[ArcherBull14]

Hello,

I am 24 years old and have been on birth control on and off since I was 15. I take no other prescriptions. I have always kind of felt like hormonal birth control had a tendency to make me anxious & emotional & also suppress my sex drive but it was convenient, gave me relief from menstrual cramps, and it's just kind of "what everyone does" so I went with it.

I've tried multiple pills as well as mirena and currently use nuvaring. I'm thinking it's time for a change and I'm just ready to be free from synthetic hormones for a while. I also like the idea of having a birth control method that I could continue to use while breastfeeding- as starting a family is not far off for me. My fiancé is not big on the idea of condoms and I also feel less intimate when using them.

He has never had a problem with strings from mirena or the nuvaring. But I'm hoping to hear more about women who use alternate barrier methods & how they and their partner feel about them.

Any thoughts as to what the best is? Diaphragm, cervical cap, or leas shield? Or maybe even just spermicide/film?

My fiancé and I plan to TTC next summer. I am hoping to make the switch to a nonhormonal birth control in the fall, after the wedding. I am not really concerned about the higher failure rates with these methods because we are not trying to avoid pregnancy for a very long period of time- and even though we are delaying TTC for a time that is specifically convenient it wouldn't be a huge difficulty or anything if we happened to have an accident a little earlier.

I would love to hear your experiences and the pros and cons of these methods!

[ArcherBull14]

I guess I should add that I am specifically a little nervous about having an awkward transition putting the barrier in before sex after foreplay

I know you aren't supposed to leave them in too long (24-48 hours or something)- but I haven't seen anything about how long it has to be out before you can put it back in again. do you think I could just put it in when I get home from work every night and take it out in the mornings? Wear it around for the part of every day that sex is most likely? That way it's already in place when we are ready to go...

[catwoman]

I know you said you don't feel condoms are as intimate, but I was in the same boat as you. I couldn't deal with any fake hormones, so my husband and I tried female condoms. You can insert it 6 hours before you actually plan to have sex (so it can be more spontaneous) but I don't think I'd recommend it, because it's not like you can't tell it's there, but it was a good option for us. He hated how restricted male condoms made him feel. The female condom you put inside, it has a ring on both ends, the smaller end goes inside you and the larger is on the outside, and basically it feels like you're having sex without anything and it's much cleaner! He can ejaculate and all you do is twist the tip and pull it out and toss it! No lube clean up or anything, you're ready to go!

I have also looked into the diaphragm, and cap, but they are less effective, and I liked that a female condom was 98% effective.

[Ashlee T.]

I've been going through this issue myself for several years now. After many years of terrible hormonal bc side effects, I went off of it. I have never felt better. I can't imagine going back on it. But...now I'm in a regular sexual relationship. For several years now I've been charting my cycles using my basal body temperature. I know when I ovulate, and therefore when I am fertile. However, I don't feel entirely comfortable with that method alone. I HATE condoms and would almost rather not have sex at all than to use them. I am not at all comfortable with the idea of paragard or anything else being inserted into my uterus.

So, like you...I'm on the hopeless hunt for other options. It seems that other than diaphragm and cervical cap, there really are no other options that are non-hormonal. I've spoken with some people who used the diaphragm for years successfully. I don't want to have to use a spermicide, but I feel like with also using the BBT charting, I would be pretty safe without it. I'd simply abstain on high fertility days.

**sigh**........... when will they make an effective birth control method for MEN that men are actually willing to use!?