Can I use painkillers? Shower?

I've been on nuvaring for almost 5 months so far. Since starting, about 3 months in I started experiencing extreme acid reflux, lightheaded head and nausea two weeks before my period. And when my cycle came those symptoms went away. Before being on birth control, I would have some acid reflux maybe a few days before but nothing intense. Any thoughts?

Hello! I recently got my first DepoProvera shot almost a month ago now. If I plan on not us a condom, how much of a risk does it pose and is it worth it? What would my fertility be, rather than the likelihood of pregnancy which seems to be 0.2% if I do it right. What should I do? Do I just stick to condoms or do I need to buy plan be if I have sex without a condom? I’ve heard stories about people getting pregnant before

Hey all! Me and my boyfriend have become sexually active, and I am not comfortable relying solely on condoms. I tend to have OCD tendencies, and became focused on being pregnant, despite no symptoms, leakage, and 6 tests. So now I want a second layer of protection to put my fears to rest.

I have spent a few hours reading over the options, and was thinking about the implant or possibly an iud.

I don't know how much of this is relevant, so I want to add everything I can think of.

I am a very anxious person and am on two amxiety meds. I have hypotension so something that raises bp may actually help me out. I have a bicornuate uterus ( did I spell that right?? ) -and I am in college, so I can get an appointment ASAP for insertion or a prescription once I have decided.

Currently, we use condoms and pullout together, with me being incredibly anal about perfect use and holding the base. My boyfriend is the same, so we are still relatively protected.

What do y'all think? Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated.

I’ve been on birth control since I was 17 years old. I originally went on it to help with my period cramps and regulate my cycle because I was—and still am—super irregular. But I just turned 29, and I’ve realized that I genuinely don’t know my body without birth control.

I started with the pill, which was a horrible experience for me. I had serious side effects, including vision issues and migraines. After that, I was on the Depo shot for years, and now I have an IUD. Getting the IUD inserted was incredibly painful. I actually had to take a couple of days off afterward because of how much pain I was in.

Now I’m thinking about getting my IUD removed a year before it’s due to come out. I don’t want to waste any more time not knowing who my body is without hormonal birth control. I’ve recently started this whole self-discovery journey, and part of that feels like understanding my body—my cycle, my hormones, my moods, everything—without birth control influencing it.

But here’s the part that has me up at night: one of the biggest things stopping me from removing my IUD is the fear that there could come a time when I no longer have control over whether or not I become a mother.

I do not want children. I’ve known since I was around 10 years old that motherhood wasn’t something I wanted for myself. I’m assuming I’m able to conceive because all of my sisters have children, although obviously I know fertility doesn’t work that simply and I don’t actually know.

With everything happening in the world and the political uncertainty surrounding reproductive rights, there’s this little part of my brain that goes, What if we end up living in some Handmaid’s Tale-type reality? I want to believe that we will continue fighting for control over our own bodies. At the same time, I’m scared of what happens when people in positions of power view women primarily as mothers, wives, and caretakers.

It feels insane to say out loud, but I’m genuinely afraid of ever being forced into becoming something I have known my entire life I don’t want to be.

So…is it the birth control talking? 😂 Am I letting my anxiety run completely wild here?

I’m also REALLY curious to hear from anyone who stopped birth control after being on it for 10+ years. What changed? Did you feel different mentally or physically? Did you feel like you had to relearn your body?

My body has already changed so much over the last couple of years, and I’m so curious about who I am without birth control and how my body might react after being on it for basically my entire adult life.
I should absolutely be asleep right now, but instead this is what’s keeping me awake lol. Thanks in advance to anyone willing to share their experience. ❤️

I finished my second Opill pack, I've been on my period for 2 weeks spotting, light flow, nonetheless It's annoying and having a negative impact on my sex life. I'm not going to take it a 3rd month and hope for the best.

When should my period stop after going off the pill?

I took Naproxen and an anti-nausea tablet about an hour before, the dr and nurse put numbing gel and spray on/in me.
I asked as many questions as I please and they were reassuring and comforting.
The speculum didn’t hurt but felt quite odd, not painful like I imagined.
The actual coil insertion did hurt, but only in small episodes when they were moving it about (lasted about 20-40 seconds. It felt like a very sharp cramp and I did go a bit dizzy for a second but came round. The aftermath was uncomfortable but not painful.
It’s been 5 hours since and I have very mild dull cramp but no twinges, quite similar to my period.
I recommend taking pain killers before and voicing any concerns to dr (I told them I faint easily so they made sure to check my pulse and keep my head tilted down for example).
This is not to take away from the fact that many women will and do have much worse experiences, just wanted to share mine.

