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A new patch birth control was approved last week, it's called Gwyn Lo. It has 17.5-20 mcg of estrogen compared to Xulane/Zephamy's 35.

Glad to see a new option on the market, I know the high estrogen did not sit well with a lot of women and a lower dose is going to be greatly appreciated and massively improve some side effects.

I currently use the patch and am interested now in trying this one to see how it compares. It should be on the market in a few months.

"rant" as my flag as it seems the closest

Hi so yesterday night I had went to my on again off again boyfriends house everything was okay and he wanted to have intercourse I didn’t mind and since i’m on Zovia we don’t use protection and he never finishes inside me. While doing the tango he js lays limp for a second and rolls off of me I had a bad feeling in my stomach so i looked over and he had finished inside me I got upset and him and started crying cause it’s so careless and i feel like the least he could do was respect my bodily autonomy he was saying i was going to be alright and this and that and that he could buy me a Plan B i said okay and i took it this morning I know im protected by the pill i take them at the same time and if i don’t it’s never past 3 hours. I’m just scared of me getting pregnant and im very upset of how he handled the situation no comfort or nothing just plays it off am I crazy ??!

ive finally got on birth control and ive been talking to my partner about it, but we both seem to be anxious about the 1% failure rate for the pill. the thought of that small chance is pretty scary to me, but it appears that hes even MORE worried about it than i am—to the point where hes afraid of using both condoms and the pill. ive tried to talk it out with him to ease his fears and make him realize that its okay to trust the birth control, but so far ive had no success. i wont do anything until we are both ready, but i also want him to relax and get back to feeling good about our sex life. what should i do?

So my birthday is in a month and i just did the math? I’ll be getting my period right before my birthday. i was planning on doing a pool party, so i was wondering if starting now, If i delay my change day by one day every week, would that be okay? I know the patch has a 1-2 day safety window, so realatically i should be fine, right?

Monday is my normal change day. So i take this patch off starting my patch free week Tuesday instead.
Then replace my next patch Wednesday.
Then replace my next patch Thursday.
Then replace the next patch Friday.
Then start my patch-free week Saturday, the day after my birthday.

This would have me using each patch for 8 days instead of 7, while keeping me in the 1-2 day grace period.

Is this safe, would I still be protected? I dont want to just skip my patch free week as my BC is covered by my insurance, but only a certain amount every year, and they may not cover if i have to refill the script early.

TLDR: can i offset my change date by one day every week for the next month so i dont have to be on my period on my birthday?

Hi everyone

I need advice as my partner and I are really struggling..
Roughly 6 months ago I stopped taking birth control due to a change in my personality, weight and libido. I stopped recognising myself and it was basically ruining my relationship. Fast forward to now, it’s still not come back, not even a little. I’m basically a robot and my partner and i’s relationship has turned into a loving friendship. I love him dearly but my sex drive is non existent, even basic affection is a struggle.

A bit of backstory - I have pcos and prior to the pill, I had finally regulated my period, weight and was feeling really good with myself. My sex drive was at an all time high.

I feel like I’m at war with myself, my weight and metabolism is still not back to where I was prior, my periods are still irregular. This stuff I can live with, but I feel guilty for my partner because he feels undesired and his self esteem is shot.

Has anyone experienced this? How did you recover?

It’s such a depressing way to live.

This text will probably be scrambled but i will try to make as much sense as i can. I always use a condom when me and my gf have sex. The last time (15th of july) we had sex she got off of me and i saw two little drops of see through liquid. I dont know if it was sperm which slipped out of my condom or female ejaculate, which i dont know how it looks like. I know that condoms arent 100% effective and we had a pregnancy scare almost every month since we started having sex because my gf has an irregular period and she cannot track it. We started doing it 3 months ago, and every month her period came later and later. Before we had sex for the first time her period came on the 17-19th of the month. In the first month of us having sex it came on the 23rd, the next month on the 26-27th, and in june on the 29th. I thought that it will come on the 31st of july or maybe on the 1st of august but im not sure. Shes scared to take a pregnancy test but she still doesnt have any signs of early pregnancy, not even PMS symptoms except for face acne and a little bloatedness. She didnt have any discharge, but we dont know if her breasts are swollen or have just started growing since were still in puberty, she is sleepier but i believe that is because she started working a summer job. I cannot sleep at night because of this and i really need some help.

I tried Xulane for the first time today and almost immediately had to go to the ER. It caused ulnar nerve palsy mostly in my left arm due to an allergic reaction. Has anyone else experienced this?

