taking the pills, and try a different BC. They want to do blood work and some tests and this scares me b/c for some reason every BC has failed for me and now something could seriously be wrong with my body. She mentioned something about the IUD and i was wondering if anyone has used it or planning to use it and what side effects are there to the IUD. I am sorry for this to be so long, i am just really confused and frustrated. It seems like nothing is working for me. Any advice is definitely appreciated.
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-07-2003
Tue, 04-27-2004 - 11:58am
Hi georgiapeach! I am also new to this board. (well I became a member last year sometime, but now really started surfing on this site.)

Anyway, I had an IUD for 5 years, and just changed to the patch. I know there are two types of IUDs and I had the one without the hormones-which was great. Mine lasted for 10 years. Getting in put in after my 2nd child (6 weeks after) kind of hurt, like a contraction, since they connect it to your uterus. I bled for 3 months straight, and had horrible cramps for those 3 months, but then magic happened. I would know exactly (to the hour sometimes) when my period would come, and it would only last for 3 days, and it was light. It went on like that for years. Also it's great because I didn't even know it was there, nor did my boyfriend. You can't see it, or feel it, and you know you are protected. I got pregnant both times on the pill, so I feel very fertile, but I felt very safe with the IUD. But just recently, for the last 3 months I started getting my period twice a month. The dr. thought I was having an ectopic preg. so he tested me. I wasn't, thank God. So, my current dr. (who did not put in the IUD) told me he wasn't fond of the IUD and told me to go thru one more period and if I was still bleeding constantly (it was a never-ending period I was having) that I should get it out. So, just recently I got it removed. I started the patch because obviously I get pregnant on the pill. I've only had this patch now for one week (today) and I think I could be pregnant because I think I started the patch incorrectly. The instructions were to start on the first day of your period, but since my periods have been all whacky lately, I didn't know exactly when I had it, so I just started this patch. Of course now, this past week I've had sex twice- and don't think the patch was effective yet. (of course now I'm giving you more info than you asked for, lol). Anyway, the IUD was great for a long time. I know now there are some (I think) that last for a year, or 5 years, or whatever. I definitely recommmend it, but it just didn't work for me. The patch I have now, is bugging me. Plus, not having hormones injected in my bloodstream for over 5 years is making me nuts. I hope my info (and rambling) helped you. Good luck.

Heidi