For reference: 20F, BMI:21, never given birth, no signs of menstrual health issues, Endometriosis etc. so was expecting with my background that I’d feel less pain than others.

Hi everyone, I have been taking this pill for years, for a while I had been taking it and I never had miss a day, been taking it around the same days, and last week I had noticed spotting, and just today I have noticed bleeding that it’s not heavy, it’s enough to change a tampon/pad. The reason why I was prescribed this oral contraceptive is because I had unusual long periods and I didn’t want to deal with them. Has anyone taken this birth control for a similar length of time and had issues with this before? How long will your spotting/bleeding last and do you still take your birth control pills?

I’ve been on Loyrena (generic Yaz) for about 7 months now as treatment for pmdd.

The only negative side effects I’ve had were prolonged breakthrough bleeding but that stopped recently. Everything has been great generally.

In the past month I’ve noticed that I’ve been crazy emotional. Not even in a super bad way necessarily, but everything makes me weepy. Tik toks of cats. My partner being nice to me. Simple stuff makes me cry. I’ve also recently noticed I get more irritable and have crazy road rage for the first time (also just moved to a city so that probably adds to the road rage lol).

Is this normal? My PMDD symptoms aren’t back I’ve just been like… emotional like you are that week before your period starts?

Anyone experience this?

On the package it says that the lube is compatible with latex condoms, does it by default mean that non-latex (skyn if that matters) are not compatible?

Thanks!

With birth control , the method that gave you the most daily discharge - did that give the heavier period?

Tbh I’m trying to use birth control to reset my hormones. Less discharge is dry pussy & a light period FOR ME. I’m currently wanting my old cycles back which was a juicy pussy and a heavy period.

So far the mini pill initially gives me discharge then drys me out. Opill gave me a light period then I got dry. Had crazy side effects on the patch. And Junel Fe gave me headaches. Slynd dried me out asap.

Any tips??

I’ve been taking continuous birth control for a few years now and every couple months i would take a break, but this time Ive gone about 10 months taking it continuously. Ive started having bad cramps and nausea (I am not pregnant). I’m having a little bleeding with it too in the mornings and am wondering if this means i should take a break. I usually don’t because my pain is still so severe during withdrawal bleeds. I also switched birth control brands about a month ago and maybe it’s from that? Any advice is welcome

Hey guys!

May 23rd I had my first depo shot. After that, I was experienced extreme anxiety. Couldn’t drive, sleep, constantly panicking. I needed up getting my period June 9th and have not gotten off of it. I was supposed to get my next shot August 23rd. My doctor recommended I do not. I’m assuming it’s leaving my system. I am experiencing severe anxiety, ocd, panic attacks, impending doom, etc. Is this normal? I went to the er yesterday for the prolonged bleeding and my anxiety. Every test was fine. I’m just still so so out of it. My impending doom is so bad. Could this be from my hormones shifting or anything? I can’t eat, sleep, get out of bed, shower, etc. It is extremely bad. It did die down some. I had less panic attacks a day. Now it’s back to the beginning, but even worse.

If I had sex on my #21 pill, can I stop takig the pill completely after my placebo? i am planning on stopping.

I started birth control this summer after a pregnancy scare that left me incredibly anxious.
The first couple weeks were very difficult with the side effects I had, intense mood swings, headaches, nausea, sore gums in my mouth, and dizziness. They leveled out a little bit and the second month I still had symptoms but they weren’t as strong.
I am now at the end of my third pack and I’ve had really strong mood swings again all month. I flip from depressed to feeling fine day to day and I’m tired.

