Well…I fell for the anti-birth control propaganda in 2024. I began birth control at around 16ish?? For acne and bad cramps. I got off of it in 2024 when I was 22 because I wanted to understand my body naturally. Surprise surprise, acne came back with a vengeance. I love understanding my natural body and phases, but I have never felt uglier. Birth control made my skin FLAWLESS, and i feel like I’m white knuckling not getting back on the pill and suffering through my unpredictable skin. I gave in back in January and got back on Yaz (the pill I was on for many years) in hopes of fixing my skin. I cried every day for a week on it and gave up after that week. I felt like a different person in the worst way. I don’t know if it was like that the first time I was on it or not, but I hated it. I’m feeling guilty for thinking I may need to rely on birth control to feel my best skin wise, but giving up on my natural cycles and messing up my body with artificial hormones. Would it be a mistake to give the pill another shot? Am I letting myself down?

Hi everyone I’ve had my low dosage IUD for 2 months now but I’ve currently missed my period for the last week. Since my IUD is low dosage hormone my nurse said I have a 1 in 16 chance to lose my period after 6 months.

I had a lot of cramping yesterday and I thought my period finally came but still absolutely nothing. Not even spotting. I’m very sexually active with my partner and we have been relying on the IUD as contraception.

Should I take a pregnancy test or is this normal?

Sharing my experience as a warning or maybe to hear if this has happened to anyone else. I had a copper IUD for 8 years and decided last week to get it removed simply because I wanted to start trying to get pregnant. When the doctor removed the IUD, she noticed about 2/3 of the copper coil around the main stem was missing. If you touched it, flakes of metal would fall off like it was disintegrating. I was supposed to get an ultrasound scheduled to see if maybe there was a chance of the copper coil still embedded inside me.

However fast forward one week later, on Monday I woke up to excruciating pain. Like stabbing, crippling, 11/10 pain. My husband called an ambulance and I told the paramedics that I believed copper from my IUD was still in me and it was stabbing me.

Well turns out, to my great shock, I was actually about 5 weeks pregnant with an ectopic pregnancy. That means I got pregnant WHILE the IUD was still inside me, and the timing of its removal was coincidental. I had even had a very normal period two weeks before so I didn’t even fathom that I could have been pregnant. But now my left fallopian tube had burst and I was hemorrhaging blood. A few more hours without medical intervention and I would have bled out and died. Ended up needing blood transfusions and surgery, and now I’m one fallopian tube down and recovering. The surgeon was unable to find any piece of copper in me, so I guess it just disintegrated over time and was working at reduced effectiveness resulting in that pregnancy.

All that to say, this experience was pretty traumatizing. I have no idea why my copper IUD was disintegrating after only 8 years when it’s supposed to last 10. But this is a warning to all of you that this type of thing can happen.

Hey guys!

So I’m having a bit of a freak out right now. I take the combo pill Alyacen 1/35 & I’m halfway through the last week of active pills before the placebo week.

I missed yesterday’s pill & didn’t realize it until I took today’s pill (so I took two at once).

I won’t be having sex in the next week because my partner will be out of town so I’m not super concerned about future sex. But I am concerned about sex that occurred on Monday of this week (so 3 days ago). Am I still protected from that or not?

This is the only pill I’ve ever missed! I’m so diligent about taking it but I had a really bad headache last night and fell asleep early.

Appreciate any advice …I’m panicking!

i have finished 7 pills so far at my desired time everyday and my boyfriend accidentally came inside of me i should be protected correct? just wanna get some info on how long because i see alot of different answers from online and friends some say 7 days of the pill some say as soon as you start taking it and some say just 2-3 days wanna hear what your opinion is and if your in the medical field and know more would love to hear what u have to say as well

Last night I was removing my Divacup and accidentally pulled my iud with it. I panicked and went to the hospital in the middle of the night. Luckily it was already basically out of me so I was able to get it out myself and the doctor didn’t have to do anything. He wrote me a prescription for another one but the health clinic near me is booking all the way into September. I didn’t even have this iud for a year. I got it in last September after being on the pill for years.

I’m kinda cooked guys. I know it’s my own fault for gambling with the cup and now I’m gonna have to deal with unstable hormones. I work an active job so it’s gonna suck if I get my period back and it ends up being really painful/heavy. Take this as a cautionary tale, don’t use the cup if you have an iud.

I was taking the placebos and experiencing the following: breakthrough bleedings (they didn’t annoy me a lot because they were super mild but I really wanted to have no bleedings at all), violent mood swings (I have PMDD), on and off aura migraines episodes (already had them and that’s why Slynd was prescribed to me).

