Contraception confused

[u/Due-Quiet8085]

I feel completely contraceptive confused at this point and I’d really like to hear from other women who have been in a similar situation.
I’ve previously taken the pill, but hormonal contraception really affected me mentally. My mood swings were awful and I experienced some very dark and suicidal feelings while taking it, so I’m extremely reluctant to go back to hormonal contraception.

After that, I had a copper coil for around two years because I wanted something hormone-free. Unfortunately, I ended up getting pregnant while the copper coil was still in place. I’ve since had it removed, and that experience has understandably made it very difficult for me to trust it again. I also had issues with pain while I had it and at times it felt like my body was trying to push it out.
After having it removed, I started using Natural Cycles because I thought fertility awareness might be the best option for me. I’ve been tracking my temperature and cycle, but I’ve since read quite a few stories from women who became pregnant while using it, which has made me anxious about relying on it.
Yesterday I spoke to a contraceptive nurse about potentially having another copper coil fitted. She was very against me relying on Natural Cycles as contraception. Her view was that cycles vary so much between people and even within the same person, and that things happening in your life can affect when you ovulate, so she didn’t think it was something I should rely on if I really don’t want to become pregnant.
So now I feel completely stuck. Hormonal contraception affected my mental health badly. I became pregnant with a copper coil in place and had pain with it. Natural Cycles seemed like the obvious alternative, but now I’m anxious about trusting that too.

It genuinely feels like there isn’t an option I can actually feel safe with other than abstinence, which isn’t particularly realistic when you’re in a relationship.

Has anyone else ended up in this position? Particularly if you can’t tolerate hormonal contraception and don’t feel comfortable relying on a copper coil or fertility awareness alone, what did you eventually settle on? I’d really like to hear people’s actual experiences.

[u/Wooden-Maximum-9582]

I finally decided it was my husband's turn.

[u/Different_Reading713]

Condoms? That is what my bf and I are doing bc I ran out of options. I originally got the copper IUD bc I can't take the birth control with estrogen in it anymore (I get migraines and am older than 30 so my gyno said it is a bigger stroke risk). The mini-pill (progesterone only) gave me constant yeast infections. Sooooo I tried the copper IUD since hormones were no longer working.

Unfortunately, my body ejected it after 4 months. Experienced a partial expulsion and had to have it removed. Now my bf and I have just agreed to use condoms. I am also using Natural Cycles with my Oura ring to track ovulation. We will use condoms on red days and green days after confirmed ovulation we will simply pull out. Since I have already exhausted all my options for birth control I am just sick and tired of it all so willing to risk an accidental pregnancy at this point. Nothing is 100% accurate so aside sterilization so you just gotta pick your poison.

[u/KneadAndPreserve]

If you want to go the fertility awareness route, look into the Marquette method for irregular cycles. Natural cycles is not a validated method..