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.

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I actually find this to be pretty good, very few side effects, but the increased blood clot risk does concern me.

Started off well on this pill, good for PMS management. Had bleeding for weeks and breasts got bigger and were painful. Some of these effects subsided after a few weeks. On my 3rd pack i noticed i wasnt full after meals and was constantly feeling hungry and thinking about food. This continued through the fourth month. I have definitely gained weight and clothes not fitting properly, which is an unacceptable side effect for me personally.

It is a balancing act, but, overall, I am happy with the results. I take the pill back to back as my cramps were so bad that they were effecting my personal and work life terribly and I could no longer stand the pain. Unlike other pills I have tried before, this stops my periods. After 3 or 4 months I get heavy spotting and take a break for 7 days which sorts it out - the breaks are fine with only mild cramping and nothing like my periods before. It has saved my ability to work. I have had negative side effects - weight gain and mood. I have no history of depression, anxiety or struggling to process things until I started taking this pill but I now struggle with these things most days. Compared to the pain, for me, the impact on my mental health is a trade off I've accepted.

Zoely was brilliant for managing my cyclical mood symptoms and essentially stopped my periods which was great in the context of endometriosis. I had no period pain on this pill. However unfortunately I struggled with significant vaginal dryness which honestly felt like perimenopause and made sex intolerable. I also noticed significant hair loss, but I can’t say 100% if this was Zoely or due to life stress.

Feel “out of it” a lot more but not necessarily depressed. However cramping is really bad

I always feel tired, no matter how much I sleep it feels like it's never enough. Most days I don't feels in control of my emotions. And my hair falls in clumps but my gyno tells me not to worry.

Ok

I switched to this pill after being on a mini pill and feeling a lack of emotion, not necessarily depression just nothingness. My doctor advised this pill would help with symptoms of PMS and I couldn’t disagree more, I am a usually very happy positive person. I felt angry, irritated, hopeless and then ultimately depressed in just 6 weeks on this pill. I ended up having a panic attack and it then dawned on me that the only thing that has changed recently is this new pill. I stopped taking it the day this happened and I have felt completely fine and back to my normal self since. Personally I would never recommend this pill, I never suffered from any mental health issues before the pill and it’s made me go off contraception completely. The ONLY thing I would say about this pill that is a positive is that my skin was flawless, but that isn’t worth it for me alone. My skin wasn’t bad before other than an occasional hormonal spot here and there.

I started taking Eloine for contraception but also as a way to mange my PMDD. It has definitely helped with managing the severe depression from PMDD and keep my mood more stable. I have more energy than I used to. I have felt slightly more hungry but also in a new relationship and started taking it just before Christmas so hard to tell if that is caused by the pill, or just general indulgence. The most annoying symptom I’ve had is irregular breakthrough bleeding, which has happened a lot. I bled continually for the first 5 weeks and now it comes and goes.