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.

My experience of this pill was very positive, only reason I do not use it joe is because my pharmacist switched to a different brand (same hormones)

I wish that I never stopped taking this pill! It was brilliant. Cleared up my skin very quickly. Doctor took me off it because I had some headaches. I don’t know whether these headaches were connected but the rest of my experience with this pill was positive !

DO NOT TAKE IF YOU ARE TAKING PILL CONTINUOUSLY! This pill made me bleed when I wasn’t supposed to and have 4 UTIs. Each pill contains a different amount of hormones which sent my period haywire!

I was only on this for a month, no issues at the beginning, however gradually my mood worsened and I began getting very severe cramps and heavy bleeding. Checked with a doctor and was due to the pill not being strong enough for myself personally.

Overall this is one of the better pills I've been on (previously tried Dianette and Marvelon) - I don't think I'll ever find a perfect solution! For PCOS it improved acne effectively and quickly. However, I've had much better results reducing hirsutism with previous pills and with the Mirena coil. Main perk of this pill compared to others is that I haven't experienced thrush (which was a regular issue before on other pills). I also feel like my sex drive, while reduced, isn't totally absent! The knowledge that this pill contains lower doses of active ingredients and is less 'synthetic' than traditional pills makes me feel like it's closer to my natural hormonal state. I'm hopeful that when I do come off the pill and try to get pregnant, it won't take many months for my periods to come back. It took several months to return with other pills. Mentally I think this pill is dampening my mood and energy a bit, but at least I don't experience the huge mood swings that I'd experience during my natural cycle. Finally I've heard anecdotes about ADHD medication not being as effective whilst on the pill. I haven't found this to be an issue taking Drovelis, and actually the consistency in my mood is fairly helpful for ADHD symptom management.

Drovelis was my first ever contraceptive pill. While I experienced very slight dizziness during the first month of taking it, this no longer persists and the only major side effect I got was breast enlargement and tenderness which started during 2nd month of taking this pill (which - enlargement - I actually absolutely loved).

Start of it was great, made my periods less painful and lighter. After a while periods came back to lasting a long time, got extreme period pains, discharge in my nipple, blood clot in my leg and they said it was dangerous to continue it’s use since I’m a smoker.

At the start all was going great but in the last 2/3 months things have started going really downhill, I have started shedding hair at an alarming rate, I have gained weight, I have developed thrush on my boob, my eczema is awful, the skin on my face is so oily, I constantly feel down and sad which I used to only experience when I was in the week before my period. It’s definitely not a long term solution.

unfortunately caused severe negative effects on my mental health and quality of life. increased anxiety & depression (both were constant) and drastically reduced my confidence and body image. all symptoms intensified the week before a period was due - body image was so poor i wouldn't leave the house or wear anything other than baggy clothes, felt suicidal, cried over nothing, lost all motivation/drive, couldn't concentrate + poor short term memory, felt worthless, anhedonic, insomnia that was worst the few days before a bleed, and persistent fatigue & lethargy. i did try to stick it out as i assumed it was pre-existing conditions causing my symptoms, but they got progressively worse the longer i was on it. after i came off the pill i noticed pretty rapid improvement in my self confidence and overall mental health.

This was my first contraception given to me by my GP at age 19. I believe Rigevidon is the cheapest which is why often it is what many are prescribed, that is what I learned from watching a doc by Davina McCall! It took me years to realise my mood swings and emotional outbursts were a side effect, not a true reflection of who I was. I felt like I had too many artificial hormones inside affecting my mental heath and the close relationships around me. I also suffered with acne. Once I moved to the implant (which really wasn’t a scary or painful procedure), mentally I have been in such a better place.