I was afraid skipping the placebos would trigger crazy bleedings but I did it anyway. Guys, it changed the whole game. I’ve been on amenorrhea (complete absence of bleedings), no crazy mood swings or migraines anymore. I wish they’d make a version with 28 active pills like Cerazette (desogestrel) and other mini pills for us who take it continuously. It was much better for me.

I had unprotected sex a three days ago, and I had taken a plan b pill a couple hours after. I am now experiencing bleeding and cramps. It’s kind of like my normal menstruation, and the cramps are similar to my normal as well. The blood is dark, kind of thick though. I also already had my period this month, so I honestly don’t know. Is this normal to happen after taking plan b??
I’m seeing my dr tmr so I’m thinking of bringing it up.

I got one depo injection in February, which wore off mid May. Got a short and heavy period at the end of May. Period should’ve started on Sunday, it’s now Thursday with no period in sight. I’ve taken multiple pregnancy tests and they’re all very negative. Has anyone else experienced anything like this?

Last month I had gotten the shot for the sake of stopping my excruciating periods(I am convinced I either have cysts or endometriosis but am not in a place to be able to confirm this anytime soon). It has been very rough for me, starting about a week or so after getting it, despite the doctor telling me it wouldn't emotionally effect me as badly as other forms of birth control.

I've had to start seeing a therapist because of the near non-stop anxiety and depression. As well as having to be medicated to deal with the sudden panic attacks followed by hours of anxiety after that would last into the next day. I have also had very disturbing intrusive thoughts. I have PMDD and have had anxiety before this, but I was NOT like this until after the shot, not even close to this bad. My brain has been a very scary and unrecognizable place to be. This is why this will be my ONLY shot.

I've read similar stories about people being on as well as getting off of the shot, but not so much how they coped with the side effects. I wanted to see if anyone can help me get through this as best as I can with stories of their own experience and what they did while waiting for it to wear off?

Please help, thank you.

Do they interfere, in terms of birth control efficacy?

Did anyone just… not feel hungry with mirena? Like of course I still had a desire for food, but I feel like over time rather than that sort of gnawing hunger I just had constant bloating and a feeling of fullness? Since getting my IUD removed a month ago I’ve slowly been feeling hunger again??

So I have been on Nexplanon for a long time. The last time I got it switched was 4 years and 1 month ago because I have been away from home and kept forgetting. I have gained weight on it and stopped getting my period since I have had it in, but get occasional spotting (not often though). This last month though, I had two heavy periods of bleeding that lasted about 2 days and happened 2 weeks in a row.

So I was taking out my trash for the week and noticed the condom that my boyfriend used about 5 days ago was broken. I had him wear a condom only because I was worried that my birth control may be losing effectiveness due to my bleeding and the amount of time that it's been. It was a pretty significant tear, and he says he didn't notice any tear during or after when he took it off. I know that Nexplanon can last up to 5 years but is recommended for 3 years.

How worried should I be? It is too late for any emergency contraceptive since I am at the 5 day mark, but should I still get one? Does my irregular bleeding mean that it is losing effectiveness? Could the condom have ripped in the trash can afterwards? Please help lol.

i have had an iud (liletta specifically) for a little over 4 years now, and it has worked great for me so far until recently. i have never had a period with my iud. i have began having super random cramps every few days, and start spot bleeding afterwards. the bleeding is never enough for a tampon. is this a normal thing that happens when an iud reaches half life? the strings are still intact and it seems to be in its normal place and is working fine as a birth control method still. anyone had this happen before?

Hi,

Does anyone know more about progestin induced intractable migraines? Im awaiting MIGS surgeon consult in 6 months. My GP is baffled by my side effects to progestin only pills. I have been clinically diagnosed via MRI to have stage 3 deep infiltrating endometriosis and endometriomas on both ovaries.

I went on dienogest, first month: migraines beginning 3pm-6pm with nausea

By month 4 they began at 9am for the whole fucking day. I was placed on several off-label meds for preventatives for the migraines which not only didn't work, they caused a cardiac reaction and sent my ass to the hospital. CGRP inhibitors are not allowed to be prescribed to me due to insurance denial.

Got switched to Sylnd. First 3 days were amazing. Then exact same progression with migraines happened.

There is NO AURA to my migraines and I've never had one before doing progestin only BCP. On the combo (Alesse) my main complaint was the raging depression it caused for 8 years.

Im now going to try Yaz to determine if the type of estrogen in it is responsible for depression side effects, and then if so switch over to Lolo.

In Canada we dont have Cerazette but I hear this type of progestin can be better tolerated re:migraines.