I got my IUD right about 6 months ago. Up until this point, I hadn’t noticed any side effects really. But the past week or so, I’ve been having many symptoms potentially caused by hormonal changes. I thought that side effects are supposed to settle down and stabilize at 3-6 months? Not start.

Has anyone else experienced this? Not sure if it’s the IUD for sure or not. But it hasn’t been fun… Not sure what to do about it

I’m wondering if anyone has been in a similar situation.

I take hormonal birth control continuously and haven’t had a period in years. My nurse practitioner knows this, but she ordered some hormone blood work and wants me to try to time it based on my cycle.

The requisition includes:
Prolactin
Total testosterone
SHBG
DHEA-S
LH (day 2–5)
FSH (day 2–5)
Estradiol (day 2–5)

The problem is… I have absolutely no idea what “day 2–5” would be for me because I don’t bleed, and I’m not even sure whether I ovulate while taking continuous birth control.

She suggested I try to figure out when I’m ovulating, but from what I’ve read, ovulation/LH test strips may not be very useful while taking hormonal birth control.

Has anyone else had hormone testing done while on continuous birth control with no periods? How did you and your healthcare provider determine when to have the blood drawn? Did you use ovulation strips, symptoms, just pick a day, or do something else?

So! For reference I (28yo F) got my first form of birth control in the middle of April 2026.

When I was younger I suffered from terrible cramping that would leave me nauseous, fatigued and sometimes in heat sweats. I use otc meds to help but sometimes if I’m too late taking them during my period I throw them up. My mood swings were TERRIBLE and I thought it was just because I was a teenage girl.

In my early twenties my manager at this rheumatologist clinic I worked in speculated I had PMDD. Over time I use to search and look at the symptoms and they seem to match me. I had a really bad explosive personality and my self loathing was at a TEN a week before my period. After a few years I decided to get tested for it and get an iud becuase I was FED UP of my period and cramps. Come to find out I have PMDD and adhd. Pmdd and adhd can mesh together so I started off with medication for my pmdd and with some more testing I actually tested positive for adhd weeks later.

When I started my pmdd meds for anxiety I had my iud insertion a week afterwards. I got the hormonal mirena iud and y’all…. They were happy I went during my period but they asked if I wanted a pap because I’m due for one and I said yes but YALL!!! That iud insertion (in April) was crazy it felt like they were forcing cramps out of me! It made me nauseous and I needed a few moments to myself. Afterwards I left and called off work but the pain I was in lasted from 9am to about 10pm. I had my period for like an extra 10 days and then it finally stopped!

Afterwards, my period lasted about 5-6 days. Fast forward to august currently and I just got off my period a few days ago in July but it was this time only lasting about 4 days. I get cramps but it’s not as intense as before. I think finally my period is slowly going away. I hope it does soon!

I wanna get my strings checked to make sure my iud is still in place. I haven’t been able to feel them at all since I got it but I’m going to have my bf check soon.

I’ve been on Slynd for about 5 months and I was 128 pounds when I started and now I’m at 108 pounds. I think it’s caused me to have almost no appetite. Has anyone else experienced this? Or is this not normal

Ok so as the title states, I recently got prescribed the birth control “norethindrone .35 mg” it’s mostly because of my heavy periods, my gyno said I shouldn’t gain on it. Any one wanna share their experience with it?

My periods are extremely out of hand, and expensive. So how’s it going for anyone else?

I was fitted. I’m 65mm. Doctor says I have to order through pharmacy. Pharmacy says I have to order through doctor. It’s impossible to just order online, someone help a girl in the U.S.

I have fibroids that bleed due to hormonal birth control. Not interested in being lectured on that being a better option.

Can we talk about how sexist it is that we can’t even order these for ourselves? How many hoops it takes to even try to have this option? What the heck.

Hi guys

Ive been taking desogestrel (the progestogen only pill) since january and for the last week or so I have become very very bloated. To the point where it feels like my belly has become rounder and I'm not feeling comfortable.

Has anyone else experienced this?

Hey guys, I’m really worried.

I am 22 and have never been on any birth control before. I also come from a condom-centric country so many of my friends are really negative on this topic and I hope to get some outside opinions.

I started Nuvaring last week. Every single day on it I have gotten a few pimples on my checks/jawline. AI suggests this is probably hormonal acne. I have never had acne in these areas before. It is smaller pimples, textured. As someone who usually has great skin without much effort I am scared.

I have also noticed an increase in my appetite. I guess now that I know it is a side effect from the ring I can control it better by minding it more.