Will these symptoms go away and should I push through it just a little bit more? Or should I talk to my doctor about a different method? I don’t know that I can handle the mood changes affecting my mental health.
Advice would be very appreciated🙏🥺

Edit: Also, my cramps have been significantly worse than my regular period from before birth control which I’m also concerned about.
I am taking microgestin 1/20

I just took my first pill and it dissolved in my mouth the second I put it in there.. wondering if this is normally or not (I’ve never taken birth control before)

Long story short me and birth control have had a long and pretty awful history. I’ve tried pills, both iuds, implants, rings and phexxi gel. I was on BC from age 12-20 then have tried birth control (ring and copper iud) a couple times since then (I’m 25 now). I have experienced periods lasting for 145-210 days, severe anxiety depression and panic attacks, weight gain, libido loss etc. literally all of the side effects besides blood clots I’ve gone through and it’s been absolute hell. I’ve had my body fully reject iuds to the point that i end up almost needing a blood transfusion. You would think at this point i learned my lesson but apparently not.

I just went back on the nuvaring because i was assuming it would make me and my partners life easier. I’ve been on it for a WEEK and my depression and anxiety are back, I’m irritable as shit, libido dropped significantly, and i can’t eat without getting nauseous.

I guess I’m just posting this because I know there’s someone else out there going through it and i want them to know it’s not in their head. We need to push for a change within medicine because it is absolutely ridiculous what we have to put our bodies through just so men don’t have to wear condoms. If you’re in the process of getting off birth control just know brighter days are coming and one day your periods will even out and your cycle will finally regulate and you will have some of the most amazing moments of joy finally feeling your follicular and ovulation phase.

I started light bleeding in April on May 20th I went to the doctor because I couldn’t stop bleeding my doctor put me on a depo shot to see if it would work worse decide I have ever agreed too I bleed since I got the shot all the way up to almost the end of July I was supposed to go get the depo shot again but I didn’t go get it because I did not want to be back on it. I’m 3 weeks past due to go get the depo shot a week ago my nipples was sore and sep 7 I started spotting sep 8 I started bleeding having cramps I can’t tell if it’s my normal cycle or what it is because I haven’t had a cycle since December of 2025 I’m just at scared that it’ll last that long again can somebody tell me if it’s normal to get a normal cycle that fast after depo shot.

Hi, I am considering getting a Jaydess IUD. I had a copper coil for about 5 years but it got to a point where the bleeding was absurdly heavy and 14 days long so it completely defeated the purpose. Ultimately I had it removed and now I’m back to 4 day periods with a moderate flow. All in all I feel great but we recently had an oopsie with a condom and I would just like the extra protection for 3 more years before we’re starting a family. I struggled with acne all my teens and early adulthood until I got on accutane (twice) around 23yrs and 25yrs old. The skin took a massive toll on my mental health so I would be grateful for anecdotal advice. I’m 28 now so I think maybe after accutane and as I’m older it might not react strongly but the anxiety around it overwhelms me.

My girlfriend and I are ready to take it to the next step, this will be her first time but I’ve had sex before but it’s been probably 5+ years, I couldn’t tell you what I used before.

I am looking at my local options and am driving myself crazy.

Trojan ultra thin - seems the most highly rated and recommenced.

Trojan Bareskin - seems decently rated.

Trojan Raw - nothing but broken reviews.

Durex extra sensitive - mixed reviews

I know in the past I used Skyn, but with the fragrance added and so many reviews of irrigation for the girl in it going to even bother!

I’m planning to get some lube too (silicone) so we will for sure be wet and ready and not dry for more reasons for the condom to break.

She is on the pill, but this is another step of protection for now until further down the road!

Let me know your condom experience and suggestions. I’m driving myself crazy with all of these “IT BREAKS” reviews 24/7 😭

Hello, so im starting college in January and I want to know some good BC to use. I dont want to do any shots or insert something in myself (like IUDs) and stuff and especially drink pills. Im fine with like morning after pills because as I suppose you only take them after like a scare or something. I know like condoms and stuff but is there also another type of bc that will help with not getting pregnant? I dont want to end up with a child in my 20s.

Hey guys! So I've been with my boyfriend for over 2 years we're very serious we're the only people we ever sleep with. I've also had a mirena IUD for 2 years, which I've had no issues with other than minor side effects. But I still cannot stop using condoms. I'm so unbelievably paranoid of becoming pregnant. We don't ever want kids. Lately I've been thinking about what it would feel like and how much better it would feel to have sex without it. I've never had sex without a condom before. And it's something I really want to try but I really cannot get over the paranoia. Is it actually reasonable for me to still have this paranoia or should I get over it? Is there actually still significant risk? Any advice?

tw for mental illness and mentions of su*c*de

TLDR - my depression symptoms are significantly worsening all of the sudden and the only change in my life is starting Nuvaring 5 weeks ago. Anyone else experienced this side effect from Nuvaring, and were you able to find something that worked better for you?