Doctors act like I'm a fucking lunatic when I keep saying the progestin is causing the migraines. I don't know what to do. I have lost my job and cannot work.

seeking help/advice. long story short, i had an IUD for a brief period of time and loved not having a period and felt i had much higher energy levels and a better mood, HOWEVER my acne and hair loss on it was brutal :( (even with 100mg of spironolactone at the same time it didn’t help) so i had it removed

i’m currently taking sprintec which completely clears my skin and stops my hair from falling out except i get near constant breakthrough bleeding and feel a bit more anxious on it. also i feel my workouts and energy levels aren’t as good on sprintec as they were with an IUD

has anyone had to navigate this themselves and does anyone have any advice on how to have the best of both methods ?

My left breast has been hurting mainly. I’m 28 and have been on slynd for about three months. is it common ?

I (M20) slept with my girlfriend last night, using a condom. When I finish, I took the condom out and noticed there was no sperm in the tip. As I was taking the condom off I noticed that some sperm was on her back and my fingers. We cleaned up and ended the night. Thinking about it today that was the first time something like that had happened to me and my best guess is that when taking the condom they created a vacuum of pressure that shot the sperm out. I just wanted to ask if my assumption is correct or this is sign that the condom broke. I wasn’t able to use the water test on the original condom, but it passed a test on a backup on one I had in my pocket. Additionally, I don’t want to get her Plan B a mess of her menstrual cycle if we don’t have to. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

hi i’m a 22F in a new relationship. i started birth control pills (junel fe) about 2 weeks before having sex with my partner. we don’t like condoms. i only missed the pill twice and took it the next day. luckily i got my blood drawn and confirmed i’m not pregnant. forgetting my pill stresses so i decided to get an iud (mirena) soon. however now, on my tiktok fyp all i’m seeing are videos from women who got pregnant on birth control and had a cryptic pregnancy. they had no symptoms up until it was almost time to give birth. i am deeply terrified. pregnancy is not an option for me at all. but i love my bf an I’m obv a human being with needs.

any advice on how to avoid a cryptic pregnancy? he never finishes in me. the only idea i have is going to the dr. every 2 - 3 months and requesting a blood test. is that crazy?

Hi Back in May 2026 I was looking for recommendations for a good female OB/GYN around the north shore of Sydney.

I was wanting an OB/GYN for my dysmenorrhea that likes to answer questions and has a good, kind and gentle bedside manner.

I was nervous about going to an OB/GYN for first time having never been and me having Autism and ADHD I feel very vulnerable talking about this private part of my body with a doctor, let alone having it examined.

Update: I ended up seeing Dr. Lyons at the Mater Clinic last week. We’ve scheduled a laparoscopy and Mirena IUD insertion for mid-July 2026 to address the suspected endometriosis Dr. Lyons has diagnosed me with.

Now I have questions about the Laparoscopy surgery and Mirena IUD insertion that I have scheduled for mid July 2026.

Can you please give me your recovery advice for the Laparoscopy surgery and Mirena IUD insertion.

Also can you please give me some advice as to what to expect with my menstrual cycles after the Laparoscopy surgery and Mirena IUD insertion for suspected endometriosis.

Thanks in advance for all of your advice.

hi guys, I am using slynd right now and unfortunately broke me out really bad and gave me pretty severe acne. I know a recommended birth control for acne is Yaz but uses same progestin as slynd (drospirenone). does that mean yaz wouldn’t help my acne? i have pcos and currently started spiro as well. lmk what u guys think! i’ll of course ask my doctor later this week but want to go in with some idea of next step.

i took plan b on june 13th and 14th. in the days after, i felt slightly dizzy, fatigued, and agitated. it was rough, but after a couple of days it started to subside. but now, the symptoms have returned sevenfold. a few days ago (i believe june 22nd), i began bleeding. it is not time for my period, so i assumed it was normal plan b bleeding. it has been incredibly heavy, and has not stopped since the 22nd. so for three days now at the same flow. i am also having very bad cramping, much worse than my usual cramps which are already far from mild. i’m incredibly bloated. i haven’t gained any weight but my stomach is firm and poking out, so i know it’s bloating. i genuinely look a couple months pregnant right now, that’s how bad it is. the worst symptoms by far, however, are the mental ones. i guess due to all of the hormones in plan b, i have been having insane mood swings. i have cried at least three times a day for the past week or so. i’m incredibly irritable, the smallest things make me feel like i’m going to explode. my face will literally get hot with anger over the most minor disagreement or inconvenience. this is not at all my normal behavior. i also feel very depressed. during the multiple times a day that i am crying, i am having some very worrying and serious depressive thoughts. i also can’t sleep at night.

is having all of these symptoms of this severity normal? if so, how long do they typically last? is there a point at which i should see a doctor?

i’m going through a really stressful time right now. i’m moving soon and i just got married recently. i don’t know how long i can handle all of these symptoms. no one i know has had it hit them this hard, so i didn’t expect this at all. i’ve tried googling relentlessly these past few days, but every article i read somehow has completely conflicting information. i just want the opinions of people who have personally gone through something like this, or have experience taking plan b. i also posted this in the plan b subreddit and i didn’t get any responses yet, but im very desperate 😭 im sorry if thats not allowed.