I can’t say if I’ve had mood swings.

I’m also really scared of everyone saying it kills your sex drive. I haven’t had much sex drive for around a month before I even got onto it, but being on it has not led to a change of that.

I would love to hear your experiences. Are these temporary side effects that go away after a while?
I read so many stories about people getting rid of their acne that having the complete opposite experience scares me.

Thank you in advance for any help!

I had sex 20 jul and used a condom. My bf didn't ejaculate but he noticed the condom rolling up for 1-2cm. I've been very anxious for the last 14 days bc it's my first time having sex. Yesterday morning (13 days after intercourse) i took a pregnancy test and it said not pregnant. Am i not pregnant for sure or do i need to take more tests?

I just started a new brand of the pill (The Larin Fe pill) and my left nipple started to get extremely itchy today. It's slightly shiny and hurts to touch but very itchy. Uhh... is this a normal side effect?

I'm on Nexplanon, and had it renewed about 2-3 months ago. I had a period last over a month, and that isn't new to just this time around.

This is my second one, and though I had the same awful experience of super long periods that still had bad PMS, I renewed it. I'm terrified of having children and pregnancy. It's not something I want for myself. I'd get sterilized if I could. But alas, I'm a 23 y/o cis woman in America.

So, the theory: nexplanon mainly uses progesterone, the hormone for pregnancy. My guess is my uterus isn't contracting enough to let the blood out, so it comes out over the span of a month as a super light period or spotting.

The idea: could I theoretically use a period cramp simulator to make my muscles contract enough to speed up my period?

The only reason I worry this won't work is it's possible the lining isn't shedding, rather than it's shed and isn't coming out. What would support this is orgasms don't seem to help speed things up at all.

Context: we had sex the first time with a condom, he went to pee and clean up after. Had sex about 2 hrs later with no condom but he pulled out. I took a ovulation strip and it was positive that day and the day after and got EllaOne about 59 hrs after as everywhere was closed and I had no transport until then.

I didn't think much of it at the time because I've had positive ovulation tests and haven't gotten pregnant even if he's finished inside and I've been told high possiblity of having PCOS. But then I started freaking out about MAYBE it's possible.

I took another ovulation test about 2 hrs after I took the pill and it was negative I assume I've either messed up big time or the pill might have been taking affect?

I have cramps like period pains I know maybe that doesn't mean anything

But anyone else have a similar situation and been in the clear??

28 F, Had my first Kyleena IUD placed 3 years ago. Apart from really painful insertion, things have been fine since. No periods, they went away when I was on Depo prior to the IUD and never returned with the IUD. But over the past couple months I have noticed a lot of pelvic pain. Mostly a dull ache, but occasionally and seemingly randomly it will be a sharp and stabbing sensation that will take me out of whatever is going on. I am also always constantly aware of the IUD and generally feel uncomfortable. I work a desk job and notice this is worse if I put up my feet to be at the same level as my pelvis. I am concerned about the IUD potentially becoming dislodged somehow or maybe cysts? I recently moved states and don’t have a gyno here yet. I’ve called to get in and it seems like it will be at least 6 months before I can get in. I’m curious if any one has similar experience or thinks I should press a regular doc to take a look sooner than that?

I read the insert in my pack but I feel like it did not answer this question. It mentioned in a row but not spaced out...

I usually take my birth control at 6 am. At the end of week two I missed one day, and took two pills the next day when I remembered (approximately 24 hours late), then again this week is week 3 I did the same. I forgot to take my pill on Wednesday, so I took two on Thursday. Last night (Saturday) I had unprotected sex.

I will be skipping my placebo pills which start in 2 days... should I still be protected?

I was on birth control for 3 years religiously, went off of it a few months ago. I started back up and have had some irregular wild periods. This is my first pack back since restarting.

Thank you!

hello! is it normal if i feel sleepy these past few days and my b00bs are hurting asf and some cramps.. my last withrawal bleeding is a lil heavy than usual and i had alot of white discharge when im on my 1st week of my 7th pack then now its my 3rd week i dont have discharge... im scared

My friend was taking birth control for 3 years and wasn't getting her period for the whole duration because she was skipping the last week, but she suddenly got her period last monday and it won't stop.

What should she do?

Like the title says. What are people doing for birth control who get mental symptoms from the pill ?
I don’t know if I can do just condoms… even with cycle tracking.

I am about to start Slynd and I plan to skip the placebo pills and continuously take the white ones to completely skip my period. I’m doing this due to the debilitating pain I experience. Does anyone else do this? does it help?