Patch vs Withdrawal or pull out method

After switching from the combined pill due to depression, I was interested in the patch as I could change it weekly instead of remembering to take a pill everyday. I started the patch and my periods became regular and my mood increased greatly, I do experience bad PMS but It is much better compared to when I was on the pill. I do get cramps sometimes between periods but nothing too bad. You can also use the patch to skip periods but I enjoy having a regular “cycle” and when I did use it to skip a period for a holiday I ended up spotting for a month! Overall the patch is great for me and I don’t plan on changing as it has helped my mental health so much.

I had near constant breakthrough bleeding the entire time

It’s convenient to only change once a week. I’ve found when I’ve been on holiday if you are in the water it does loosen and sometimes come off in the water which is not helpful. I have experienced a lot of breakthrough bleeding very randomly but it has helped with my skin. My sex drive has basically gone it’s that low which I have struggled with but my mood and endometriosis pain during periods has helped

I came off the combined pill around 4 years ago after trying many different pills and never quite feeling myself/having terrible clots in my periods on breaks. I'd been told by drs it was the only way to have safe sex from pregnancy and felt i had no choice. The good old fashioned pull out method has been my best friend ever since! Once i spoke to a very wise nurse who told me that i could try the natural cycle way or rely on pull out cleverly. Now i want to say that this isn't for everyone. I have been in a healthy long term relationship with someone i trust and with whom we communicate during all aspects of sex. Because of this we have been able to have all kinds of sex (including penetrative) without any pregnancy scares. My partner is a cis man and i a cis women, and the secret is FULL COMMUNICATION. If he is close to cuming he stops (NEVER ACTUALLY RELY ON PULLING OUT AS YOU CUM NO NO). It's about calming things down on his end when he thinks he'll climax. that means pulling out and moving to oral etc for a while before going again. Normlly this means i get a whole lotta love while he calms down so BONUS!! POSITIVES - I often cum first as it means i always get to cum as he can keep going and we are not relying on one way to have sex. I feel myself! We are more experimental and go on for longer. Its about trust so things feel more intimate, it has led to better communication and much better forplay. This means i cum more often. Knowing my own cycle and getting to know how my body and hormones work. Having sex slowly and sensually, with my pleasure and his both being taken into account due to the fact you can't just have full penetrative sex without thinking. NEGATIVES- he obvs can't cum in me. he doesnt personally feel sad about that. When finally he can't be in me anymore he has to cum using other ways to finish. It means it can be a bit stop and start (personally i think this is fun). You do have to be more careful. THIS IS DEFINITELY FOR PEOPLE WHO KNOW THEIR SEXUAL PARTNER WELL. ITS ABOUT TRUST. You can't just bang it out like in the movies haha! I do pregnancy tetss every 3 months just in case pre cum has snuck in (it's very unlikely this gets you pregnant especially if your partner is aware of this. but worth thinking about) Overall, Chefs Kiss - but i do sometimes miss he cumming inside me ! BUT WON'T GO BACK

Only used it on occasion and normally alongside another form of contraception. I don't really recommend it as it feel risky

The withdrawal method is really not for everyone. But me and my partner prefer to not use male condoms and I use my Flo app to track my ovulation and period which helps me gauge when is the best time to use this method. As I’m not trying to fall pregnant again right now, and I don’t really want to use any hormonal contraceptives, this method has definitely worked for me but can only work if your willing to take control with family planning.

I’ve gained a lot of weight

With the male condom, it was fine, however I didn’t like using flavoured ones as they gave me more thrush than usual

I'm not pregnant so definitely doing something right! It is not my fave method, I would only recommend this if you: 1. trust the person you are with and you know they will pull out 2. both you and your partner have been tested for sti's before sleeping together 3. you are able to check if you are ovulating or not 4. use another form of contraception with this, such as the morning after pill, I personally don't use this as my sole method of contraception.

I've been using this method for about 15 years. I don't have children and have never been pregnant. The only downside is it's supposed low reliability, but it's been working for me. I tried the combined pill at the beginning of my relationship, for a year or two, but it didn't agree with me. By that time our relationship felt pretty stable, so we switched to withdrawal method. Although I never wanted children, for many years I just accepted the possibility of a surprise baby. I thought if it happened then it was meant to be. There are no side effects, and my partner is happy with this method also. Now that I'm in my mid 40s I'm less accepting of the possibility of an accidental pregnancy, and I do sometimes get a bit anxious over this. So I also started tracking my cycle on an app, so I can avoid the fertile days. But my cycle has gotten shorter, so I don't even know if I have any fertile days anymore. For years we've used the method without tracking the cycle, and it still worked though. Recently for a short time I tried the POP desogestrel, that I got for heavy periods. I was kind of looking forward to using this reliable contraception, but unfortunately I got really bad mood swings, so I'm back to this method again.

Came off the pill after using for 11 years and wanted to be hormonal contraceptive free so we decide on pull out method as if got pregnant would be happy accident. Been using for 12 months and completely successful reliable contraception for us.

Quite a risky method that I wouldn't recommend. I use this method on-and-off (sometimes using condoms instead) as I don't want to use hormonal contraception and I had a terrible experience with the IUD. I have never gotten pregnant from this method. But having very irregular periods means this method causes considerable stress at the end of each month when my period is inevitably late. Even after getting a negative pregnancy test I'll still convince myself I'm pregnant. Not very fun!

Used after 6 years of implant to allow my cycles to ‘go back to normal’. Continued to use for 3+ years, however this is not a form of contraception on its own only alongside other forms. After an unplanned pregnancy due to not using this alongside another method I will be seeking a more formal contraception method to ensure this does not happen again.