Withdrawal or pull out method vs Combined pill

I had the implant for 8 years and it worked well. Took it out for 18 months and when I got it again I only tolerated it for two months due to severe mood impacts

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

Brilliant medication, the bio identical oestrogen is definitely kinder and easier to manage. I managed to gain weight and keep it, it's something I struggled with massively before. I have nicer bust size too 😁. Tbh is better than Eloine and I have less tension in my body. I recommend it to neurodiverse ppl for certain.

I have been taking for a month now and I was TERRIFIED after trying rigevidon when I was 16 (I’m 24 now). I have PMS (I believe PMDD) so I got to the point where I was desperate for help. My acne, fatigue and low moods were just too much for life and I needed to do something about it! The first couple of weeks I felt a tiny bit nauseous (no where near as bad as rigevidon which I assume is bc of the lower oestrogen in Eloine) and I got some night sweats which have calmed down also after a couple of weeks. I have also experienced some slight fluttering anxiety and heavy chest when I wake up (I take it at 11pm due to my schedule) which isn’t ideal but as someone who used to be extremely anxious I haven’t found this particularly overwhelming or affecting my life. It hasn’t been through the day so I believe it’s because of the time I am taking it but not a major issue. I have insatiable hunger but again, as someone who didn’t eat much and had low appetite (especially the week leading up to my period) this has had a majorly positive effect on my life, I’m fuelling myself more which is probably also helping my fatigue and mood in itself! Regarding weight gain, I have had no water retention type of weight gain from it, any weight gain will be due to eating more bc of the hunger but personally I have not noticed any gain yet. However, PMDD wise, it has changed my life so far. The week I usually feel down and sleep 14 hours I didn’t even realise that week had passed (I’m taking it continuously without the placebos). No acne, no low moods no fatigue, I just finally feel normal 🙏🏻 If you’re looking into this for PMS and PMDD that is becoming too much, I would honestly give this a go. As someone who had awful nausea with rigevidon, it took me two years to get the courage to try another but I’m so so happy I did. I used to spend the PMDD weeks struggling and my normal weeks recovering, now every week is just normal

I haven’t used it for long but the side effects aren’t bad or huge.

I went on Qlaira after reading reviews that it helped with recurring thrush caused from other combination pills. It did - I haven't had thrush since being on this pill! However, definitely experience more mood swings and I bleed lightly for around 10 days which is really frustrating. Considering changing because of the bleed. First month of bleeding was also much more painful but think I was just getting used to it.

I am currently still taking the Eloine combined pill. I am experiencing dizziness and finding it hard to work. I also have very severe back pain. Struggling with PMDD this was the option my GP offered to me and it definitely made it feel worse. I am very low on energy and suffer with an achy body every day.

Very sore breast. Loss of sex drive. Breast enlargement. Weight gain.

this pill was very good the first time i was on it around 3 years ago and i didn't feel much change in myself apart from being able to control my PMDD symptoms which was a positive. i tried some other pills and then got settled back on this and have been for just over a year. i find that this time round my sex drive is very low & i have very little interest in sex or anything of the sort. i also dont feel 100% like myself, not necessarily depressed but just not like me. i feel almost numb and i am very insecure about myself and my body image. i do struggle with mental health issues outside of the pill but i feel like i have periovuously been on pills that dont make me feel this way & the low sex drive is having an all round impact on how i feel towards myself. i take this pill for 3 months and then have a break. i like that i can have control over my breaks and it has also made my periods 3-4 days instead of 6-8 days. i am currently looking to change my pill to soemthing different as i no longer think this is working for me. i do believe that trying pills is so important to find what works for you so please don't be afraid if you're wanting to try this pill.

The first weeks were fine, after that i got mood swings for 3 weeks. I either felt absolutely nothing, or was annoyed, angry or sad. When the moodswings stopped, i started getting headaches everyday. I'm now noticing hairloss too. I've almost been 3 months on this pill and have been terribly bloated everyday. I am getting off this pill.

I was on rigevidon for years before children and never had any side effects. I stopped it when I wanted to get pregnant, and got pregnant the first month of trying (which was two weeks after stopping the pill, before I’d had my first period but when I could tell I was ovulating!). I restarted it after having my children and it made my periods much lighter, less painful, and reduced my cyclical bowel movement pain that I am pretty sure is endometriosis. Annoyingly I had two migraines with aura this year, so have had to stop taking it! Trying to be brave and have the hormonal coil placed.

was put on this pill after getting lots of infections (thrush, utis, etc) on “Levest” because it is a lower dose 20/150. this has made me much more body conscious, think i gained weight within 2 weeks of being on this pill, i am extremely emotional and hormonal all the time and my sex drive is completely gone- why bother taking the pill as a form of birth control if i now don’t even feel like having sex!!! i do not reccomend