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Non hormonal birth control falls into two categories: (actually three if you count abstinence)
-Barriers-condoms, cervical cap and diaphragm, used with or without spermicide
-Natural-otherwise known as "you are more likely to be pregnant"
Natural birth control methods, sometimes called "fertility awareness," such as lactation, taking your basal body temperature, charting your cycle on a calendar, checking your cervical mucus, and only having sex on "safe" days, are all non hormonal birth control choices. They also all have a very high failure rate.
There are also the permanent non hormonal methods- vasectomy and tubal ligation- of course these are not appropriate if you are planning to have a family later.
There is also the copper IUD (ParaGard) option that has no hormones as well that is pretty effective and it will last for 10 years.
@julies1949: I'm sorry but you're incorrect on that. "Rhythm" method has a high failure rate. Sympto-thermal/ Fertility Awarness, when done correctly, does not.
**PAGING KLP2010!! Help a girl out over here!** :)
Make an appointment with your doctor and ask him or her. He or she will know all of the options for you.
You can also get a non-hormone IUD placed. I think they're made of copper.
copper IUD?! hot damn I think we're on to something...
researching it right now!!
My friend who is a nurse is on mirena (sp?) - she told me it was very painful when they inserted it and said, "knowing you and your lack of tolerance for female pain, I def. don't recommend an IUD."
If you have an IUD, can you describe the level of pain or discomfort you felt (especially if you haven't had kids yet, like me). Are we talking a typical pap, or worse? And how long does it last?
See this recent thread with helpful info on sympto/thermal & other thoughts:
http://boards.weddingbee.com/topic/non-hormonal-birth-control-what-are-my-options
Hiya, Just wanted to weigh in and say that I have a copper IUD for the reasons you listed as wanting to get off hormonal BC. I tried what felt like EVERYTHING. And I was not willing to risk pregnancy on the fertility/rhythm type methods. They work wonders for some people, but I didn't think I could keep track accurately enough and I really did not want to end up with an "oops"! So anyway, I do have Paragard, the copper IUD, and I got in in 2007. I wanted to say that it is not a walk in the park to have it put in. It is definitely worse than a pap. They say for some women it hurts a lot, and for others it does not. For me personally, on a pain scale of 1-10 with 1 being "minor annoyance" and 10 being "Gonna die or pass out", I'd say it was a 5. (And I have not had kids either.) So I was very uncomfortable, and was praying it would please be over soon, but I didn't cry or anything (and I'm definitely a big wimp for pain). Having it inserted takes <5 minutes. A friend of mine--when getting hers--did ask for and receive a local anesthetic; I wasn't given the option and so i did not know I could ask for that. Perhaps you could find out if that's possible for you though!
Then after the procedure, you'll have cramping for a day or two. Think 'bad menstrual cramps'. You'll want a heating pad and some chocolate. :)
Anyway pain or not, I'd do it again because I've had it for 3 years now with no issues, and no pills to take, and I have never felt better, hormonally or otherwise. It's great! It'll work for 10-12 years if I don't have it removed before then--I probably will, if we decide to start a family--and you can literally get pregnant the next day once it's out (none of this 'maybe it'll take 6+ months' stuff you hear about hormonal methods!). I'd definitely look in to it if I were you.
IUD is definately worse than a pap. Some women have slight cramping and are fine. i however was not so lucky. It hurt pretty bad like almost labor pains bad and I have a child. He was c-section, so I'm not sure if that made a difference. I know alot of ladies on here reccomend a book called Taking Charge of Your Fertility. I am getting my Mirena removed in a week and wanted to find something non hormonal also.
I have the copper IUD. Putting it in was uncomfortable. The actual insertion was a little worse than a pap for me, but for the next 30 min, I was flushed and had a hot flash, weird. I went back to work, but was pretty crampy, I wish I would have just taken the rest of the day off or scheduled my appointment for late afternoon.