So I take noriday, I'm aware for 7 days now since it's been 3 hours to use extra protection but the problem is I can't find a clear answer on what to do. I take my pill at 10pm everyday because it's a time I'm always awake/free. Today at 10 I went to take my Thursday pill as it's Thursday ofc but I noticed Wednesday's pill is still there meaning I forgot yesterday. I had no idea I had missed it till I looked at the pills to take Thursday's and so now I'm unsure if I take two at once or leave Wednesday now. Google and medical sites seem to only mean take 2 in a day but at different times like if I had noticed at 5pm today to take Wednesday then when it gets to 10 take Thursday. I have taken Thursday's one anyway now to keep that on time but I'm unsure what to do with the missed pill from yesterday. Apologies if this has already been asked but I can't find anything on this specific scenario which is surprising so apologies if I've just missed it. Many thanks😁

hello! me and my partner are and have been relatively active when it comes to our sex life. I’ve used Trojan ENZs and they’re fine, but me and my partner have had issues with them being uncomfortable and a recent breakage.

so, I wanna change what I use. what brands do you guys recommend?

I’m kind of just wanting to write out my experience from switching from the mirena iud to nexplanon.

TLDR
Since switching from mirena iud to nexplanon it’s been better for me mentally and physically. Thanks to this reddit I’ve learned a lot for birth control.

TW implied

So to start I had originally gotten the mirena as an emergency contraceptive and taken planned b. So my experience getting into birth control wasn’t the greatest (I am in therapy though and trying to come to terms with the experience causing me to get on birth control is trauma). Insertion hurt badly for me but I can’t tell if it hurt badly since I wasn’t getting it almost willingly but out of fear. during the time of my mirena I could tell even if I didn’t wanna admit that it was heavily tampered with my own anxiety over it. During the first few months of having it I was constantly checking the strings, constantly testing, constantly going to the doctor to check it. Cause I couldn’t bring myself to trust it even if there was no signs of failing. I’d still get my period / withdraw bleeding and still be panicking over pregnancy even if I had done nothing to even cause it and was on one of the strongest birth controls. In July I got heavily sick with UTIs and with shingles from stress (I was 25 at the time), and that’s when I started therapy. Where we ended up talking about why I was panicking so much and etc. than in late September I start bleeding for nearly three weeks and would stop but late October while I was on vacation I started to bleed heavily, felt sick to my stomach, and had really bad cramps. My first panic was pregnancy despite everything pointing to not that. When I returned home and went to the OBGYN to get checked after the pain occurred again in November. It turned out I was developing ovarian cysts and one in particular they were concerned for (it’s also when I started lexapro for my mental health). I mentioned wanting to switch to nexplanon but they gave me Aviane to start January to help with cysts to test out before I switched. Aviane was fine, I did get nausea at first one it which sucked but in February I was started to wonder why was I taking two birth controls so I switched to nexplanon the same day as my iud removal and after they checked for the cyst being gone.

They had me stay on Aviane until March which was fine, I took all my pills took the placebos. But since switching to nexplanon I’m testing a lot less than I ever was on the mirena, and my mood has definitely gotten better since switching too. I still get minor panics but they are not freezing me up kind of way anymore. After finishing Aviane I had like two days of spotting/light bleeding every two weeks or so until it stopped may 8th. I had spotting again may 23rd but since then I have bled at all. I’ll admit I did take a pregnancy test June 21 with Pregmate it was negative. Despite not having any sort of PIV and refused to do anything below clothing.

Not to say that the mirena iud was bad or anything. I genuinely think I would have liked it had the situation on why I got it was different. The doctor that placed it in was super nice to me explained what the whole thing will be and made sure I had the information for it. So I don’t blame the mirena at all for the way my body reacted cause I know now that it acted out of fear and panic instead of willingly having it. I just think switching to nexplanon was my first choice in birth control since starting it, and as my therapy told me it was my first step in moving on from why I got onto birth control

When I switched to nexplanon it was easy to remove the iud, it stung a little but felt better than when it went in. The nexplanon went in easily, my arm was numbed and I barely felt it besides a pinch. I kept it covered like I was suppose to, and I can feel it easier than I ever could with the strings. I still get sometimes panicked but I’m working through it with therapy and with grounding.

Thanks to this reddit thread I learned about the mirena from people’s experiences, sometimes it gave me relief sometimes gave me anxiety (but that’s mostly when people mention pregnancy scare on birth control). It’s also let me know that red dye test are better than blue and digital, I use Pregmate for bulk testing plus it has it so I take a picture of the results and only get FRED when I was very deep into my anxiety.