Birth Control Question/Patch/IUD

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-28-2004
Birth Control Question/Patch/IUD
2
Tue, 08-03-2004 - 12:36pm
I will continue to read the other threads, but since I typed this all out (to post in the wrong forum- sorry!), I will post it anyway :)

I have noticed as I have entered my 30's, that the pill, which has never effected me in ANY way before, as suddenly killed my sex drive. I am sure this is because of age as well as hormone changes. My whole life I have never been PMS'y, mood swings, very effected by hormones, so I guess welcome to getting older. :)

I was taken Yasmin, which I have taken in the past without this reaction, but after 6 weeks, my sex drive was gone. I went off immediatly and now, about a month or so later, it is back.

I guess I can try to mix and match different variations of the pill with my doctor to see what might have a better reaction, but that is kind of an unappealing idea, so I was considering a few other options. I have an appt with my doctor on Friday, but I am trying to get some research done first.

The patch? I know it is hormones, but I have read in a few places that because it is absorbed differently, some of the 'normal' symptons are lower.

IUD? I know these have a bad rap from the 60's/70's- but current research seems to say that it is a thing of the past, they are safe for women, even if they want to have kids in the future (which I do!), but the research is still hard to tell what is 'valid'.

Any ideas, experiences, suggestions, thoughts, etc?

thanks

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Tue, 08-03-2004 - 6:18pm
I have had the Mirena IUD for a year now and am pretty happy with it.It's good for 5 years so that's a definite plus.For some women it can cause periods to stop...that's another plus...My OB/GYN says that you could stop periods or have them "every now and then"...I went almost 10 weeks w/o having a period and am having a somewhat longer period this month to make up for it...but it's basicly spotting...I used to have heavy awful periods.I went from using a double pack of kotex overnights to using a few pantiliners each month.That's another plus.It was slightly uncomfortable when it was put in--lots and lots of pressure...cramping off and on for a few weeks (not constant and not too bad)...The first few months I had it I had periods that lasted 2 weeks and came 2 weeks apart....That's somewhat a normal side effect--annoying but not forever.My periods got shorter and lighter over the months.Due to high blood pressure I can either use the IUD or the mini pill...I didn't have good results with the mini pill...so I'm happy with my choice of the IUD...GOOD LUCK!!

www.mirena.com/

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Wed, 08-04-2004 - 8:21am
I know the idea of playing Russian Roulette with pills doesn't sound great! Been there done that....

In theory, the pills with the lowest doses of both hormones may be less likely to give you side effects. Unfortunately that's not always the case, but I can tell you that there aren't any other pills like Yasmin, so anything else you try will be different.

The patch and Nuvaring are transdermal methods, with the patch hormones being absorbed through the skin and the ring's hormones being absorbed through the vaginal tissue. Because there's no trip through the rigors of digestion, the hormone doses are lower, and the dosing is much more consistent than taking a pill every 24 hours, it is possible to have fewer side effects than traditional birth control pills.

Whether or not this affects your libido...well...that's going to be different for everybody! The libido is a complex thing, affected by nearly everything in your life. Stress and fatigue are the top libido killers, excess weight, hormonal imbalances, all that stuff can just ruin a woman's sex drive. And the pill doesn't help--by suppressing ovulation, it also reduces the output of testosterone from the ovaries. While this is great for acne, it can be detrimental to the libido. On top of that, the synthetic hormones will also bind with free testosterone in the bloodstream in varying degrees.

If you want to start playing with pills, we used to have (a couple years ago) a number of women who had good luck with LoOvral aiding a lagging sex drive. Other women need lower doses of hormones in general (Alesse might be a good pill to think about). But it really is a crapshoot!

The IUD is, as you mentioned, a viable option. They're much safer these days--really all of the hullabaloo was about one particular IUD that had filaments (the threads that are used to remove the IUD and that you check monthly to make sure it's still there) that allowed wicking of bacteria into the uterus. These days the IUD strings are NOT absorbent and won't introduce bacteria. There is a small risk of perforation, but most women with IUD's use them successfully. If you haven't had children, your risk of expulsion is higher than if you have, and insertion might be more difficult. We do have a number of women on the board with IUD's that haven't had children yet, and one of our FAQ's (see the folder at the top of the board) is about IUD's, you might give that a read-through as well.

Good luck to you!

Judie
Co-cl for Birth Control
Judie Cl for Birth Control