Withdrawal or pull out method vs Combined pill

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.

Been on this pill for years and it has treated me well. I have lighter periods and they are a lot less painful. I have suffered very badly with acne over the years and although my skin is not perfect, it has been the most stable on this pill. I don’t find any other side effects to my mood or body that I notice.

As soon as I started taking it, my first period whist on this pill came after a week and it was the most horrible period I’ve had in my entire life (it was a longer period then I ever had before (with really heavy cramps constantly) that was the first step in the negative journey. After that, I continued taking it and my acne got worse especially on my back. I had thought it would improve but was much worse event at month two. After two months of taking this pill, I’ve also gained weight which I noticed straight away but had put down to temporary water retention but seems to not budge and have had extreme weight fluctuations like never before and been feeling very off and not myself ever since taking it/depressed, also have lost all sex drive. I am at the point where it’s either stick it out for another month to see if symptoms ease up or stop and cut my losses. I’ve decided to stop.

This was prescribed to me to help regulate my periods; however did the complete opposite and have made them worse. I have no clue when my periods are going to begin or end now, as well as if the bleeding will be light spotting or extremely heavy. I have become incredibly sensitive to many things that would never have bothered me pre-pill, as well have been bed bound due to negative mood changes that I have no explanation for. I have been sad before, however, these feelings I could not explain or combat so I have decided to switch pill.

My period was ok on it. My acne was very bad cystic nothing would get rid of it. Changed to Yasmin and I haven’t had cystic acne my skin is clearing. Hair thinned on top of my head too. This pill can cause high androgens which can cause bad hormonal acne and hair loss

This sent me nearly insane with my moods. I had no other side effects other than it made me nearly suicidal. I know you could say maybe it wasn’t the pill but I was fine before taking it, happy in myself, then after I had a mental breakdown I stopped taking it and suddenly felt like myself again. I’ve heard a lot of people say it’s been awful for their mood and I’m surprised they haven’t banned it yet

I’ve never had Thrush before and went on this pill 2 months ago and got it within the first 20 days of using it. I’ve also felt nauseas everyday since maybe the first week into it. Will symptoms subside? I really hope so. I havent bled but I was on the depo injection for the last year so its normal for it to take a while to bleed again.

My experience is overall positive. For the first month I had breakthrough spotting almost every day, it was light and painless, just a bit worrisome, but it settled in the 2nd month. I started taking Drovelis for painful periods, and I have to say that while they are shorter and lighter, it's not like it completely changed around. I used to take around 4 painkillers a day on my period, now I'm down to one: so it is a big change, but I can't say the periods are painless. In the first month I also had some mood swings, but I can't be sure if that's due to the pill. I'm writing this review because I was very scared of taking birth control after reading so many negative opinions, but overall it's a net positive experience. No changes to my weight, my libido is stable, overall it's nothing too scary.

I switched to this after using Yasmine (no problems with that, I just wanted to try a lower-dose estrogen pill). In the first year, all seemed fine, regular light periods, no break-outs, fewer mood swings, but lately in the past 6 months, I noticed my mental health worsen, my ADHD symptoms became stronger, my depression and my anxiety crept higher, and my libido slowly went non-existent. Also, my breasts (or rather my nipples), which were usually only swollen/sore before the placebo tablets, became constantly sensitive in a bad way. Now I am looking for a different pill.

I started taking Eloine after I had experienced depression-like symptoms on the two weeks before my period for around 3 months. It was really hard to deal with and I think I have very bad PMT or maybe PMDD? I also had horrendous hormonal acne that really damaged the way I felt about myself, this mixed with the pre period mood swings made me feel like I wasn’t myself anymore. I researched different treatments that can help both PMT symptoms and hormonal acne, so I gave Eloine a go. I started it in February and wow has it changed how I experience periods (not to be dramatic but it really has changed my quality of life too). I feel very little mood swings now, I just feel when my luteal phase starts but in terms of energy not mentally! I just feel soooo much better in myself. My only complaint is I’ve experienced slight breast enlargement - but I’m consistently working out to try and combat this. I’ve never really had issues with period heaviness or cramps, but I would say my period is a lot lighter but last a day or so longer than before I was on the pill. Overall, my PMT symptoms have been totally ushered away by Eloine, I’m currently seeing a dermatologist for acne who also says this will help alongside other treatments. Facial oil is very much reduced. If you are struggling with acne or mood problems, please know that you are not alone. My mum grew up dealing with this, and so did her mum. Unfortunately some people are just dealt that hormonal issue card but I would definitely recommend this pill, sometimes natural remedies just don’t scratch the surface of what you’re going through. You’ve got this!!! Things will get better and I’m rooting for you 🩷

Stopped the mini pill after 3 years and switched to the combined to see if my skin and moods would improve. My skin definitely has improved and is similar to my post-accutane skin I had before I started hormonal birth control. My mood swings remained awful. I took the packs typically back to back but on a couple occasions I had breakthrough bleeding so took a 4 day break. I never had a yeast infection/thrush before taking this pill but in the 10 months of taking the combined pill I’ve had about 7 cases of thrush. Doctors kind of dismissed me saying it must be something else but it’s the only thing in my life that has changed, must be the estrogen! Finally had enough of the recurrent yeast infections affecting my relationship and sex life as well as day to day comfort so decided to switch to the copper coil last week. Fingers crossed my hormones will balance out!