My Contraceptive Story

I can’t believe this is my first post of March! My schedule has been  little hectic and I struggled for post ideas and time to write them however I hopefully should be back at it now so expect some posts to start appearing soon!

Now on to my topic of the day: Birth Control.

Many people still consider talking about types of birth control and the need for it a taboo, which is silly in my mind as it is something that most, if not all woman will have or need to use in their life time.

For me talking about contraceptives with my mum when I was 17 and had my first proper boyfriend was THE most awkward thing and tended to consist of “yes mum i’ll be careful” “yes mum i’m using protection” and usually ended abruptly after that.

Many of my friends even went to clinics by themselves to obtain the pill or other methods of contraception and didn’t tell their mum’s, mine had always been up front to me as I have already said and did take me to the doctors to get me on the pill which was not as weird and awkward as I thought at the time.

I’m now 19 and edging out of my teenage years so discussing these types of things with my mum is easy and sometimes needed.

As I’m sure most of you guys reading this will know, taking the pill and dealing with the inevitable side effects is quite frankly a pain in the ass, so I thought i’d share with you my experiences of different types of contraception I’ve tried.

SO as already said I started using the pill when I was 17, I was first given the brand Cerazette which is a mini pill and is taken everyday with no break week, at first this was great. I didn’t have to suffer through terrible cramps each month or deal with my period at all! however as the months went on, I was still dealing with breakthrough bleeding which is something that can occur when your body is getting used to the hormones in the body. Unfortunately unlike I should have my body did not get used to this pill and I continued to bleed almost every two weeks and this was something that I just couldn’t live with so I returned to the doctor to try something new.

Instead of trying a completely new method like the injection or implant (ouch needles) I opted to stay on the pill and was prescribed Microgynon 30  which is the pill you take every pill and once the packet is finished you have a break week which allows for a period like bleed. This pill settled my anxiety  of not getting a period and not ever knowing if i was pregnant as if you miss a period on Microgynon it gives you an indication to take a test, whereas on Cerazette I didn’t get a break so had no way of knowing,  I ended up really getting on with this pill for about a year then closer to the end of last year my mood swings were unbearable. It had gotten to the point were I was a literal monster on the last week of my pill packet. I would become irritable and angry at the smallest of things, I would also cry a lot at the stupidest causes (crying because my bf wouldn’t come cuddle me while I napped). Eventually enough was enough, I went back to the doctor almost a month ago and had a really long chat with her about my options, before this I had already been looking into different types I could try out online so I was clued up on what my doctor was telling me.

In the end I went for the Othra Evra Patch which uses the same technology as a nicotine patch were it takes in this case the hormones through the skin and into your system. Unlike the pill you only have to remember to change the patch once a week and after 3 weeks you have a break week so no remembering to take a pill everyday (which was a blessing for me!)

So a month on after starting the patch I have started noting obvious down sides to it like they are very attracted to fluff and clothing so they edges of the patches tend to accumulated fluffy edges and sometimes they itch as the glue is really strong so to not peal off while in the shower or doing exercise. One massive positive for me at this moment is that I’m no longer a hormonal mess at the end of each month but since it has only been a month I’m not sure if this will change but fingers crossed that I don’t revert back into a little hormonal mess each month.

Do you feel there is still a taboo around contraceptive and family planning?

How has your own personal experience been with talking about it to those you feel comfortable with?

Love Danielle x

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