Thursday, January 12, 2006

Desire & the Pill

It is no secret that some women who take birth control pills lose interest in sex. They have been reporting this side effect to their doctors since oral contraceptives came into wide use 40 years ago.

I'm so happy I have an IUD..

7 comments so far. What are your thoughts?

T. Comfyshoes said...

I know this is a very personal question, so you don't have to answer, but...

The research I've done for myself suggests that I would be best off with an IUD too, but the docs I've asked about it refuse on the grounds that I've never been pregnant (despite the evidence that nulliparous women do fine with them).

I'm not aware of whether or not you've been pregnant - if not, how did you convince the doc to give you one? Any advice would be appreciated! 

Posted by tr1c14

LavaLady said...

I am incredibly happy with mine, although I experience far more cramping now, and a trebled blood flow for the first couple of months. This time last year I was suffering from the crippling depression that I get when I use hormonal birth control. I can't believe IUD are not more popular. Of course, Para-guard probably don't send reps around with free goodies as often as the big pharma folks do... it's never about what is best for women, just about what is best for the investors. 

Posted by lavalady

Anonymous said...

I had an IUD for 7 years in the late 70s/early 80s prior to having children. Never had a problem. I don't understand why they are not used more; one time placement, nothing else to buy, no side effects. 

Posted by jody

Kameron Hurley said...

I've heard of a couple of women having problems with doctors, but it's usually because they aren't married, not because they haven't been pregnant.

Mine was a bit of a tight fit because I hadn't been pregnant, so I may have experienced more pain than others, but after the first three months, it becomes very stable and hardly noticeable.

I didn't have to convince any doctors - I just went to Planned Parenthood and said, "This is what I want." They were adament about the risks to me if I get an STD, so they'll really hammer home the "you better be having monogamous sex" thing, but I was never harrassed about not being married or never having been pregnant.

I don't know what state you live in. Doctors in more conservative states, I think, may be less inclined to give it out. I mean, birth control with no side effects except extra cramping and blood every month! No depression! No taking pills every day!

Eh, I dunno. Wasn't any convincing to do, in my case. I was pretty clear what I wanted. I couldn't imagine a doctor giving me shit about my choice. Legally, there's no reason not to give it to you if you havne't been pregnant. That's just a recommendation to save their asses from lawsuits in case you're unable to get pregnant after taking it out and try to blame paraguard. 

Posted by Kameron Hurley

Anonymous said...

I was told by my gyn that the Paragard is usually perscribed to women who have already had a baby b/c it's sometimes too big for the uterus otherwise. Mine had to be measured before placement.

Otherwise, we were going to use the other one, Mirena. 

Posted by Lori

T. Comfyshoes said...

Hey, thanks everybody for sharing, I appreciate it!

(And now that you mention it, the doc I've been seeing seems much more concerned with saving his ass from lawsuits than actually caring for patients) 

Posted by tr1c14

Anonymous said...

And to think just 40 some years ago, it was mostly Lysol that got all the work. No, I kid you not!
[http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=51170]. Yes, we've come a long way, but they want to bring them back again... Cheers, 'VJ' 

Posted by VJ