But now, I think about 7 months later- it really is super great! I love not having to think about it at all.
ok, so those of you ladies who've had the copper IUD - have you noticed any side effects? mood, weight gain, etc?
@bunnyfoofoo:No. because if you think about it, those side effects are a result of the messed up hormones you get through other methods of birth control. Copper IUD is non hormonal.
Multiple types of hormonal bc destroyed my drive as well. I figured all the extra hormones weren't doing me any good so I'm doing a detox. We are going back to condoms for a few months in the hopes everything fixes itself. I hope it does. I already feel a little like myself again. Like the others said though- talk to your doctor.
I just a copper IUD (paragard) inserted a little over 2 weeks ago. So far it hasn't been a problem for me at all. Below is my story, sorry if it's a bit long ^_~
I had all kinds of problems with hormone based birth control. The final straw was the complete loss of a libido. I use to want to do things more often than Mr Crol but my latest BC Pill I never felt any desire. Fastforward and we both researched for some time to find everything we can. Unfortunately for us condoms are not an option, do to sensitivity on my part. We also were not a good candidate for a cervical cap because we have a tendency to hit it and move it.After much reading we decided on the paragard. I have Kaiser, so every insurance may be different, but for me it didn't cost me anything for the IUD it was covered 100% by my insurance. When I called to have it done the medical center by me required me to take a long term BC class. Unfortunately though they had over a 2 month waiting list for the class, which was just silly to us. I did all my own leg work and found that the next closest medical center to me did not require the class, so I scheduled there.Now, it is important for me to add that I am like you, No children ever. At first the nurse was hesitant to schedule it for me. I had insisted that I knew that I wanted this and that I knew what to expect. The nurse looked in the date base for a Dr that had lots of experience doing the procedure on women with no children and that are young (I'm 25). She found one and made sure to schedule it during my period, which actually meant I only waited 2 days from the day I called to when it was done.
Now as to the actual procedure and pain... I took 1000mg of Advil 1 hour before the appointment and that helped a lot.The actual procedure its self takes place much like a pap. You first have a "measurement" taken. They measure how far in the IUD needs to go. For me that was actually the most uncomfortable part, but honestly for me it wasn't painful. After she just inserted it, which I did some deep breathing for ^_~ Not painful, but uncomfortable again.
My doctor explained to me afterward that for a lot of women what ends up causing the most pain is that they have to be dilated. I luckily didn't need to be, but she said I was a bit rare for someone that has never had a child. Results of course will vary depending on each woman.
After that I went and had lunch with Mr Crol ^_^ later on in the evening I did start having period like cramps, not comfortable but I have totally had worse. I had light cramps for 2 days afterward, nothing a heating pad and some Advil doesn't help :)
So, I am only about 2 weeks in. It's been going well for me so far, but I haven't had the first period with it in, which my doctor did say is normally the worst. After that they will get better each time until you get back to what you normally are like. It can take up to 8-9 months for your periods to be back to normal (normal with out the pill of course)
@bunnyfoofoo: I know this one is about Mirena rather than copper IUDs, but here is a thread were other bees have discussed their experiences with getting an IUD inserted.
@littlemissmango:I agree if it were done correctly. The reality is that too many people do NOT do it correctly.
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Ok ladies, I've had it...
In the past, I've used everything from the pill, the patch, the shot, and the ring, and not really had any side effects... but about 6 or 7 months ago, I switched from the pill back to the ring and I realized... my sex drive is NOWHERE near where it used to be - and I can feel the strain it's putting on the hubbs... he's not happy and neither am I, and the pressure to reciprocate (not from him, but from myself) is just causing anxiety.
So I told the hubbs that we have 2 choices: stay on hormonal BC and continue our 1x a week routine, or switch back to condoms and have sex more frequently. He definitely agreed to the latter option (duh!). We just aren't in a place where we want kids yet, so natural methods are out.
So is there a BC out there that is NOT hormone-based? I'm just tired of feeling the way I do, and I want to want sex again, ya know? Does anyone else equate their lack of sex drive to their BC too?