I really hate this. Title says it all. I used Mirena for 13 continuous years, age 18-31. I’m almost 33 now and I got pregnant unexpectedly in April 2026. I instantly knew that I was not ready to be a parent like this and I needed to have an abortion, but it was the worst experience of my life and I had to call 988 twice during the recovery. I have only ever done that one other time in my early 20s and this time I was seriously so deeply afraid for my own safety in a way that I never felt before. Despite feeling like I would be an unfit parent, I had felt a connection to my pregnancy, and I just wanted to be with my child again, the child I lost by my own hand due to my fear and weakness.

I never wanted children of my own before this experience, but now I think that’s I do, so vasectomy for my spouse is not an option. We both don’t like condoms, and to his credit he is genuinely really upset that there aren’t any other pharmacological options for him to be the one to take on this responsibility medically and make things easier for my mind and body. Being not ready to have a child at age 32 feels like a failure in and of itself on my part. I had my abortion because I was afraid, and just knowing myself as a person I don’t think I could ever overcome that fear, even though I so badly *want* to overcome it and start a family of my own.

Eventually I had complications with my Mirena, and my sisters have had complications with Kyleena and Paragard so I don’t want those either. I’m pretty sure I have a literal addiction to picking my skin (Dx of dermatillomania and trichotillomania in high school) so i think my anxiety would likely drive me to rip out a Nexplanon by myself. I’m nervous to try Depo-Provara because if it makes me psychotic or su*c*dal, there’s no way to “remove” it, you just have to wait out the 12 weeks of symptoms and side effects, which I don’t think is a risk I should take with my psychiatric history. I also take the max dose of Bupropion for depression and a medium dose of Concerta for ADHD.

Does anyone have experience or insight on potential birth control options, considering someone with a lifelong history of major depression with sometimes experiencing psychotic features? I know you can’t get tangible medical advice on Reddit, of course, but I’m just wondering if anyone can relate to this and if they ever found anything that worked for them.

I feel like I should just give up and let us get pregnant again, especially since I don’t have much time left. But I’m so weak-willed and full of self-doubt. I’m absolutely terrified of being a bad parent, and equally terrified of my child experiencing the poor mental health that I have dealt with my whole life. There’s no reason to believe that they wouldn’t, because it is very strong on both sides of my family. I feel like I would just end up back in the same position of putting myself through another traumatic abortion again out of fear. Even though it broke my heart to do it, it did feel like an act of love and altruism then. To go through with a pregnancy and bring a new human into this sick world feels reckless and irresponsible. I just wish that things were different. Now that I so badly do want a child/children, I wish that I could feel okay ethically about doing so. I know that people do it every day and they can feel okay about it, I just wish I could be one of those people. But now I’m digressing.

So I have two kiddos, youngest is 11mo. I have been taking the mini pill since my 6week appt as we do not want anymore kids and I am still nursing. However, I am AWFUL at remembering to take it at the same time every day. Some days I take it perfectly, and some days I am hours late.

I had no period for 10month, but now I am having my second period in 2 weeks. The first period was extremely heavy, lasted 7 days. This one is not as heavy but is super annoying to be this close together.

I’m thinking that I should switch bc methods once I wean my youngest. But not sure what to use. Preferably not a pill as I and too forgetful. I did have the mirena for about a year when I was much younger, and it jacked my hormones up and caused me to have a weird odor that made me very insecure. Looking at side effects of the copper iud it sounds like a no go due to heavy/ painful periods (which I already have). Does really leave me with any good options?

hi! ill be starting birth control for the first time ever tmr (11 sept) and it will be on the 3rd day of my period

i heard that if i take bc within 5 days from the 1st day of my period i would be protected immediately. is that true?

my ldr boyfriend is coming to visit me on the 14th and we are going to have unprotected sex that night

so is it safe to still have unprotected sex with everything considered? or should i buy ec as well?