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.

Started on this pill when I was 18, all was well at the start, my skin cleared up and my periods were much lighter/less painful. I then started to not feel like myself and be quite emotionally dull, I started getting headaches on the week off and being more fatigued than normal. Good for those who are looking to lighten periods or reduce PMS

I have found my experience with Yasmin ok. I like that my mood is much better than on other pills and I feel more like myself, but I have completely lost my sex drive and experienced other negative symptoms unfortunately

This is the worst thing I’ve ever done and I’m not exaggerating. Constantly up and down with my emotions, although mostly down and uncontrollable crying a lot of the time. Had a huge panic attack 2 weeks in, had to call 111 as I thought I was having a heart attack. Made me binge endlessly and uncontrollably. Made my muscles ache and made me more susceptible to injuries, and as a regular gymgoer, it significantly affected my training and fitness and I couldn’t understand why, but the longer I was on it, the worse I felt. Decided to come off after 2 months. Would HIGHLY recommend avoiding this pill. It really? really did not agree with me.

It was ok the first couple months but I've started noticing more side effects the longer I've taken it. I get much more muscle aches, especially in my back. My gums bleed randomly during the first week of each cycle and are much more sensitive. My mood is fluctuating more too.

I’ve been on pills now for about 5-6 years, switched to Millinette from Ridgevidon about 18 months ago. I’ve always had terrible headaches on the pill, but millinette has seemed to decrease them a bit. This pill has made me have a lot more mood swings, loss of feeling and loss of sex drive. While the pill hasn’t been awful, it’s had its ups and downs. I am currently switching to the coil to see if anything changes, otherwise i’m okay with continuing millinette.

I switched from Ridgevidon to Millinette. Since being on any pill, i’ve had extremely bad headaches. My doctor told me to switch, seeing if a different strength of pill would change anything. While I do think I get less headaches, my sex drive decreased significantly. I also suffer with a lot more brain fog, and just general lack of feeling. Mood swings have definitely increased on the pill, but I notice they’re worse on this one. The pill isn’t an awful choice, it’s had its ups and downs. I’m currently waiting to have the coil fitted to see if there’s any changes.

I have just completed my first month and have absolutely loved the change for me. I was suffering from PMDD for ages before starting, and this has significantly helped my mood disorder and emotional episodes. However I have gotten tender breasts when walking or running, nothing insane. And my discharge! Its so watery and so much. Sometimes I stand up and its like a small pee puddle, anyway, I have had an overall positive experience

I went on this pill to sort out mood swings before my period and it absolutely sorted that out. I only took it for about 3 months though, because I had some dizziness and nausea while I was on it at random times which was bearable but not enjoyable so I switched to a different pill. I now take Milinette 20/75 and the lower oestrogen dose (20 vs. 30 with dretine) sorted out the nausea.

I went on the pill to sort out my mood swings on my period - I would get a drop in mood in the week before my period which made me very emotional, but aside from that I normally have very even moods and don't ever experience serious lows. However, a few days into taking Rigevidon i experienced a low I've never before experienced, with honestly no possible external event in my life that might explain it. It was far worse than any mood swing I've ever had, and it lasted about 3 days before I stopped taking the pill entirely. This is not to scare anyone considering taking it (my mum was on this pill for 15 years and loved it!) and it's possible the drop in mood might have evened out if i had taken it for longer, but I wasn't able to stick it out. Both dretine and milinette have done wonders for my mood swings though!

Highly recommend. Went on the 20-75 because I've previously had nausea issues on a 30mg (dretine) and I haven't had any nausea problems with this. Cleared up a bit of hormonal acne, no noticeable side effects except a slightly lower sex drive. I take 3 packs back to back and then a break so have some breakthrough bleeding but nothing major and my periods do come regularly when I take the break. I went on it to sort out mood swings and it absolutely sorted that out - now have to come off it and go onto a mini-pill for adenomyosis but I wish i didn't have to!