Withdrawal or pull out method vs Progestogen-only / Mini 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.

Most of my life I was on Mercilon combined pills which was the only one working for me after tried few in my early 20tis. Had them with some breaks . Later I tried mini pill for few months which didn’t work for me. Mostly because of painful red spots on my neck like acne. Now I am 50 can’t take combined pills and trying the progesterone pills. Tried 1 month Cerazette but stopped after 1 month. I didn’t want to eat Titanium dioxide . Now 2 months in I am on Zelleta. Having acne on my chin and around my mouth. Now have very bad numbness in my hands especially during the night . And some in my legs too . Finishing 2nd pack but coming of it now . Can’t feel my fingers. My hands hurt . It’s not menaupase or lower estrogen level as got this suddenly within days. Very low sex drive like I am switched off completely . Also mood swings with anxiety. I am done with desogestrel pills they are not good for my heath, never was. I am trying natural cycles with app next . And my period should be completely stopping soon with my age.Also, Didn’t have any period with these pills.

Started this pill as I had horrendous migraines on Rigevidon. Was excited to start the mini pill and to not have bleeds in between pills but was I wrong. The first 5 months I’ve had random bleeding- which I expected (but not for over a week straight) I’ve also been heavily dizzy, nauseous and have had 0 sex drive which has affected my relationship heavily.

Hana has worked like a charm for me. I was a bit worried about starting it, as I had a horrendous experience with the combined pill, but my periods are heavy and painful, and I just couldn't stand it anymore. Not getting pregnant was a reason to start Hana, but I was mostly looking for period relief, and it really has delivered. At the beginning I had a few unusual periods - some shorter, some longer, and a bit irregular, but they were immediately lighter and less painful. After about 3 months, things had evened out, and now 2.5 years later, I can't even remember the last time I had a period, only that it lasted about a day or so and was so light I barely even needed a pad. My partner and I have had no pregnancy scares, and it works wonderfully for me. I think my mood is absolutely fine - it felt maybe a tiny bit flat at the beginning, but more because it was no longer fluctuating so much during my cycle. Now it's like I get to be at the end of the first week after my period, all the time. My main negative with starting Hana is that it really increased my appetite at the beginning - about 6 hours after taking it, I *had to* eat snacks. It felt impossible not to. This contributed to some weight gain, and while I've gotten used to the snack-attacks now and can manage them, I haven't been able to shift the weight, despite using methods of weight loss that have worked for me in the past. I can't say for sure if this is because Hana is making it harder for me to lose weight, or if it's just because I'm getting older. I am currently contemplating taking a break from Hana to see if I can lose the weight off it, but I'm reluctant to as it has had such a positive impact on my quality life. If you're also experiencing an increase in appetite, and want some advice, it really helped me to change the time I take Hana - I moved it to later, so that my craving hits much closer to dinner time, which is perfect. All in all, Hana has worked much better for me than I could've even hoped, and I would recommend trying it to see if it works for you.

I've only been on this pill for two months so there's a chance this may calm down after the full adjustment period, but the side effects have been interesting. Most notably, my cycle has gone from around 35 days to 13 days, and I have been having a period every other week. The first two periods gave me hope because they were significantly lighter - to the point where I was questioning whether or not I should even log it as a period - and painless. However, the next three periods I've had so far have been gradually getting heavier and I'm getting more cramping. It's weird though because, for most of my period it's still quite light, but on around the second or third day, I do have a few hours where it's quite heavy and crampy, then it subsides again and the rest is light. I had spotting between the first three periods but that's stopped now. Other than the annoying cycle changes, I had a constant lingering headache for the first two weeks, I'm getting more acne than usual, and some vaginal dryness before my period. I don't know if this is worth staying on as I'm only on the pill to manage my painful and heavy periods. Current plan is to finish my three months' supply and take it from there.

Hugely helped with period pains (no periods!). Has evened out any emotional changes - I feel very stable. No nausea like with the combined pill. Lost weight (as well as boob!) but unsure if that's compared to when I was on combined pill or baseline.

I am really happy with this pill. I have tried every type of mini pill available and can no longer take the combined pill for multiple reasons. I now have 2 days of spotting when I take the placebo pills. Less acne, although it wasn't severe it was noticeable. Now I just get a few spots every now and again. Other mini pills have had a negative effect on my mood, this one seems ok so far. I was hoping it would help with my excessive facial hair growth, doesn't seem to have made it any better but it's certainly not worse either (other mini pills I've tried have made it worse in the past). I have noticed my sex drive has reduced a fair amount but this doesn't really bother me and I can still get in the mood with a bit of effort. I may have had quite a high sex drive in the first place so believe it or not I see this as a bit of an advantage as my partner does not! I was on noriday before this and was still having unpredictable and heavy cycles, along with several ovulation and period pain and what seemed to be migraines related to particular points in my cycle. Also mood issues up to 10 days before my periods. I am absolutely thrilled that all of that has improved a huge amount. Not had a migraine since I've been on Slynd either. My pelvic pain is about 75% better and is now manageable and intermittent rather than constant. I'm hopeful that things continue to improve for me taking this pill. I really felt that I'd run out of options with hormonal contraception before I tried this having tried the mirena iud and depo provera in the past and not getting on with them at all. I like that this pill has a 24 hour window to take. You are supposed to take it at the same time every day but reading from the literature they have found that you can be upto 24 hours late taking it upto 4 times in 28 day pill pack and it will still be effective.

I was put on Slynd to control heavy bleeding caused by perimenopause and blood thinners , I am so happy that my periods are much lighter. I am able to leave the house without concern of bleeding through my clothes. I do get frequent headaches and feel bloated, but I was told that the bloating should subside after a few months. overall, very happy with this birth control pill!

I got pregnant whilst using Noriday i was on Yasmin but because of migrains with aura i decided to change the docs put me on Noriday and i never had any problems what so ever appart from the fact i got pregnant lucky i still had regular periods so i knew straight away i was deverstated i felt let down by the pill and i couldnt trust it anymore sex hasnt been the same scince im now on the implant and ask men to use condoms cause im paranoid contrception will let me down again.

I have only been on this pill for around 2 months however my side effects have been so drastic in this time period. My mood is unstable and I have become more irritable and quick to be upset, as for periods they have been irregular and my cramps have been the same if not worse than before i started contraception.

it’s really good, like that there’s no estrogen and doesn’t make me feel like i’m going crazy. only annoying thing is the loss of sex drive but that’s something i work through with my partner